Politics & Government

Mauldin Business Owners Balk at City Center Plan

Proprietors whose businesses lie in or around the proposed City Center fret the plan would force them to relocate or go out of business.

As plans for a proposed City Center for Mauldin have evolved, reception has generally been favorable. But last night as City Council considered the first iteration of a City Center Master Plan, several business owners said they feared the ambitious long-term redevelopment project would potentially put them out of business.

City officials and consultants said the plan remains conceptual at this point and stressed that City Center — which is envisioned to boost commerce and community by developing a well-defined, high-density downtown core — should help existing businesses, not harm them.

"I've been here 25 years and I've put a lot of sweat and tears in my place. … This plan would force me out of business, and I think there are a lot of other business owners that feel the same way," said Nick Netchaeff, owner of Distinctive Details, located at 212 N. Main St. "I know there's about five businesses right there that would be impacted, and I'm one of them."

"I want what's best for Mauldin, too …. But we have big concerns," he said.

(NOTE: The conceptual City Center Master Plan is scheduled to be posted online by the end of Tuesday on the city's Web site).

Conceptual drawings of how City Center might one day look indeed show new development or green space where many of these current businesses now sit along 276/N. Main Street/Laurens Road. City officials stressed that that doesn't mean those businesses would simply be razed to make way for new ones.

And in fact, City Center should prove to be a golden opportunity for existing businesses to grow and prosper, said one consultant.

"We know there are several business owners along 276," said City Center consultant Ben Muldrow. "This is a long-range plan…. Everything that fronts 276 now is 1950s and 60s commercial structures. We are talking about changing the dynamic structure, and we're talking about doing it from the back forward. Now, if you own your property, the thought is that in the meantime as things start to happen you will be able to figure out what is right for your business and what's not.

"I want you to know I understand where you're coming from. But we've also seen unbelievably creative thinking from businesses just like yours; busineses that take advantage of such a dense development to help drive their own business," Muldrow added. "So all I ask you is, instead of just saying, 'this will put me out of business,' we're talking about bringing a whole lot of new customers, a whole lot of new businesses, and a whole lot of new residents right here."

Muldrow made an impassioned plea for folks to get behind the plan for the future of the city. He said that, economically, the project would serve to stem the massive "retail leakage" that is driving local spending to places such as Greenville, Simpsonville, and Fountain Inn, which have embraced the concept of high-density downtown redevelopment that City Center seeks to emulate.

Mauldin currently is losing $14 million annually in retail business to those cities, and another $14 million in restaurant receipts — a critical imbalance that City Center would help correct, Muldrow said

Veterinarian Walt McPhail, owner of McPhail Animal Hospital at 2 Jenkins Court, which also lies in the proposed City Center footprint, wasn't impressed, and he echoed Netchaeff's concerns. He said his business has been there since 1978 and feared he would be pushed out eventually.

"You're talking about coming to take my business where you can get 50 new businesses," he said. "The government says that's good. But it affects me."

"We're smart enough to know that if you start developing on the back side of it, it is going to come forward and we'll be forced out, let's just be real about it," another business owner along the corridor said.

Another nearby business owner, Marcy Bolan, who owns Self Service Laundry at 210 N. Main St., said she feared the city would use eminent domain.

Council member Dale Black said the town had no plans whatsoever to use eminent domain, and had only used it once in his memory. He also reminded the crowd that City Center would not be a city government development project, but would be done by private developers.

"The city of Mauldin would never come after your business to buy it for this project," he promised.

Muldrow said the aggrieved business owners were not being singled out, but stated that the proposed area north of Butler Road along the 276 corridor was simply the best available place from a marketing standpoint to attract developers for the project.

Former Mauldin Mayor Don Godbey stood in favor of City Center, and tried to put the project in perspective.

"You've seen what has happened in downtown Greenville," he said. "This took 30 years. It didn't happen overnight. It didn't run anybody out of business. It created business…. My goal would be that the community comes together and talks about the interests of this community in the long-term, and not think about this as an overnight explosion that's going to run everybody out of town."


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from Mauldin