Jim Fair
Alan Fore´ got the Board of Architectural Review's approval to install fencing and bollards at his two downtown properties.
Jim Fair
The property at 117 Trade Street (formerly Allen Tate Realtors) will prohibit all vehicular traffic. Pedestrian traffic will be allowed through three gateways.
Jim Fair
A gated fence will be installed at Spa Victoria on Victoria Street. Customer traffic will be allowed through the gate. Two bollards will be installed in the rear of the parking lot to keep vehicles from maneuvering a curb.
Jim Fair
"Cars don't do that, heavy vehicles do," Alan Fore´ said of the huge pothole and cracked sidewalk on the Victoria Street entrance to his property.
But he nearly got the boot.
Somewhere in the middle of the extraordinarily long, 75-minute Board of Architectural Review (BAC) meeting, Fore´ and board chairperson Linda Wood had an exchange that almost derailed the nearly one-month drama.
Fore´ was granted his request to prohibit vehicular traffic on two properties – 117 Trade Street and 118/120 Victoria Street – with black wrought iron like fencing. There will be gateways, three at the Trade Street property and one at Spa Victoria, to allow for pedestrian traffic. Yellow bollards (vertical posts) will be installed behind 118/120 Victoria Street to prevent vehicles from exiting over a curb.
Board members Brandon Price, Joada Hiatt, Marney Hannon and Wood voted unanimously for the fencing and bollards requests. The BAR turned down Fore´ requesting to paint the brick on the former Allen Tate Realtors (117 Trade). David Langley was absent.
Price said he and Fore´ previously talked about solutions behind Spa Victoria and landscaping possibilities. It was Price that offered, “I believe the fence will look better,” than bollards at both property’s entry points.
“I love downtown Greer. I hope you can see what this is doing to my property. My parking lot is being destroyed,” Fore´ said. He owns three properties in the central business district.
Photos submitted for the BAR to review included a pothole that was taking on the size of a small asphalt crater on the Victoria Street side of the former Allen Tate Realtors office. At the entrance off Trade, between the Chamber of Commerce and front of building, was another large pothole that had nearly a foot of water, from last week’s rains, hiding its depth.
Glenn Pace, Planning and Zoning Coordinator, and the BAR was shown a photo of the chopped up sidewalk adjacent to his property line on Victoria Street. “Cars don’t do that, heavy vehicles do,” Fore´ said.
He also suggested while he was being asked to adhere to the American Disabilities Act (ADA) with handicap access to his property, the city should also be liable for its maintenance of its downtown sidewalks.
Wood was taken aback by a comment she interpreted from Fore´ “as an ultimatum”. She told Fore´ that it would set a different tone in further discussions.
“I’m not giving you an ultimatum, I’m giving you an option,” Fore´ calmly responded.
No other board member or Pace commented during the brief exchange.
“The fence stops truck traffic,” Fore´ said. “It became a parking issue with a lot of people the last time we were here.” The fencing will eliminate about 20 downtown parking places.
Downtown merchants and city leaders came out enforce on June 10 in an unprecedented show of solidarity at a BAR meeting. The board responded and mandated Fore´ provide styles of manual or electronic fencing, latches, height, color and diagrams of the fences and bollards.
Fore´ presented his options today with only Kyle Mensing attending, as usual, for the Economic Development Board.
“People want convenience. I have to do it (fence) because the parking lot is getting worse. This is not working. The question from me is do I have the right to take care of my property?”
In fact, a city ordinance allows for downtown business owners to install fencing. The BAR ruling is the law of the city. Appeals can only be made to the Circuit Court.
Fore´ said he talked with Fire Marshall Scott Keeley and agreed to leave open a triangular patch on Poinsett Street.
A meeting between City Administrator Ed Driggers and Fore´ to discuss options has not taken place.