After stalling, plans for development moratorium near Paris Mountain gain momentum (2024)

GREENVILLE— After a yearslong resident-led effort to stem the tide of development in the Stallings Road area near Paris Mountain State Park, a proposal for a development moratorium is gaining traction.

The push to bridle residential construction started in 2021 when the owner of the Pebble Creek Golf Course closed nine holes to make way for development.

Homeowners have resisted construction on the course ever since with mixed results.

In one area, a deed restriction placed on the course when the subdivisions were built more than 50 years ago allowed residents to block development.

In another, they had some success delaying development with land-use litigation. But grading is already moving forward on others, with more projects in the pipeline, and the area could soon see hundreds of new homes.

Resident concerns center on how the growth will impact traffic, water runoff, school capacity and the overall character of the community near Paris Mountain— concerns that are echoed around Greenville County as the area's population surges. The area was also home to Camp Sevier, a sprawling World War I training compound. In light of that, residents have argued certain properties should be preserved for their historical significance.

The existing community, particularly in the Pebble Creek andLinkside subdivisions, is now seeking a mandate from Greenville County Council to halt growth in a more-than-200-acre swath for nine months in the Stallings Road area.

The proposed stay would provide residents and county staff time to develop a zoning overlay for the area that would guide future growth.

"Our area is being transformed from the suburban edge that it is defined as in the county comprehensive plan," said Brenda Buchick, a member of the Mountain Creek Area Planning Committee.

An earlier attempt to enact a moratorium failed in December when it went before the council's planning and development committee.

That proposal would have prohibited residential development in a much larger footprint— roughly 7 square miles.

Committee Chairman Ennis Fant said a moratorium on that much space was a nonstarter as the county struggles to keep up with explosive growth.

The county had just passed a land-use regulation steeply limiting the use of septic tanks in unincorporated areas, and Fant said he couldn't justify blocking development in such a wide swath that has water and sewer infrastructure.

However, the new moratorium proposal, which was presented May 6, is more realistic, he said.

"I'm encouraged," Fant said. "I can foresee it probably passing at some point."

Councilman Steve Shaw, who represents the area, has been pushing for the moratorium on behalf of residents and said he's hopeful the proposal will move forward.

John Blue said when he first moved to the Pebble Creek area, the golf course was a major draw.

In the three years since the owner shut it down, the once-manicured green and fairway that border Blue's backyard have been overrunwith vegetation and trees.

Plans for development on the property are progressing, he said.

Richard Ballentine lives in the subdivision whose section of the golf course was preserved by a deed restriction. But he, too, said he's concerned how the surge in development will impact traffic and the character of the area.

While the planning and development committee received the revised moratorium proposal more favorably in May, it tabled the ordinance to give county staff time to seek input from the homebuilders association.

It will likely reappear on the committee's agenda in June and would ultimately have to be approved by full council to go into effect.