Council gives initial approval to Watts Mill developers

The Laurens County Council voted unanimously Monday night to approve first reading on a tax incentive plan for “Project Onward,” a proposed residential development on the former Watts Mill site off of Highway 221 just North of Laurens.

Greenville-based Clear Mountain Properties requested a Special Source Revenue Credit for the $50 million development, which will include 178 townhomes that the company expects to rent for between $1,200 and $1,800 per month, said Stormie Ellenburg, Clear Mountain’s director of development.

Clear Mountain Properties is requesting a front-loaded SSRC that would average a 65% tax break over the life of the proposed 15-year agreement. Council voted to approve first reading for the SSRC, but did not commit to the amount of the incentive.

“We really need the majority of help on the front end,” Ellenburg said. “That’s because that’s when we’ll be making the majority of our investment.”

Developers and rental property owners pay 6% in taxes in Laurens County, while homeowners pay at a rate of 4%.

The SSRC would be a first for Laurens County, but Council Chairman Brown Patterson and Vice-Chairman Jeff Carroll noted the arrangement had worked for Clear Mountain Properties and other developers in neighboring Spartanburg, Greenville and Anderson Counties.

The SSRC is allowed under state law in the same vein as “fee-in-lieu-of-taxes” (FILOT) agreements are allowed with industry.

In either case, the county must create an “industrial park” to set up incentive agreements. It is not, however, a physical industrial park, but rather the framework that allows the incentive agreement to proceed.

Patterson said he will need to know where the SSRC revenues will go once they are collected and mentioned Laurens County School District 55 as a preferred destination because the school district will presumably see increases in enrollments with more families moving into the area.

Ellington said the plans also call for a commercial space such as a coffee shop or other public gathering space – as Clear Mountain had created in similar projects. She said the developers plan on keeping the Watts Mill smoke stack, which still towers over the former mill site, and hope to refurbish the boiler room as a common area for residents.

Most of the rest of Watts Mill fell into disrepair and was razed, so the other structures will be new construction.

“If this were in my district, I’d be all over it,” said Councilman David Tribble, who represents the Clinton and Joanna areas in District 7. “I would love to see this happening in the middle of Joanna or in Clinton or Lydia Mill. It’s a good opportunity for us to turn that circumstance around.”

Council members said they expect to receive further input from District 55 leaders prior to final approval of the project, which will require two more readings and a public hearing.

Ellenburg said her company hopes the development will provide a new gateway into Laurens County and the City of Laurens.

Carroll said he believes the development will be a boon for the county and the City of Laurens as it offers needed rental opportunities for potential residents close to downtown.

“(The SSRC agreement) will be a benefit to the developer to be able to do this project,” Carroll said. “It should be an investment in the Wattsville community in Laurens County and a positive growth opportunity for rental housing that doesn’t exist today. . . . It seems to be a positive project and everybody seems to be interested in moving forward with the project. We just have to decide what level if any SSRC credit we are going to provide.”

In other council notes:

⚫ Laurens County Council has scheduled a public hearing for Thursday, July 18 as it begins its review of the county’s comprehensive plan for approval.

The hearing is scheduled for 6 p.m. at 105 Bolt Drive in Laurens, the offices of Veteran’s Affairs and Voter Registration. The public is invited to attend and comment. A copy of the comprehensive plan is available online at laurenscounty.us.

Council members asked County Attorney Wes Meetze to look into beefing up ordinances concerning fireworks after several citizens in the Gray Court area around Sullivan Road and Durbin Road voiced concern over incidents that occurred in their neighborhood over the July 4 holiday weekend.

The residents said fireworks coming from a neighboring housing development were shot after 9 p.m. despite the development’s own HOA rules prohibiting fireworks. They said noise from the fireworks disturbed them and their farm animals and one horse was injured when hot debris fell on its shoulders.

⚫ Tribble asked for a meeting of the Emergency Services Committee to address concerns over EMS coverage in the Joanna area.

He also asked that council form a committee to look into changing the name of the Henry Laurens Award, the county’s highest civic honor. Laurens was a colonial statesman who was also a slave trader and owned more than 260 slaves. Tribble said those facts are incongruous with a modern civic award.

Patterson appointed Tribble along with Luke Rankin and Shirley Clark to a committee to look into the change and come up with possible alternatives.