Trying to follow the many proposals by MetroConnects for sewer service expansion in Greenville County has been a moving target.
Their initial proposal was to extend sewer service County-wide, opening the door for unlimited sprawl growth:
Revision 2 included extensive rural and unzoned areas in the northern and southern areas of the County.
Revision 3 still includes substantial unzoned areas around Travelers Rest and will drive growth north into sensitive Foothills areas.
We are asking Council for an amendment to scale back Metro's sewer service areas away from sensitive areas near the rivers. Specifically, we are asking them to:
Please support an amendment to reduce the Metro boundary expansion west of Travelers Rest to protect the priority conservation area between the North Saluda River and Saluda River and Keeler Mill Road, as shown on the maps below.
This area has been a focal point for conservation over the past six years through significant state and local investments from the South Carolina Conservation Bank, Easley Combined Utilities, and more recently the Greenville County Historic and Natural Resources Trust due to expansive mature forests that occur along steep slopes, rivers and feeder streams, wetlands, and floodplains.
The South Carolina Office of Resilience, through the 2023 Resilience Plan and in cooperation with the South Carolina Forestry Commission, the Green Infrastructure Center, and the Southern Region of the USDA Forest Service, have all identified this same area along the Saludas west of TR as a priority area for conservation and green infrastructure.
The value in protecting such sensitive lands is in maintaining their function as nature-based solutions for resiliency against future extreme weather events and flooding and the threat that higher density development poses to these valuable natural resources and their native habitats, downstream water quality, and the public drinking water source at Saluda Lake, which already suffers from excess sedimentation.
Authorization of sewer service into these critical lands undermines the investments and work of local, state, and federal agencies, utilities, and conservation organizations and invites high density growth into more sensitive watershed areas. It also makes potential future conservation in this priority area much more challenging and costly to local and state funders.
Unfortunately, the newest Metro proposal includes this same priority conservation area for sewer service expansion.
Hurricane Helene taught us the danger of building around streams, rivers, and floodplains and in steeper terrain. The proposed amendment would be a proactive step to avoid that kind of catastrophe while still allowing room for responsible growth.
