#YeahTHATAgenda: Demolition at Proposed Mixed-Use Site on Laurens Road, SC Republicans Go Green, Grindr Threat, Male Birth Control Pill

Work Has Begun at Site of New Laurens Road Mixed-Use Development, The Enclave: Demolition of the former S.C. Department of Highways and Public Transportation and Department of Motor Vehicles buildings on Laurens Road has begun, leading the way for the new mixed-use development at the intersections of Laurens, Airport, and Pleasantburg roads, The Enclave at Laurens Village.

The McCall Capital development was initially announced in 2015, but is now moving forward, with the derelict DMV little more than dust and the more prominent Dept. of Highways building in the midst of demolition.

Because the site was previously a transportation depot for the S.C. Highway Patrol, the site had been designated a brownfields site. The Enclave has agreed to voluntarily clean up the site.

In 2016, Greenville City Council passed an ordinance approving the appropriation of $1.5 million in wastewater enterprise funds for the construction of a sewer line for the property.

According to the brownfields voluntary cleanup document from the Dept. of Health and Environmental Control, the "Enclave intends to develop the property for mixed retail, commercial, and residential, including apartments, condominiums, and townhouses."

The Enclave purchased the 10-acre site for $1.6 million in 2015 from the Dept. of Public Safety.

Once completed, The Enclave will join a host of other redevelopment efforts along Laurens Road, a key commercial corridor for the city that has fallen on hard times in recent years. The rebirth of Laurens Road can be traced to the arrival of the Verdae development in the Motor Mile area and Willy Taco near Washington Street.

Future developments include the mixed-use Holland Park at a now-vacant senior living center and the extension of the Swamp Rabbit Trail with a bridge running over Laurens and the trail running nearly parallel to the street.

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The newly formed group Conservatives for Clean Energy SC has released a poll showing strong state Republican support for clean energy: According to the poll, potential general election voters in the Palmetto State lean red, with President Donald Trump showing a 12-point lead over any Democratic candidate in the 2022 campaign, while 55% said they would vote for U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham if an election was held today.

For many this will not come as a surprise. But what they may find surprising is just how strongly South Carolina Republicans support clean energy, based upon Conservatives for Clean Energy SC's findings.

According to the poll from the clean energy activist group, "72% of SC Republicans support the development of clean energy," while "62% of SC respondents oppose drilling off our coast."

“Our survey confirms that state conservatives not only support clean energy, they strongly support developing more renewable energy sources like solar and wind," says Luke Byars, Conservatives for Clean Energy SC adviser and longtime state political consultant, in a statement. "Clearly, there’s no denying the growing strength of clean energy in South Carolina any longer.”

Byars is not the only long-time Palmetto State conservative to adopt a more enviro-friendly stance. Former Upstate Congressman Bob Inglis founded the conservative climate change think tank RepublicEn in 2012. A strong believer that climate change is real and it's caused by human behavior, Inglis lost his Congressional seat in 2010 largely because of his views. Since then, he's become a trailblazer among Republicans.

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