Darlington City Council approves first reading of four ordinances

By Melissa Rollins, Editor, editor@newsandpress.net

A public hearing will be held April 3 regarding a digital signage ordinance in Darlington after council passed first reading of the ordinance Feb. 15 during their monthly meeting. The ordinance first came before council last month but experienced a hiccup when councilman Bryant Gardner asked how the ordinance’s time restrictions affected businesses that stayed open late.

The proposed ordinance puts restrictions on the size of the sign, where they can be located (not within the Historic Districts), and how bright the sign can be during night hours, among other items.

Lisa Rock presented council with a revised ordinance, adding the sentence: “If a business operates after 10 p.m., the displays must be cut off or turned to 0 % brightness when the business closes.”

Gardner and other council members indicated that the change satisfied their concern and approved first reading. The public hearing on the ordinance will be held at 6p.m. April 3 at City Hall, 400 Pearl Street. For more information, or to obtain a copy of the ordinance, visit www.darlingtonsconline.com or call 843-398-4000, extension 103.

In other business, council also gave first reading to three ordinances authorizing the purchase of land with the intention of building a baseball/softball complex and a playground. The first piece of property is at the corner of Old Florence Highway and Avenue D. There are two tracts of land for a total of 17 acres. That purchase would total $162,545.

The second piece of property would be purchased from the Darlington County School District for $100,000. That property includes Virgil Wells Stadium, an adjacent Little League field and tennis courts.

The third piece of property that council approved the purchase of is 207 Siskron Street. That purchase was $80,500.

All of three ordinances included the clause: “ WHEREAS: Any and all property must be conveyed with a marketable title. This is defined as a title to real property that is free from encumbrances, litigation, and other defects and that can be sold or mortgaged to a reasonable buyer or mortgagee. If property cannot be conveyed with such title, any agreements set forth within will be considered void and unenforceable.”

These ordinances will require a second reading at the March meeting.

Lee Andrews, Director of Darlington County Parks and Recreation, spoke to council about all three properties, specifically addressing the property purchase from the school district.

“This is the property that we had in mind to build four ball fields on but when the property come open at Old Florence Highway, and we could get everything in one spot, we didn’t just want to abandon the property because we are using it now; it is very well used as it is,” Andrews said. “We need to update the property after the purchase but it will help us with parking at the gymnasium over there, we will be able to put our football/soccer program that we plan on having there. We can redo the stadium and have some bathrooms there. We can put in a park, playground tennis courts, really update the land and give all the people of Darlington somewhere to go and have fun.”

Darlington County Election Commission Director Hoyt Campbell spoke to council about the possibility of using city property.
“If ya’ll would give us permission, what we would like to use is part of the railroad bed,” Campbell said. “It looks like to me that the railroad bed is about 40 feet wide. What we’d like to do up front is have some extra parking plus, at the back, put a road leaving the city parking lot and come around the building where we could load voting machines the day before the election and unload them election night. Eleven months out of the year it could also be a place for people to park.”

City Manager Howard Garland asked if Campbell would be willing to get a survey of the property done to see how much they need. Campbell said he would pursue that and get back in touch with the city administration.

Author: Duane Childers

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