Florence Economy Hitting Brakes?

A recent article is the Wall Street Journal is a tell-tale sign of the economic times. Freight haulers cutbacks together with the U.S. Senate putting a legislative end to the GM and Diamler bailout plan, what does all this news mean for Florence County?

First, it's business as usual in Planning Services. We continue to work on increasing the quality of life through the County's comprehensive plan and long-range transportation plans. This economic hiccup, however, will alter some of the models that predict important numbers such as traffic counts and population increases. Recessions, however, don't reduce the need for better services and way of life for County residents [I'm one too!].

Furthermore, Census 2010 is coming up soon... those will be interesting numbers, and we rely on them significantly.

So, when freight haulers aren't buying any new trucks and GM and Chrysler look for other government bailout funding, you and I will hopefully continue to work in making the future of Florence even better than it is today.

We recently met with planners from the City of Florence to discuss the Future Land Use element of the comprehensive plan. Most of our initial draft was reaffirmed with some changes in the areas where the City is intending on growing. Next on our City of Florence agenda is to meet with the County Economic Development team, then to present the plan to the public [where should we have them?].

A couple of possiblities with the Future Land Use plan:

Countywide zoning - With more people looking to the Pee Dee to live and setup businesses, countywide zoning is a way to work in some predictability for its current residents. You only have to look at citizens' resistance to the factory turkey farm that won DHEC approval in Darlington County. Zoning would be very helpful is allowing all residents to know what type of uses can be located in certain areas.

Community Centered Schools - The future land use plan looks forward 20-30 years and tries to envision where infrastructure needs can be met. These needs include necessities such as sewer, water, roads, police and fire protection. In reference to your wallet - your insurance is based on the fire protection rating (ISO) of your fire department. Plus, the location of a school determines if (and how far) you drive or if you can walk to it. I am sure there is no one walking to any school that's situated like in the picture here.

Making sure adequate services are available takes a lot of planning. So, it's strange to see in a recent Morning News article that Florence School District 1 is seeking to purchase 172 acres for a school campus. We are trying to contact District 1 to determine where it is, what roads are available, if there is water and sewer, fire and police protection. Also, we want to see how it will integrate into a neighborhood that may be able to benefit from it's ballfields or continuing education evening classes?

Overall, I see Florence buffered to much of the economic havoc occurring in the world. We are not immune to it, though. Although most of our commercial and business properties seem rented out, I am not sure how much business they are doing.

All we can do is keep our chin up and plan for the future!