GREENVILLE, S.C. (WSPA) – Greenville leaders are still working on the blueprint of a new draft code. The city has asked for feedback and many residents have not shied away from expressing their concerns.

“As I have gotten more educated about it I have found that the whole direction of our city is going to be radically changed.” Greenville resident Dolly Herron said.

“It will destroy the character of Greenville if they implement this,” Greenville resident Paige Wisdom said.

Greenville’s 2040 draft development code estimates Greenville’s population of 66,000 possibly climbing to 128,000 people. Residents say they are concerned with the large amount of growth, and increased homelessness with not enough affordable housing, among other issues.

“There is going to be a huge infrastructure cost that is going to increase taxes that they are not even talking about,” Wisdom said. “So the sewage system, how does that work if you double the population.”

Wisdom says the plan was adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic with less than one percent participation from the community. 

“Once people know, they are extremely concerned,” Wisdom said. “The problem is it is really hard to find it out. I had to read a 140-page, 2040 plan and then a 450-page zoning document.”

Herron says she has now created a petition to educate others on what is going on in the neighborhoods they live and work in.

“It is really just about educating people and asking them to take a minute,” Herron said. “It is very difficult to decipher but just take a minute and look at the properties you care about, your family, your friends, your relatives. Look at those properties because you need to look at what they are zoned now and what they’re going to be zoned and what the ramifications are for the people you care about.”

Community members who are concerned about the rezoning say they would like to see the plan more carefully thought out, on a neighborhood-by-neighborhood basis.

The petition currently has close to 1,500 signatures. 

“We need to keep some of the city like it is,” Herron said. “That is why people come here.” 

Greenville Planning Commission will hold another public hearing on May 15th at Unity Park at 4 p.m.