HERE'S THE PLAN
Experts present recommendations to inject 'new life' into downtown Gaffney area
By TIM GULLA Ledger Staff Writer tim@gaffneyledger.com

Downtown photo / STEVE WONG

A group of economic development and urban planning experts came up with nine specific recommendations for the City of Gaffney if it wants to increase residency in the downtown and surrounding neighborhoods.

Some of their recommendations were simple while others were a little more complex.

None, however, was so difficult or costly that Gaffney is unable to pull them off, said panel members of the Sustainable Leadership Institute, who volunteered its expertise and insight.

The core idea behind all of the group's recommendations presented Friday afternoon was improving the downtown and the atmosphere for business, creating a catalyst that would not only attract people into the center of the city but keep them there.

"Today's economic reality is you have to create a sense of place," said Fred Delk, a Sustainable Leadership Institute member who does economic development work in the commercial and entertainment districts of Columbia. "It's not about attracting industry," he added. "The economics of today is all about quality of life."

While the group made nine recommendations, it really centered on three goals: fix what needs to be fixed in the downtown, give new businesses an incentive to move there and get others on board.

For instance, the panel recommended the city fund and hire staff for community economic development and code enforcement, as well as develop guidelines and enhance commercial maintenance codes to make sure downtown buildings are maintained.

The panel also recommended the city create a retail and restaurant recruitment plan to bring new shops and eateries into the downtown, as well as create incentive packages to help spur new small business.

Panel members also recommended the city should make continued efforts to foster cultural events through the arts and theater in Gaffney, such as ongoing efforts to renovate the old Brown Furniture building into a new fine arts center, and use theater and the arts as an economic driver.

Other recommendations included: increased cooperation and dialogue with real estate professionals and developers to get their help in selling the downtown to new business; strengthening the city's alliances with area schools and colleges; and enhancing the downtown's image through more street lighting, particularly on side streets, and neighborhood watch programs.

"They aren't costly," panel member Mary Beth Branham told an audience of about 30 people at Gaffney City Hall on Friday, "but they can have a big impact on perceptions of the downtown."

Panel member Ed Garrison, who is a commercial real estate developer and a politician serving as the mayor pro tem of the Town of Blythewood, said none of his group's recommendations was un-doable or too costly. Gaffney could seek volunteers to serve as code enforcement officials in the downtown, for instance.

For the recommendations to work, Garrison said the community must stand behind them.

"What has to be done is you have to have more community input as stakeholders," he said. "It's really a community effort and when the city and residents work together it becomes 'our' idea not 'their' idea."

Small business owner Shellie Wylie, who moved her Wishes Family Travel agency to East Birnie Street late last year, said many of the ideas sounded great.

"I wanted (my business) to be downtown," she said. With the help of other business owners, she was able to make arrangements for office space that allowed her to get up and running before rent payments were due. Wylie said that type of cooperation was invaluable to her as a small business owner, and one that could be repeated and expanded upon to get others downtown.

Her move has already paid off, she said, as she's almost equaled the amount of business she did in 2007 through just the first few months of 2008.

While supportive of the panel's recommendations, however, Wylie still walked away with some questions.

"What concerns me is whether or not anybody's going to do it," she said. Many people are going to have to participate if it's going to work, she believed.

Likewise, it was noted at a public meeting Thursday that others, like Clemson University, have done similar studies on Gaffney before and some offered similar suggestions that haven't yet been carried out.

What was missing, Branham responded on Friday, was none of those previous studies resulted in a strategic plan of action for the city. While it wasn't one of the nine recommendations, Branham said much of the work could be spearheaded by the formation of a "Team Gaffney," a volunteer board comprised of residents, business leaders and town officials working for common goals and making sure the city progresses.

Gaffney Mayor Henry Jolly, who had requested the Sustainable Leadership Institute's free assistance, was pleased with the group's work. "They pretty much hit the nail on the head," Jolly said. "It's not what happened in the past (in Gaffney) but what's happening in the future."

Asked whether all of the panel's recommendations were feasible, Jolly replied, "I really feel like if we all sit down at the table we can accomplish these and make them our goal."

Eight members from the the Sustainable Leadership Institute's current class of 54 members participated in the Gaffney study and the recommendations issued on Friday. The Sustainable Leadership Institute is part of the South Carolina Urban Land Institute, which is a professional organization of planners and economic developers from across the state. Six communities in South Carolina benefitted from the Institute's offer of free help this year.

Group members met several times with city officials in recent months to collect data about the city and then made several fact-finding visits to the city. A public meeting was held Thursday afternoon so panel members could hear ideas and opinions from city residents and business owners.

"You have so much opportunity here," Garrison said of Gaffney, a popular sentiment echoed by all the other panel members who walked away impressed.

"People here are so nice, friendly and kind," added Delk. "It has been a great experience for us."

The panel plans to give Gaffney a more formal, written report of their findings and recommendations in the near future.

A 9-POINT PLAN

An eight-member panel of urban planners and economic development officials was asked how Gaffney can attract more people to live downtown and in surrounding neighborhoods. Here are some of their recommendations for improving the downtown and using it as a catalyst to draw people in and keep them there:

FUND AND hire staff for community economic development and code enforcement.

DEVELOP DESIGN guidelines and enhancement of the commercial maintenance code.

FULLY DEVELOP the theatre/arts potential as an economic driver and residential catalyst.

CREATE A retail and restaurant recruitment plan.

ESTABLISH A small business incentive package.

EDUCATE REAL estate and residential development partners on existing opportunities and incentives.

STRENGTHEN ALLIANCES with public schools, Limestone and Spartanburg Community College.

STRENGTHEN PEDESTRIAN/BIKE access from Limestone through the historic district to the downtown.

ENHANCE DOWNTOWN image with lighting and neighborhood watch.