Today’s Note

Please excuse our dust. We’re currently working to bring you an even better newsletter. Over the next couple weeks, you may see some things that are still in the works. We’re excited for you to see what we’ve been up to.

Talking in code

What’s next for The City of Greenville’s revised development code draft?

What’s next for development in GVL? | Photo via @james_simpson_photography

Noticed the orange signs popping up around town?

They are postings for the City of Greenville Planning Commission’s public hearing on Thursday, March 30 to review the revised draft of the Development Code.

gvl_city of greenville development code_mar 23 — Have you come across one? | Photo by GVLtoday

What are the revisions?

The updates in this proposed draft aim to “protect neighborhoods and define development zones”:

Improving housing affordability
- Allowance of secondary residential dwelling units (like garage apartments and carriage houses)
- Addition of height or density for developers in exchange for affordability
Restricting short-term rentals (like Airbnbs) to downtown and commercial districts
Reduction of front-yard parking, stormwater runoff, and light pollution from commercial areas
Protection of heritage trees

How can I learn more?

Those interested in better understanding the draft code and its effect on your property can attend one of the City’s drop-in Learning Labs with City planning staff:

Tuesday, March 21 | 9 a.m.-12 p.m. | Prisma Health Welcome Center at Unity Park, 111 Welborn St.
Wednesday, March 22 | 2-5 p.m. | Greenville Convention Center, 1 Exposition Dr., Room 104AB
Thursday, March 23 | 11 a.m.-2 p.m. | City Hall, 206 S. Main St., 3rd Floor Conference Room
Monday, March 27 | 3-5 p.m. | City Hall, 206 S. Main St., 3rd Floor Conference Room

If you would like to share formal feedback on the draft code with the Planning Commission, you can register to attend the public hearing on Thursday, March 30 at 4 p.m. at City Hall.

Click below to visit the City’s Development Code webpage for more information on the code, including the first draft, monthly reports, and recorded Code Connection information sessions.

MORE ABOUT THE CODE

Events

Tuesday, March 21

Worm Composting | Tuesday, Mar. 21 | 6-7 p.m. | Berea Library, Sarah Dobey Jones Branch, 111 N. Hwy. 25 Bypass, Greenville | Free | Discover how to start, maintain, and troubleshoot vermicomposting systems — participants will have the option to take home Red Wigglers to get their worm compost started.

Wednesday, March 22

#BleedPurple Blood Drive | Wednesday, Mar. 22 | 11 a.m.-4 p.m. | Trone Student Center, 3300 Poinsett Hwy., Greenville | Free | Donate blood with The Blood Connection to receive a $20 eGift card, a Lucky Donor Scratch Off, and $10 donation per donor to the Paladin Scholarship Fund.
August Briggs California Wine Dinner | Wednesday, Mar. 22 | 7-9 p.m. | Foxcroft Wine Co., 631 S. Main St., Greenville | $99 | Sip on wines from this owner-managed craft producer of small lot and sustainably produced wines paired with four courses — community style and bar seating available.

Thursday, March 23

Greenville High School vs. JL Mann High School | Thursday, Mar. 23 | 6:30 p.m. | Fluor Field, 945 S. Main St., Greenville | $7 | The Greenville High School Red Raiders take on the JL Mann High School Patriots in downtown Greenville.

Friday, March 24

2023 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament Regionals | Friday, Mar. 24-Monday, Mar. 27 | Times vary | Bon Secours Wellness Arena, 650 N. Academy St., Greenville | $20-$42 | Experience March Madness in Greenville at the Division I Women’s Basketball Tournament Regional.

Saturday, March 25

Cook the Book | Saturday, Mar. 25 | 12-2 p.m. | M. Judson Booksellers, 130 S. Main St., Greenville | $65-$98 | Join Chef Teryi Youngblood Musolf to cook two recipes from “Cooking For The Culture: Recipes and Stories From The New Orleans Streets To The Table”.

Sunday, March 26

Earring Arty Party | Sunday, Mar. 26 | 2-5 p.m. | The Community Tap North Main, 217 Wade Hampton Blvd., Greenville | $30 | With the help of local art teacher Emily Thompson, you will learn to make a set of fun, fringy seed bead earrings in a color combo all your own.

Plan Ahead

Great Blue Gathering | Friday, Apr. 21 | 5:30-8 p.m. | Conestee Nature Preserve, 840 Mauldin Rd., Greenville | $90-$98 | Conestee Nature Preserve’s signature fundraising event will feature live music, local vendors, a silent auction, dinner, and drinks.

We have a calendar filled with events and activities you can plan for in advance. Click the button below to bookmark ideas for upcoming date nights, family outings, and time with friends.

Click here to have your event featured.

100+ MORE EVENTS

Giveaway

Culture

Celebrate spring with Dinner On Us

Presented by a GVLtoday Partner

We’re giving away $500 in gift cards to local restaurants to four lucky winners over the next two weeks ($2,000 total). | Image by 6AM City

It’s finally springtime, Greenville, and we’re dreaming about outdoor dinners at our favorite local restaurants. To help make that dream a reality for our readers and celebrate the season, we’re bringing back our popular Dinner On Us giveaway, sponsored by Greenville Federal Credit Union. 🌸

Each week for two weeks (starting right now), we’ll give two random winners five $100 gift cards to five restaurants of their choice. That’s a total of four winners who will receive $500 each for delicious, local dinners — indoors or al fresco.

Head over to our Instagram (@GVLtoday) to learn more and enter. *

ENTER TO WIN

News Notes

Weather

63º | Partly cloudy | 0% chance of rain

Development

The City of Greenville’s Planning Commission approved Creekview Townes (450 E. Park Ave.). Plans for the 32-unit multi-family housing development along Richland Creek include 65 parking spaces and ~56,300-sqft of open space.

Outdoors

Norfolk Southern will sell 31 miles of abandoned railway to create a new “rail trail” connecting North and South Carolina. When complete, the trail will pass through Inman, Campobello, and Landrum, SC and through Tryon, Columbus, and Saluda, NC. (Greenville Journal)

Sports

The Tip-Off FanFest returns to Main Street for the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament this Thursday, March 23 at Piedmont Natural Gas Downtown Alive. Catch Kansas State vs. Michigan State on the big screen at 6:30 p.m., UConn vs. Arkansas at 7:15 p.m., and live music by The Bobcat Patrol.

Feel Good

It’s a girl. The Greenville Zoo’s Masai Giraffe, Autumn, gave birth to her seventh calf on Sunday, March 19, at 1:10 p.m. The zoo says, “The little one was standing on its own and nursing by 3:30 pm.” Get a glimpse of Autumn and her baby on the zoo’s live Barn Camera.
After finding a stuffed animal left behind on a plane at GSP, Upstate local and United Airlines ramp agent Carol Rabel took to social media to find its owner. “...maybe as good as social media is now... we can find his person.” If you’re Pig’s owner, fetch him at GSP’s Lost and Found.

Number

$2.9 million+. That’s how much the Metropolitan Arts Council (MAC) fundraised in 2022 — $700,000 more than 2021 and “its most financially successful year since its founding in 1973,” says MAC Executive Director Alan Ethridge. See the local arts nonprofit’s fundraising highlights and multiple donation recipients. (Greenville Journal)

Arts

Did you know? Donating to MAC comes with major perks (on top of supporting the arts in our city). A $100 donation means you’ll receive postcards for gallery openings and other events, plus a MAC ArtCard for BOGO performance tickets (which can be received on its own with a $50 donation). 🎨*

Finance

Did you know credit unions are not-for-profit financial institutions? What this means for members: higher returns on deposits, lower loan rates, fewer fees, and many services provided at no cost.*

Wellness

What’s in: red light therapy. What’s out: forms of treatment that are painful and invasive. Red light therapy is non-invasive and painless, and evidence suggests it may be able to ease body aches, heal sun damage, and build collagen. Brb — we’re adding this easy-to-prop light and this facial massager to our Amazon cart.

Announced

Welcome to downtown GVL, Whole Foods

Whole Foods announced as an anchor tenant in the County Square redevelopment

Rendering of County Square and Whole Foods Market in Greenville, SC

Whole Foods | Rendering via RocaPoint Partners

Downtown Greenville is getting a little more organic.

Whole Foods Market, a natural and organic food retailer, will be an anchor tenant in the $1 billion County Square redevelopment on University Ridge.

This standalone Whole Foods will join five other locations across the state, with the closest located on Woodruff Road in Greenville.

The County Square redevelopment — also anchored by Greenville County’s administrative complex — has been in progress since February 2020 and could take ~10 years to complete.

By the time it’s finished, it will feature restaurants and shops, office space, and multi-family housing — stay tuned for future tenant announcements.

Click below to learn more about the redevelopment and get a peek at the county’s new space in the Greenville Journal.

PEEK INTO COUNTY SQUARE

The Wrap

Today’s Edition By:
Kyle

From the Editor

While yesterday’s temperatures didn’t feel like the first day of spring, all the buds on the trees and bushes around Greenville said otherwise.

Be on the lookout for native blooms like Dogwood and Yellow Jessamine or buy some to plant at this year’s Upstate Native Plant Sale on Saturday, April 15.

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P.O. Box 2505, Greenville, SC 29602