Barnwell City Council discusses rezoning

The City of Barnwell is thinking ahead. At their December 5 regular meeting, the City Council discussed plans for 2023 and beyond.

Zoning

Every 10 years, the Planning Commissions of municipalities are required to prepare and update their Comprehensive Development Plan per state law. This plan foresees the trajectory of the municipality regarding things like industry, education, growth and visualizes the steps necessary to get there.

The City of Barnwell is encroaching on updating the Comprehensive Development Plan and are looking at four land plats to rezone. Each area considered for rezoning by the commission is being looked at to update the property type to suit its current and long-standing use.

“Most of these are in areas that somehow or another were incorrectly marked on the map or have just not been updated to their current use,” said City Administrator Lynn McEwen.

Per state law, the City of Barnwell posted signs at the properties, notices were published in the newspaper, and letters were sent to the property owners. These lots are identified using Tax Map identification numbers, and are available to search via Barnwell County Property Records.

To view this notice, visit https://www.cityofbarnwell.com/news/public-hearing-re-zoning.

This is only the first reading of these amendments by the council. Each ordinance must go through two more readings for rezoning to be approved.

Factors regulated by zoning are the use of land, buildings, or structures, according to the Municipal Association of South Carolina’s Comprehensive Planning Guide for Local Governments, which is what the city is doing with this rezoning plan.

“Whereas the City Council of the City of Barnwell, South Carolina, has concluded that the adoption of the proposed rezoning complies with the City’s comprehensive plan and is essential to the general health, safety, welfare, and economic stability of the City and is in the best interest of its citizens,” states Ordinances 2023-1, 2, 3, and 4.

Ordinance 2023-1 rezones lots between Main Street and Allen Street from residential to neighborhood commercial. These parcels are identified with the tax map numbers #091-03-06-002, #091-03-06-009, #091-03-06-010, #091-03-06-013, and #091-03-06-014.

Guinyard & Sons Funeral Home is located on parcels #091-03-06-009 and #091-03-06-014, and is set to be rezoned to reflect a commercial property rather than a residential.

“The area between Allen and Main has always been a small area of a mix of neighborhood commercial and residential,” said Administrator McEwen. “Since there is more commercial development around the area of Main St., the neighborhood commercial zoning for several of these properties would allow an expanded development in the future without going as bold as highway commercial.”

Ordinance 2023-2 amends the zoning of a lot on Charles Street identified as #072-13-07-048 from that of a residential property to an industrial property. This lot is owned by and located near Webb Concrete Co. on Church Street in Barnwell.

Ordinance 2023-3 amends the zoning of a lot labeled #091-01-01-013 at the intersection of Calhoun Street and Marlboro Avenue from residential to highway commercial.

Ordinance 2023-4 rezones a lot identified as #091-02-01-009 located at 1391 Main Street from highway commercial to residential.

For more information on zoning, visit SC Code of Laws Chapter 29 at https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t06c029.php. For more information on comprehensive planning, view the Municipal Association of South Carolina’s Comprehensive Planning Guide for Local Governments.

2023 Schedule

The administrative and emergency service 2023 holiday schedule was approved by the City Council. All the days employees have off from county offices remain the same as previous years with one exception.

To keep up with the county and state, the City of Barnwell has added the observance of Veteran’s Day on November 10, 2023 to their list of holidays. Emergency service employees will observe the holiday on Saturday, November 11, 2023 while non-emergency service personnel will observe the holiday on the Friday before.

Other days in 2023 include New Year’s Day which will be observed on Monday, January 2, 2022 by non-emergency service employees and on Sunday, January 1, 2022 by emergency service personnel.

Additionally, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Presidents Day, Good Friday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, day after Thanksgiving, and Christmas Eve, which is observed on Friday, December 22, 2023 by non-EMS employees, and on Sunday the 24 by EMS staff.

Christmas Day on Monday, December 25, 2023 and the Tuesday after Christmas are observed by all city employees.

City council also approved regular scheduled meeting dates for 2023. Meetings are still set to be held the first Monday of every month with the first being on January 9, 2023.

The only exceptions are the meetings in July and September, which coincide with holidays and will be held on the second Monday of those months.

The City of Barnwell Parks and Recreation will have a new look, logo, and attitude for the fall 2023 tackle football season. Registration will be open for kids ages 11 to 12 from May 15 to July 21, 2023. The cost is $75 for in-city residents and $85 for out-of-city residents.

Firefighter Bonus

28 Barnwell Fire Department members will be receiving a Christmas bonus this year determined by the number of drills and calls they attended in 2022.

Each attended call or drill equals a bonus of $7, and some firefighters will be receiving nearly $600 for attending 85 calls this year.

Thanks from Administrator McEwen

Administrator McEwen explicitly thanked city employees for the extra effort they put forward this holiday season, particularly noting the street and sanitation department for going above and beyond to keep Barnwell clean before and after recent Christmas events.

Without dedicated volunteers, the Christmas parade, tree lighting, and other festivities would not have been as successful as they were this year. Administrator McEwen expressed her gratitude to all the volunteers who took their time to make Barnwell’s holiday season magical.