By Natalie M. Zeigler
City Manager
In a recent public meeting at the Butler Heritage Center, members of the South Hartsville community heard from a group of volunteer planning professionals who had performed an in-depth study of the area and its needs during 2014. This group from the American Planning Association gave a report then which covered the opportunities and challenges of the area in everything from economic vitality to housing, transportation and services. Soon afterward, in a follow-up public meeting which really showcased Hartsville’s stand-out community spirit, leaders called upon the residents to come together and organize, to find ways to put the report’s recommendations into action.
The team that created that South Hartsville plan was using many means of addressing a core concept: promoting healthy, livable neighborhoods. Residential communities can achieve and maintain a sense of vitality through many different opportunities, and the City of Hartsville has hit several of them in recent years.
The City has cooperated with the Community Foundation for a Better Hartsville for quite some time now to maintain the Residential Demolition Assistance Program. This effort is built on the understanding that blighted houses which have decayed past the point of repair are often left standing in a neighborhood because the property’s owners lack the funds to tear it down. Wherever blight happens, it creates an unfortunate cycle, lowering property values through its appearance and through the increased hazard of crime and fire, which can create more blight nearby.
This program seeks to build bridges with property owners: for those participants who provide $500 to $1,000 towards the demolition of a house, the program provides the remaining funds to make it happen, and keep the property in its owner’s possession. In the last several years, the effort has been working steadily to eliminate more than 30 unsalvageable houses in many corners of Hartsville. It now has funding available for additional demolitions this year, and those interested can contact me at 383-3015 to learn more.
Demolishing blight, of, course, is only a first step towards a greater goal, even in the case of City efforts happening on a larger scale, such as the effort to tear down the blighted Lincoln Village apartments on South Eighth Street. There’s many avenues for building up neighborhoods in Hartsville, not the least of which has been Community Development Block Grant project in the Oakdale community. This push brought not only infrastructure improvements such as sidewalks and streetlights, but also the resources of people which truly build communities, like a revitalized neighborhood watch and an in-residence police officer. We have been thrilled to see the residents take charge in all of this in order to build a better place to live. Given the impact of all of this, we’re working towards applying for another Community Development Block Grant, this time for a push in South Hartsville.
Keeping neighborhoods healthy is a job that never ends. They’re always changing, often in ways that’s hard to see in the short term, but many of the efforts happening now will make them stronger in the future.
Natalie Zeigler is the City Manager of Hartsville. For more information, call City Hall at 843-383-3015 or email info2@hartsvillesc.gov.