Panel postpones action on adult business ordinance
By JIM FAILE
The Hartsville Planning Commission postponed sending a recommendation to Hartsville City Council for an ordinance regulating sexually oriented businesses in the city while one of its members reviews a model ordinance after the city attorney said certain provisions of the model appear to be unconstitutional.
The move to table the issue came after City Attorney Marty Driggers told the commission during its regular meeting Tuesday that based on a U.S. Supreme Court ruling, many of the provisions of a model ordinance the commission is using as a guide for developing an ordinance for the city violate the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
Driggers said the Supreme Court has ruled that attempting to regulate such businesses through permitting processes is unconstitutional because it violates the free speech provision of the First Amendment.
The city can, however, use its zoning powers and zoning ordinances to control where any such businesses may be able to locate, Driggers said.
The planning commission has been using an ordinance from Greenville as a model for an ordinance. That ordinance has never been challenged in court and Greenville continues to use it, Driggers said.
But he said that based on the Supreme Court ruling, provisions of the ordinance dealing with permitting appear to be unconstitutional.
The commission wants to go back over the ordinance and look at it from a zoning perspective before sending a recommendation to city council. Commissioner Bobby McGee said he will review the ordinance with an eye toward revising it but asked to have 60 days to complete that process.
The commission will take the matter up again at its November meeting.
In other business, the commission discussed the proposed Myers Crossing planned development in the South Hartsville area that would include a combination of residential and commercial facilities.
Debbie Myers of Plainfield, N.J., who was not present Tuesday, presented a proposal to city council in July to develop 32.5 acres she owns on Heatley Drive.
She said the development will include residential units, including about 100 apartments as well as 30 single-family homes, retail shops, a plaza, sidewalks, bicycle and walking trails, green space, pools and water features.
Myers described the development as “a 21st century sustainable renewal community.”
Most of the property currently lies just outside of the city limits, but Myers has said she would like to annex it into the city if she can be assured that the city will accommodate what she plans to build on the property through its zoning ordinance.
Interim City Manager Vern Myers (no relation) said the owner is looking for an indication of support for the concept behind the project from the commission and city council. “She’s looking for an indication of interest that we would tend to view it favorably,” he said.
The site will need infrastructure to alleviate poor drainage in the area before it can be developed, he said. And that would be the owner’s responsibility, he said.
“It’s a wonderful thing. It’s ambitious, it’s very ambitious” said Commissioner Bobby McGee. “It’s like a city within a city.”
The last planned development the city approved was the Lowe’s development on South Fourth Street, Vern Myers said.
“This is a different concept,” he said. “And it’s going to be expensive – her expense.”
Commissioners said they want to visit the site and take a first-hand look at it before making any decision. That could come at the commission’s next regular meeting or earlier.
Chairman Richard Boiteau said the panel would also like a representative of the owner to come before the commission and present a more detailed description of the project.
The commission also received a resolution from city council authorizing it to develop a proposed nuisance ordinance for the city aimed at cleaning up unkempt lots around town. “The city has started to look a little ratty around the edges,” Myers said.
Council wants an ordinance addressing vacant lots that are not properly maintained with a provision that could allow the city to clean up the lots if necessary at the owner’s expense by putting liens on the properties.
Myers said he has looked at similar ordinances in effect in other municipalities, including Darlington, and wants to develop one on that model.
Commissioners Adam Mathews and Teresa Mack will do the research for an ordinance.