Maxine Moragne opened the screen door to her homeon Pinedale Drive on a recent gray and drizzly Thursdaymorningand immediately spotted a group of deer at odds with theirsurrounding.
The deer tried to escape the Piney Mountain neighborhood near Cherrydale —climbing up a hill behind the houses across from Moragne'shome —but was met with a fenceshielding residents from businesses and shopping centers facing North Pleasantburg Drive.
Similarly, development borders Moragne's backyard and Pinedale Drive where it dead-ends at her property.
It bothered Moragne that the deer had nowhere to go and was left wandering around "trying to find a place to be," she said. As her community gets "squeezed" by development, Moragne said she wonders if her neighborswill eventually find themselves like the deer.
"Are the people next?" she asked.
It's a question residents in the Piney Mountain area have pondered before and even now as construction progresses on a new shopping center in their community.
More:Sterling residents feel ignored, at odds with developer over naming of new townhomes
The new Cherrydale Market will have high profile tenants such as Burlington, Chipotle, and Hobby Lobby. It's expected to open on North Pleasantburg, near Furman Hall Road, in the first quarter of this year.
In 2007, RealtyLink LLC, a Greenville real estate development company, sought to rezone acreageat the intersection of Furman Hall Road and North Pleasantburg Drive as part of a shopping center concept similar to Cherrydale Market.
This was after Crosland Barnes Group, a Columbia shopping center developer, and Realty Link developed Cherrydale Cornerson North Pleasantburg. It's hometoGolden Corral, Staples, Starbucks, FedEx, PetCo, and other storesopposite Cherrydale Point.
A row of houses on Sylvania Avenue was razed after being sold to accommodate thatshopping center.
Piney Mountain property owners petitioned against that 2007rezoning request, citing among other reasons,commercial encroachment in their community.
Twice, the year before, they'd alsofought a request by developers to rezone residential properties at North Pleasantburg and Tulip Street for commercial use.
County Council denied both those requests. The 2007 rezoning request wasalso denied.
In 2013, Wolverton & Associates applied to rezone properties at the Furman Hall and North Pleasantburg Drive, from a residential,commercial, and service classifications to a C-3 commercial zoning, according to Greenville County records.
According to minutes of a June 18, 2013 Greenville County Council meeting, both the planning commissionand committee had recommended approval. County CouncilwomanXanthene Norris, whose District 23 includes the Piney Mountain area, moved to allow a third reading on the rezoning requests.
The following month, prior to thefinal vote on the rezoning request, Norris "stated she had concerns with the proposal,"and that "citizens feared being pushed out of the area by new development," the July 2013 County Council meeting minutes said.
Opinion:Why West Greenville is not, and should never be, 'The Village'
Also according to the minutes, Norris stated that she"worked with the applicant and they expressed an interest in working with the residents and Greenville County to make between six and seven acres available for a recreational facility or related activities."
She requested the council consider an agreement in which "if the excess property was deeded to Greenville County, the Worley Road communitywould be designated as a quality investment for Greenville County residents."
The rezoning request was ultimately approved unanimously.
Now, as New Orleans based-Morrison Investment Group buildsCherrydale Market, some who fought against commercial encroachmentyears ago are no longer there. They've died or moved away.Others have stayed, many who own the homes, have stayed.
Some Piney Mountain residents stayput despite feeling'squeezed'
Moragne, a retired Greenville County Schools principal,has no plans to leave Pinedale, though the Cherrydale Market is being built behind her home. There's a shopping center and a auto repair facility on the opposite side of the privacy fencebehind the homes facing Moragne's.
"I am surrounded," said Moragne, who has watched construction crews building the shopping center behind her home from her window. "With all of this building around us, we almost live in the store."
There's a squeeze onto what was already a tight, little community, she said. It's impacted the people and it's impacted the animals.
"We just have to be careful and try to live, try to breathe," she said.
Moragne is concerned about the lights, the noise, increased crime and increased traffic the newest shopping center could bring. And, she said, the streets in the community have not been maintained as they ought to be, and are rarely resurfaced.
"The streets are not going to hold up to the traffic that all of this is going to give us— a pothole here, a pothole there, a pothole everywhere," she said.
And as far as the noise, Moragne said she can already hear a "little"rumble of big trucks.
More:New apartments to come in Greenville for households earning less than $50,000
But, there are also some pluses to living in Piney Mountain, including as the convenience of having a grocery store— such as Aldi's at Worley Road and North Pleasantburg Drive —in walking distance, she said.
Her parents bought their home on Pinedale Drive in 1960. Moragne built a home across the street from that house and has lived there for more than 60 years.
She now maintains her parents' home, as well. It's her "she shed."
The people who lived in the neighborhood with her parents are mostly deceased now. Their homes have been passeddown to grandchildren and, in some cases, great grandchildren. The pride that the older generation had in theirhomes has gonefor the most part. Some houses have deteriorated.
"Caring for the neighborhood is so difficult when you get retired and have as many birthdays as I've had now," she said. "It's kind of hard to get out there and get somebody to follow you."
Years ago, Moragne led the Piney Mountain neighborhood association. The association has ceased and a kind of apathy has crept in, she said.
"I'm sure if there was some major cause, we could probably rally a few people, but there's an apathy when it comes to how people feel," she said. "Looks like the people have almost given up'I can't do anything about it, so I'll just go along with whatever.'"
Moragne said she would not want to be the leader of the neighborhood association at this point in her life because she has health issues and probably could not give it the quality of service it needs.
Years ago, O'Neal Bailey also fought for the community as the neighborhood association president. The association, he said, has "just evaporated" and many neighbors are older and pretty much keep to themselves.
But, he said, those who want to do something don't believe their efforts will avail to anything.
When hebought his 1,400 square-foothome below the Montebello development23 years ago, he didn't think the areawould develop as it has, but says "it was to my advantage."
Anytime he needs something from a store, he can easily get just run to one in the area and get it.
Bailey likes growth, but feels that a lot of times a city or a county doesn't properly plan for it, he said.
One of his concerns is the distance from where traffic exiting Cherrydale Market will pour out ontoFurman Hall Road. He believes its too close to the traffic light there at North Pleasantburg and "that's going to create a major problem," he said. He also believes that Piney Mountain Road needs to be widened to better accommodate two lanes of traffic.
Whilecommercial growth expands into Piney Mountain from North Pleasantburg, the Italian-themed Montebello residential community is coming down the mountain with houses from the other side,Bailey said.
The clearing oftrees from the mountain for new home siteshave caused flooding to his properties, Bailey said. He said he's called the county and was told there's nothing they could do.
"I don't have anything against development or growth, but don't destroy everybody else in the process of your growth," Bailey said.
An inspection report obtained by The Greenville News showed Bailey called the county in 2017 to say that "Montebello is dumping water on his property."
Bob Mihalic, Greenville County governmental affairs coordinator, said via email that "We inspected and found no signs of flooding or damage."
Acounty complaint inspection report obtained by The Greenville News shows that Bailey called the county in 2017 to say that Montebello was dumping water on his property. The finding at that time was his gutters were clogged, the report said.
The report said he called again in 2019 to say that "water is flowing out of his gutters and that about 12 inches all the way around his house is dry, but his house is still flooding."
The inspector that went out found nosigns of erosion or water going to Bailey's house, so standing water, no signs of flooding or any damage, according to the report.
If offered, Bailey said he might consider selling his property and moving.
Years ago, a developer came in and offered some Piney Mountain homeowners $80,000, telling them the purchase was for the property and not the house, Bailey said.
"He told them they could take the house with them," he said. "But It costs to move a house and you can't buy a stick house for $80,000 anymore."
Neither Bailey nor Moragne want to stop growth, they said.
"I just hope it doesn't interfere with our little sleepy community," Moragne said.
