Farmers Market Owner Forces GPATS to Put Road-Widening Project on Hold

Joel Ann Chandler made the most of her chartered bus ride from Mauldin to Easley on Monday.

Joined by a dozen longtime friends and neighbors on the bus, and lifted by the memory of 6,500 signatures of support, Chandler, the owner of the Mauldin Open Air Market, spoke passionately in defense of her business for several minutes before a room full of GPATS members.

GPATS, the Greenville-Pickens Area Transportation Study, oversees transportation-related projects in Greenville and Pickens County. After they heard Chandler speak, GPATS voted unanimously to put a halt to a , which over the last three decades has become a Mauldin institution.

The decision is only the latest turn in the project, which is budgeted at $3.2 million. Transportation officials view the intersection near Chandler’s business as a potential “Gateway to Mauldin,” given its proximity to I-385 and the Center City area. Planners from the South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) would like to widen East Butler Road and add turn lanes on Corn and Bridges Roads. The market is not the only property of Chandler’s that would be affected. She also owns 35 acres of land across from Mauldin High School (see map attached ).

Earlier this year, engineers from SCDOT informed Chandler that they would need to cut off approximately 40 feet from the corner of her property to add a turn lane from Corn Road onto East Butler Road. According to Chandler, the move would make it impossible for her to park the tractor-trailer she uses to deliver produce to her market. As an alternative, SCDOT offered to build a driveway behind the market. But the land behind the market is roughly six feet above the road, and would need to be graded to allow for safe entry. Even with the grading, Chandler said it would be impossible for her to angle her tractor-trailer into that area.

As a compromise, Chandler said she was willing to give up some of the land across from the high school as long as the market remained unaffected.

Prior to Chandler’s remarks before GPATS on Monday, SCDOT presented its plans to the group. The presentation did little to alleviate concerns of the committee, many of whom seemed unaware of the depth of the conflict between Chandler and SCDOT. Questions from committee members appeared to leave SCDOT stumbling for answers at times and struggling to explain their decision-making. By the end of SCDOT’s presentation, the decision to put the project on hold was all but inevitable.

After the meeting, State Sen. David Thomas (R-8) who is the Chairman of GPATS said, “I’m not comfortable with the presentation I saw from SCDOT today.”

But Thomas believes that road expansion will eventually occur near Chandler’s market, but it needs to be done with a minimum of intrusion. Thomas went on to say that he believes the situation is solvable and the solution may lie in ARMS (Access and Roadside Management Standards),which is the guidebook SCDOT uses on right of way projects like the one involving Chandler’s property. It provides specifications for matters such as driveway widths and the like. Modifications to the manual might be the key to satisfying the parties involved.

Tommy Elrod, a project manager from SCDOT, could not elaborate on how the ARMS manual might need to be modified to satisfy GPATS and Chandler. “I’ve never encountered something like this,” he said.

Fred Payne, who represents District 28 on Greenville County Council and is a member of GPATS, said, ”There’s a solution here. SCDOT needs to go back out there and look again at the property and work with Ms. Chandler.”

On the bus ride home, Chandler, who put aside her usual work clothes in favor of a business suit for the occasion, was happy but not satisfied, “SCDOT cannot justify why they want to do what they want to do to my property. I’m happy (GPATS) heard me out and are willing to look at ways to protect the market.”

Chandler, who has owned the market for more than 30 years, paused for a moment and said, ”but the fight is not over. I know that.”