Lexington Town Council Special Work Session on Wednesday evening. Photo from file.
The Town Council and Lexington County Council Special Called Combined Work Session officially began at 6pm Wednesday evening at Town Hall. That meeting actually began Wednesday morning on the Gary David and Christopher Thompson program on WVOC radio. That program began at 8:40am with Gary David commenting that if you had “moved away from the area for five years and returned you may not recognize the place.” He continued that the development has been “phenomenal” and in some cases “the area has outstripped the means to handle it.”
That introduction brought onto the air Town of Lexington resident Greg Brewer who began talking about the current 93 acre proposed Smallwood Cove development project on Lake Murray. Brewer is spokesman for Develop the Town of Lexington Responsibly group who is fighting the development and annexation.
Brewer has been spearheading the citizens opposition to the project describing it as a “massive development” and “really huge compared to the biggest neighborhoods in Lexington.” He described the development area as off Beekeeper Court near Lake Murray Dam “miles away from the town limits.” Since learning of the project in May the group has posted billboards around Lexington, run advertisements in local media, had interviews on local radio, distributed broadside messages around the town, and even opposed a $10 million dollar grant from the state taxpayers pocket.
The project calls for development of 1100 residences, 2 hotels eight stories high, multi-story apartments and condominiums, plus more. Brewer said the already horrible traffic congestion in Harbison area has caused many residents to remove from that area to Lexington to escape the gridlock. He commented that Highway #1 and Hwy #378 are major chokepoints in Lexington now, and he continued the proposed Smallwood Cove project will add to and “will complete the gridlock” around Lexington.
The spokesman said that development is a great thing, but his group would like to see more “wise responsible growth” around Lexington. He commented that one of the big issues facing citizen opposition to the project is a $30 million dollar convention center. Brewer mentioned that there have been other projects that floundered over the years like a hotel on Main Street. He said there are two hotels proposed on the 93 acre tract, and that it might be better for hotels to manage conference center capabilities with their hotel business model where they can handle conference room space rather than Lexington. The Lexington resident brought up the fact that a major conference center space in downtown Columbia is currently under utilized and it is just 15 minutes away.
Brewer said on the program that he has not only spoken with town Council members, but his group has engaged residents in the town and county concerning the development that will impact the town, county and all who use the roads in the area. He specified that Develop the Town of Lexington Responsibly group spoke with thousands of residents around town center, Northlake, Southlake, and adjoining roads around downtown.
“Opposition to this from residents is significant,” said Brewer. He continued that “many people thought the project was a “done deal” but that citizens are “catching up” on the learning curve in spite of the dominant media characterization of it” and now they are in opposition to see, understand and oppose the project.
A special meeting was held Wednesday evening for citizens to make their voices heard at the joint working session of town and county councils. He encouraged residents to get involved and make their voices heard on what the Town of Lexington should become. He commented that “Lexington is a great place to live with a great quality of life, but is hampered by poorly managed growth”.
A recent survey the group conducted showed that 55% of respondents want more work done on roads in the area versus any building projects. He also said citizens responded that public safety and law enforcement were also wanted. He concluded that the project development and annexation may even be in violation of state law.
Michael Reed is Publisher of The Standard newspaper, print and online. You may find our videos available on Rumble. The bulk of TheStandardSC video media channel has been censored by dominant social media groups like YouTube. YouTube, owed by Alphabet (Google), removed and destroyed all of our video work without permission or remuneration. That has stopped all potential donations from our many supporters on that venue. If you want to continue to see independent thought and reports please “like”, comment, share with a friend, and donate to support The Standard on this page to assure the continued availability of news that is ignored too often by the dominant media.
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