Yep. We’re really growing.
It seems like every council meeting agenda has a new annexation to consider and we bring more people and property into the city. That’s a good thing.
Not everyone sees it that way though. I got a voicemail on the 4th of July from someone who doesn’t live in the city but who was angry that Mauldin annexed a large parcel near her. She was upset that no one told her about the annexation until she read it in the paper.
In her mind, someone gave the city the idea to annex the property. I tried explaining that in South Carolina, cities can’t simply annex when and where they want to. There are very specific procedures set in state law about annexation, and it means that people have to come to us and petition to be annexed.
That’s exactly what happened here. In March, the property owners filed an annexation petition with the City of Mauldin.
I went on to tell her that in considering acceptance of the annexation petitions, Mauldin City Council’s Building Codes Committee first considered the petitions during its regular monthly meeting on April 1, 2019. The committee voted to send the item to full council. Because annexations require an ordinance and since council’s rules require that ordinances receive two readings, the annexation ordinance received its first reading during council’s regular meeting on April 15 while the ordinance’s second reading took place during council’s regular meeting on May 20.
Each of those meeting agendas were posted in advance, in accordance with state law. Each committee meeting and council meeting offers multiple opportunities for public comment. With three meetings on the annexation petition and 4 opportunities for public comment over the span of nearly two months, there was no opposition to the annexation at any point, and the property was annexed as requested.
People want to be in Mauldin, and we want them here.
Right now in the city of Mauldin, 130 apartments and 1018 homes are under construction. 1002 new homes and 455 new apartments have been approved for construction. 704 apartments and 2989 new homes are in the planning stages.
There’s no doubt that growth presents a set of challenges, but it also creates a number of opportunities. By having more people to invest in the city and city services, it helps keeps taxes down. By increasing the city’s residential population, it provided more consumers to support the restaurants and retail and recreation options people tell us they want.
As we set the stage for Mauldin’s future, we have the ability to accept the growth that’s coming, manage it so that it meshes with who we are as a city, and welcome that growth that is allowing the city to come into its own.
And if you ever want to look at meeting agendas to see what’s coming down the road, visit: cityofmauldin.org/your-government/meeting-minutes-agendas.
We’re growing…By leaps and bounds. Up.
— Taft Matney serves in Seat 1 on Mauldin city Council. He can be reached at tmatney@mauldincitysc.com.
