Public Gets First Glimpse of City Center Plan

The saying “If you build it, they will come,“ first was heard among the cornfields in the film Field of Dreams. It has long since become a cliché, but its most recent application would be to the proposed City Center project that would effectively remake Mauldin into a destination retail spot rather than a quaint suburb to one of the most admired cities in the country.

The first look at the City Center proposal was unveiled on Tuesday evening at City Hall by Rick McMackin of LandPlan Group South and Randy Wilson of Community Design Solutions.

The Tuesday meeting .

Both McMackin and Wilson emphasized that the presentation was just the first step and that developments of the type they were presenting typically undergo many iterations before a final plan is approved.

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The response of the 40 to 50 people in attendance—many of whom are small business owners or who own property that would be directly affected by the projected City Center location—was generally positive.

The biggest questions were about the flow of traffic on Main Street and in City Center itself. Wilson said it is important for Mauldin to create secondary gateways other than relying on the ones on Butler Road and 276/Main St./Laurens Rd.

One of Mauldin’s biggest obstacles to generating a thriving business community has been its lack of identity. This manifested itself again on Tuesday, when there was a a disagreement about how to refer to 276/Main St./Laurens Rd, which, given the proposed location of the City Cente,r is not an insignificant detail.

But for Mauldin to keep pace with what is projected to be 11 percent population growth in the next five years, there was a consensus that the city must move forward to become more accommodating to the business community.

More than a few in attendance asked “Why would anyone shop in Mauldin?” or “Wouldn’t these compete with existing businesses?”

Getting those people to shop closer to home is one of the goals according to McMackin, who added that every retail category would be studied, but right now Mauldin residents “go somewhere else for just about everything.”

McMackin added that optimally, the City Center would be a 3-5 year endeavor.

At the conclusion of the presentations, City Administrator Trey Eubanks told the audience, ”This plan will help us leverage grants and it will help us recruit private investment into the city. If we don't have a plan to present to investors, then it's a tougher sell."

There will be another public session in June that would detail how the City Center could be marketed and/or promoted.

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