City takes aim at more ‘blighted’ properties
By Bobby Bryant, Editor, editor@newsandpress.net
The city of Darlington has added approximately 40 properties to the city’s list of vacant, “blighted/condemned” properties slated for demolition in fiscal 2019-20.
During a brief, half-hour City Council session Nov. 12, council approved the new list. The owners still can rescue their properties by bringing them up to city codes, officials said.
Out of 50 properties on the city’s current demolition list, 33 have been razed; 12 were renovated by their owners and taken off the list.
The properties scheduled for demolition in fiscal 2019-20 are:
241 Railroad Ave.
502 Washington St.
519 Chestnut St.
406 Guess St.
407 Guess St.
535 Jessamine St.
105 Sanders St.
113 Tedder St.
123 Wilson St.
112 Cotton St.
109 Cotton St.
108 Soshone Drive
113 Sparks St.
115 Sparks St.
143 Sparks St.
111 Jordan St.
404 Second St.
104 McInnis St.
409 First St.
405 Second St.
324 Edwards St.
323 Edwards St.
305 Edwards St.
308 Edwards St.
218 Edwards St.
216 Edwards St.
204 Edwards St.
311 F Ave.
133 Bacote St.
144 Bacote St.
115 Reid St.
206 Chestnut St.
200 E Ave.
326 Allen St.
1125 South Main St.
111 Grove St.
125 Calhoun St.
212 Churchill St.
213 Churchill St.
In other business last week, council agreed to rezone – to “Basic Industrial” – 16.85 acres at Old Florence Highway, Avenue D and Friendship Street. The property, an empty field, was bought by Georgia-Pacific as part of the company’s “Project Peach” development, which remains a mystery.
The land that council rezoned might be used for expanded parking or “potential future development.” During last week’s council meeting, a Darlington resident said he was worried that the rezoning could leave him with tractor-trailer trucks parked in front of his home. But Darlington city planner Lisa Chalian-Rock said Georgia-Pacific was willing to create a “buffer zone” to prevent that.
Next month’s council meeting, set for Dec. 3, will be the last regular session for Mayor Gloria Hines, who lost the Nov. 5 mayoral race to challenger Curtis Boyd. He takes office in January.
The election was barely mentioned at last week’s council meeting. Hines congratulated the winners, as did council member Carolyn Bruce, who lost her bids for mayor and for re-election to her at-large council seat.
