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Two adjacent subdivisions with a total of 522 residential lots in Piedmont have won approval despite objections raised by environmental advocates and a neighboring landowner.

After more than an hour of discussion, the Greenville County Planning Commission voted this week to give developer Mark III Properties the green light to move ahead with Cottonwood Ridge and Cloverdale Hills.

Cottonwood Ridge will include 459 single-family homes on nearly 183 acres. Cloverdale Hills will include 63 single-family homes on nearly 33 acres. The projects are near Bessie and Old Pelzer roads.

The two subdivisions are close to another large proposed development that the planning commission rejected in 2019 because of traffic concerns. Plans for the Garden Oaks development called for the construction of 862 homes on 335 acres.

Plans for subdivisions spur concerns over traffic and environmental issues

Much of the discussion at Wednesday night's meeting focused on extra traffic that the Cottonwood Ridge subdivision would create.

Frances Baty, whose property borders Cottonwood Ridge, said that Bessie Road already is "insanely busy" much of the time and badly needs repairs.

"The nearby infrastructure can't safely support so many new homes and the subsequent increase in traffic," she said.

Baty also said storm water from the development would drain into Emily Branch Creek, which is the only water supply for her farmland, and pose threats.

"The adverse impact to the area is just simply too great to ignore," she said.

Megan Chase, the clean-water advocate for Upstate Forever, said the layout of Cottonwood Ridge may alter the natural flow of water in the area, especially after heavy storms. She said that could pose a threat to a nearby mitigation bank that her group has formed where developers can make financial contributions to offset the loss of wetlands elsewhere.

She said the U.S. Corps of Engineers is completing its final review of the 27-acre Grove Creek mitigation bank.

Michael Martinez, an attorney with the South Carolina Environmental Project, said the subdivisions will be built in a "sparsely developed area that will be permanently and substantially altered by development of this size and magnitude."

Engineer Paul Harrison says Piedmont is 'starving for new growth'

Paul Harrison, a civil engineer for the subdivisions, said improvements will be made at the intersection of Bessie and Pelzer roads to ease traffic concerns.

He also said the development would comply with county stormwater regulations.

According to Harrison, Cottonwood Ridge will have larger lots and less density than county rules require in unzoned areas.

He said the new homes will be priced at between $225,000 and $250,000 and that the subdivision will feature ample common areas with walking trails.

"Piedmont is starving for something," Harrison said. "Piedmont is starving for growth."

Developer John Beeson echoed Harrison's comments, describing the project as a "tremendous asset" for Piedmont.

"This community is loaded down with mobile homes, older houses," he said.

After tie vote, Planning Commission requires extra entrance

Planning commissioner Cindy Clark voiced her opposition to plans for Cottonwood Ridge. She said a traffic study indicated that the development would lead to a 58% increase in traffic in the area.

"I am just concerned about the sheer size of this project," Clark said.

An initial motion to approve Cottonwood Ridge failed on a 4-4 vote. After further debate, another motion that added a requirement for a third entrance to the subdivision and other conditions was approved on a 5-3 vote.

Plans for Cloverdale Hills were approved after only a brief discussion.

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It’s not an incorporated town, but a census-designated area along the Saluda River best known for once being home to one of the largest textile mills in the world. The mill that birthed the place known as Piedmont burned down in the 1980s, and today only a lone smokestack remains. But it’s being discovered once again, because it’s home to one of the scarcest assets in metro Greenville—affordable housing.

Once a quiet, out-of-the-way place where Greenville and Anderson counties meet, Piedmont is becoming more and more a destination for both prospective homebuyers and real estate agents searching for lower-priced homes in a market where such things have become very difficult to find. Half a dozen new home communities have sprung up around Piedmont, which features an official population of just 5,400, but average home prices which can be $50,000 less than those in the city of Greenville itself.

“Piedmont has seen tremendous growth in recent years from a residential perspective, and a new construction perspective at that, because builders are able to offer more affordable options than they would in nearby areas such as Mauldin and Simpsonville,” said Norell Mitchell Grissett, a Coldwell Banker Caine agent who’s active in the area. “Historically, land prices have been cheaper in Piedmont. And so in turn, the builders have the opportunity to offer lower prices on the homes that they would build in comparison to some more saturated areas of the Upstate.”

According to the Western Upstate Association of Realtors, the median sales price in Piedmont in January was $291,450, a 48.8 percent jump from the $195,900 of the same month in 2020. But that remains a bargain compared to January average prices of $335,000 in Fountain Inn, $353,750 in Mauldin, $360,000 in the city of Greenville north of downtown, and $650,000 in central Greenville, according to the Greater Greenville Association of Realtors.

A surge of new-home communities

And although inventory shortages exist everywhere within the greater Greenville area, Piedmont’s available supply of less expensive, developable land means more new home communities with less sticker shock. Grissett, who works for Coldwell Banker Caine’s new home division, represents Great Southern Homes, an Irmo-based company that’s building Harvest Glen, a new community that will be comprised of around 200 homes with prices starting in the low $200,000s.

Harvest Glen is approaching 100 sales in just under a year since opening, so the demand is clearly there. And Great Southern Homes is hardly the only new home builder operating in Piedmont—Cambridge Walk and Bracken Woods by D.R. Horton are offering floor plans starting in the high $200,000s, Barrington Creek by Ryan Homes is offering homes from the mid-$200,00s, and Attenborough by Eastwood Homes is offering townhomes from the mid-$200,000s.

“I think the amount of new construction offerings in Piedmont has just increased within the last few years,” Grissett said. “And I think based off the market statistics that I’ve been seeing, that trend is only going to continue. I think there’s going to be an additional surge of new communities, builders and consumers that are drawn to this area. The need for affordable housing is not going anywhere. And Piedmont will continue to offer our market a solution to that problem for some time.”

Some Greenville real estate agents will readily admit that they had never even been to Piedmont before the pandemic-fueled buying frenzy that started in mid-2020 and continues today. The area’s claim to fame was once Piedmont Manufacturing Company, a textile mill that opened in 1874 and by the turn of the century was the largest in South Carolina. But by 1977, its textile-producing days were over, according to the National Park Service, and a 1983 fire burned down a facility that had been designated a National Historic Landmark.

Since then, Piedmont has existed mainly at the fringes of Greenville’s industrial and manufacturing rebirth. Even now, “you do feel like you’re tucked away,” Grissett said. “It has a little more rural, country feel to it. It’s a little quieter, a little more laid back. But it is so close to downtown Greenville. You have shopping off West Georgia and Fairview roads. And you have easy access to that corridor of shopping on Butler Road in Mauldin. So while you have the feeling of being pulled away a little bit, you do have access to things that are convenient.”

Retail and redevelopment hopes

And almost certainly, Piedmont’s surge of new home construction will bring more nearby conveniences along with it; “retail follows rooftops,” after all, is a real estate adage that’s stood the test of time. Michelin and Lockheed Martin are among the major employers nearby, and the area now has two grocery stores anchoring shopping plazas. And “there’s absolutely going to be a need” for more commercial retail developments, Grissett added, as more new homeowners move into the area. A local developer, Larry Webb, even aims to redevelop Piedmont’s former mill village itself. State money has been earmarked to build a new pedestrian bridge over the Saluda River, and a taproom and coffee shop are planned for an old mercantile building. The ultimate goal is a picturesque riverfront downtown, just like Greenville’s.

Meanwhile, the new home building boom in Piedmont shows no signs of letting up. As of last week, Grissett had only two available homes remaining in Harvest Glen’s current phase, with a an additional phase set to come online soon. If current building trends hold—always an uncertain proposition given the supply chain issues that have hamstrung builders throughout the Upstate—the Piedmont area could soon have hundreds more new homes and thousands more new residents than it did only a few years ago.

“It would not surprise me to see 1,000 new homes within a few years’ time here, because you do have some communities that are a little bit larger than Harvest Glen, so I think you have to account for them,” Grissett said. “Some of them have closed out just fairly recently, where they went into Piedmont a few years prior to Great Southern Homes entering that market. But because those communities did so well, they now have other areas that they’re selling out of. So I would not be surprised to see those numbers increase.”

GREENVILLE, S.C. – After months of collaborating with local community leaders, government officials and individual landowners, Piedmont Natural Gas today said it plans to locate its Greenville County Reliability Project in the Department of Transportation (DOT) right of way running along Highway 290. The new infrastructure project is vital to meeting the demand for natural gas resulting from growth in and around Greenville.

Those familiar with the project will recognize this as Piedmont’s proposed blue route. The company offered three different routes, labeled as red, green and blue, and invited landowners, business operators along each route and other community stakeholders to submit feedback and share any additional details to consider when evaluating the route options.

After reviewing community input as well as environmental impact, safety, cost and reliability, the blue route, which is roughly 12 miles long, beginning near the post office in Taylors, S.C., and ending off Highway 25, emerged as the most preferred route.

Hank McCullough, Piedmont Natural Gas community relations manager said, “working directly with this community and the impacted landowners has not only given us a clear path forward for this project, it also has allowed Piedmont to hear firsthand what’s important to the people of this community. We appreciate everyone who participated in the evaluation process and recognize there is a clear expectation that we continue to preserve and protect the environment.”

Construction of the Greenville County Reliability Project is still more than a year away with land surveys set to begin early in 2022. Piedmont says it will communicate directly with landowners and businesses along the route before land surveys begin and throughout the process until the project is complete. The company also will continue posting up-to-date project information on its website at piedmontng.com/Greenville.

The Greenville County Reliability Project is critical to meeting this growing demand for natural gas. Piedmont Natural Gas serves almost 91,000 customers in Greenville County, and experienced approximately 3% growth annually in the area in recent consecutive years.

Piedmont Natural Gas

Piedmont Natural Gas, a subsidiary of Duke Energy, is an energy services company whose principal business is the distribution of natural gas to more than 1 million residential, commercial and industrial customers in North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. The company also supplies natural gas to power plants. Piedmont is routinely recognized by J.D. Power for excellent customer satisfaction, and has been named by Cogent Reports as one of the most trusted utility brands in the U.S.

Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK), a Fortune 150 company headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., is one of America’s largest energy holding companies. Its electric utilities serve 7.9 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky, and collectively own 51,000 megawatts of energy capacity. Its natural gas unit serves 1.6 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Ohio and Kentucky. The company employs 27,500 people.

Duke Energy is executing an aggressive clean energy strategy to create a smarter energy future for its customers and communities – with goals of at least a 50 percent carbon reduction by 2030 and net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. The company is a top U.S. renewable energy provider, on track to own or purchase 16,000 megawatts of renewable energy capacity by 2025. The company also is investing in major electric grid upgrades and expanded battery storage, and exploring zero-emitting power generation technologies such as hydrogen and advanced nuclear.

Duke Energy was named to Fortune’s 2021 “World’s Most Admired Companies” list and Forbes’ “America’s Best Employers” list. More information is available at duke-energy.com. The Duke Energy News Center contains news releases, fact sheets, photos and videos. Duke Energy’s illumination features stories about people, innovations, community topics and environmental issues. Follow Duke Energy on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook.

Piedmont Natural Gas media contact: Jennifer Sharpe Phone: 877.348.3612 Email: jennifer.sharpe@duke-energy.com

CHARLOTTE, N.C., April 1, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Piedmont Natural Gas today filed a request with the South Carolina Public Service Commission to recover recent capital investments and update its operating costs and billing rates through a general rate case proceeding.

The capital investments allow Piedmont to comply with federal regulations, build needed infrastructure, and provide safe, reliable and affordable natural gas to customers.

If approved, Piedmont anticipates the rates will go into effect by October 1, with the typical residential customer in South Carolina paying, on average, just under $4 more per month, or $46 more per year.

"We work to keep costs as low as possible while continuing to reliably and safely serve our customers," said Sasha Weintraub, Piedmont Natural Gas senior vice president and president. "These investments are critical to strengthening and modernizing our system to meet the service needs of our customers and growing communities."

The overall revenue increase allocated to Piedmont's customer groups – residential, commercial and industrial – is 3.4%.

Piedmont serves about 157,000 customers in Anderson, Spartanburg, Greenville and Cherokee counties in South Carolina. Piedmont's last general rate case proceeding in South Carolina was in 2002.

Piedmont has adjusted rates through incremental changes since 2005 when the Natural Gas Rate Stabilization Act (RSA) was enacted into state law. The RSA allows Piedmont to adjust rates annually in order to align with its capital spending and changes in operating costs needed to continue to provide safe and reliable natural gas service to customers. Piedmont agreed with the South Carolina Office of Regulatory Staff in 2019 to file a general rate case no later than April 1, 2022 to conduct a more comprehensive review of rates including the allocation of costs to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

"Many of these investments were required for us to safely operate in our communities, but we know some customers may be facing economic hardships that can make any price increase challenging," Weintraub said. "There are a variety of ways customers can manage their bills through assistance programs, the equal payment plan program and using energy saving-tools."

Equal Payment Program (EPP)

This free service helps customers manage their budgets by eliminating high winter bills. The EPP program levels out a customer's natural gas bills, allowing them to pay a predictable, equal monthly amount to help avoid billing surprises. Piedmont determines this payment by adding up a customer's annual natural gas usage and then dividing it into the same payment amount each month. Learn more here.

Assistance for customers in need

Share the Warmth provides funds to local agencies to assist families with their utility bills, no matter the source of energy they use.

The Low Income Energy Assistance Program (LIEAP) provides winter heating assistance to pay for gas, electric and other methods customers use to heat their homes. There are many customers who are eligible but do not apply for this annual federal benefit that can reduce heating costs for low-income families. More information: http://oeo.sc.gov/liheap.html

Energy-saving tools

Piedmont Natural Gas also offers a variety of energy-saving tools to help customers and our communities identify ways to save money and energy all year long. These programs and tools help customers understand what factors are impacting their natural gas bills and emphasize specific actions they can take to reduce the impacts of high winter usage.

Piedmont Natural Gas

Piedmont Natural Gas, a subsidiary of Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK), distributes natural gas to more than 1.1 million residential, commercial, industrial and power generation customers in North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. Piedmont is routinely recognized by J.D. Power for excellent customer satisfaction, and has been named by Cogent Reports as one of the most trusted utility brands in the U.S. More information: piedmontng.com. Follow Piedmont Natural Gas: Twitter, Facebook.

Media contact: Meghan MilesMedia Line: 877.348.3612Email: meghan.miles@duke-energy.com

SOURCE Piedmont Natural Gas

Like any good investor, Larry Webb always does his homework before diving into a big new project.

There’s the usual data to pore over: census figures, area demographics, zoning due diligence, market trends, and so on.

But when it comes to the planned transformation of the old Piedmont Mill Village, a portion of which Webb is personally financing himself, the prime motivating factor had nothing to do with numbers.

Instead, it was a car full of young people that sealed the deal for him.

“I live in Piedmont, have for years, so I’m very familiar with the area and the history of the mill,” Webb said.

Anyone who has ever drifted lazily in a kayak down the Saluda River is likely familiar with the site of the former mill village. The historic mill building, Piedmont Number One, was built in 1873 by Henry Pinckney Hammett of the Piedmont Manufacturing Company. As the years went by, another mill, Piedmont Number Two, was built across the river, and the company became one of the world’s largest textile mills and a leader in the global industry, with four mills running simultaneously.

The old historic mill building was built in 1905 Piedmont Mill Village shut down its mills in 1977.

The spinning of the mills’ 5,000 spindles and 112 looms spurred a hub of commercial activity, and thus the Piedmont Mill Village was born.

But that once-thriving village has now fallen silent, after the mills shut down in 1977 and Piedmont One burned down in a fire five years later. All that remains now is the old smokestack, a monument of a lost era.

The right track

It just so happened that Webb was standing in front of that old smokestack a few months ago when a car full of young people pulled up and came to a slow stop behind him. The strangers got out and asked Webb what he was up to.

He told them his plans to transform the old Piedmont Manufacturing Mercantile Building into a commercial hub, restoring it to its original purpose. The building, also referred to as a community store, was built in 1905 but has sat languishing for years.

“Larry told me about this moment, how the girl in the car mentioned that they were so glad to hear it,” said Greenville County Councilman Lynn Ballard, who spoke with Webb shortly thereafter. “The young people told him, ‘Several of us are really interested in moving to Piedmont because we can afford it, since it’s much cheaper than Greenville,’ but they said they wanted the amenities young folks want — coffee shops, restaurants, cafes.”

That moment was all Webb needed to know he was on the right track.

“I’d already thought this was a beautiful building,” Webb said. “I’d talked to business leaders, the Lions Club, Rotary Club, and everyone said that if we can get downtown back to life, it would be a tremendous boon to the community. Now we’re fully committed to making it happen as soon as possible.”

Four mills ran on the Saluda River in Piedmont for decades, beginning in the 1870s, creating a hub of activity, including office, retail and a village area.

But despite his urgency, unforeseen roadblocks have led to the project being one year behind schedule.

Webb purchased the mercantile building back in 2018 and spent 18 months going through the historical tax credit qualification, an arduous process requiring him to get the building on the historic register. Once he was finally approved, he went through the redesign process, making sure the building met all the criteria the state and federal government require to get the building back to its historic condition.

Meanwhile, Webb worked to get pre-lease agreements for more than 65% of the space, with plans for a tap house, a coffee shop, a restaurant, office space and an art gallery, with apartments planned for the second floor.

Construction was all set to begin in March 2020, with occupancy planned for spring of 2021.

“Then the virus hit,” Webb said. “We decided it wouldn’t be wise to begin the restoration of the building and get it ready for occupancy if businesses weren’t allowed to operate, so we put a temporary moratorium on the restoration to wait out the virus.”

Now the restoration is set to start on a new timeline, beginning late spring, with occupancy by the spring of 2022.

A riverfront community

The restoration of the old mercantile building is one of two major projects ongoing in the old mill village. Developer Brad Skelton, of Red Oak Developers, is also working on building a riverfront community of townhouses in the spot where the old mill buildings once stood.

Plans are still preliminary, but discussions have been about the project featuring a new brewery, retail space, green space and as many as 60 townhouses.

Kayak access via a dock is also part of the plans, as is a pedestrian bridge where the old steam pipe once crossed the river behind the waterfalls, creating “pedestrian connectivity between Anderson and Greenville counties,” according to Webb.

“You’re going to have people now able to come back down to Piedmont to grab something to eat, grab a beer, hang out,” Webb said. “There’s going to be a lot of public interaction, so five years from now, we envision downtown is going to be the center of activity in Piedmont once again.”

Did you know?

Correction: a previous version of this story stated that developer Richard Greer, of State Investors, was involved in the riverfront community alongside Brad Skelton. We have since learned that Greer passed away in November. We apologize for the mistake.