Harlem City Council’s Monday evening meeting drew an unusually large crowd of residents opposing a proposed project that would entail the annexation by Harlem of more than 700 acres of land for the development of possibly hundreds of new home lots.
The subject unincorporated parcel along Clary Cut Road is currently zoned Residential Agricultural (R-A). The proposed annexation could also include rezoning it under Harlem’s R-1 zoning, the lowest density in the city’s zoning ordinance.
Harlem citizens in attendance cited a host of concerns about the prospective annexation, rezoning and development, including increased traffic — especially considering the site’s proximity to Harlem High School — and strain on public safety and emergency services.
“I want to see from the developer where there’s going to be an acceleration lane, a deceleration lane. I want to see what kind of green spaces we’re looking at,” said resident Brian Serakas to the council. “I am very, very concerned about what we are doing here. I understand progress… but we have to be very, very careful with what we are doing, especially on Clary Cut. I have a feeling that we are going to destroy Harlem, and have a problem with Columbia County in general if we do R-1 housing.”
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Benjamin Lyda told the council that an open records request he made regarding the subject property yielded 369 pages of relevant documents, and claimed that the city had not issued him the records.
“I think until we have all the records that we legally are able to have you should not be hearing this request,” Lyda said. “You should not be voting on because we don’t have the information that we are legally required for you to give us.”
Lauren McCord returned before the council to address her own attempts at acquiring open records from Harlem. McCord attended the city council’s March 24 meeting to confront the city about what she says is the Harlem Police Department’s obscuring of information regarding the Jan. 16 shooting incident.
On Monday, McCord brought the issues up again, saying that the Harlem Police did not fully investigate the shooting and withheld documents when McCord requested them, before being cut off just shy of the three-minute limit for public comments.
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“There’s a larger problem here, and it’s not going to stand forever, and now, with that same broken system still unaccountable, this city is rushing to talk about annexation, about adding more land, more families, more responsibility,” said McCord. “Harlem hasn’t taken care of what it already has. It didn’t take care of my nephew. You didn’t take care of the truth. You didn’t take care of accountability. How can you promise safety to new families when you fail the ones already here?”
Jessie West, an architect with Carter Engineering, spoke at the meeting on behalf of the property owner, saying that the aim of the project is only use portion of the 736 acres, accounting for riparian areas — where land transitions to water — that can’t be developed, dedicating over 30 acres fronting the property the city or a non-profit.
“We’re not looking to put 1,500 lots on this property. We want to put a fraction of that,” said West, stressing that while Carter’s client does aim to profit from the project, he also intends to make a positive impact. “We love our rural areas, but we understand that if you don’t grow and if you don’t grow smart, you will suffer, and we don’t want that for the city of Harlem.”
All councilmembers voted to continue considering the development, save for Councilman Daniel Bellavance, who opposed. The Harlem Planning Commission will consider the rezoning during its May 6 meeting.
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Skyler Andrews is a reporter covering business for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
