The Village of West Greenville Studio. Site analysis

Proffessional Studio, 2022 - 2023

Instructors: Dr. Barry Nocks, Dr. Robert Benedict

Created by: M. Cole, D. Gehring, O. Veselkova, A. Wilson

The Village of West Greenville Art District. Strategic Planning Analysis

DISCLAIMER

ȑ The intent of this academic exercise is to evaluate and present a Strategic Planning Analysis for the Village of West Greenville. The data, conclusions, and recommendations are stated assumptions to be interpreted as concepts to consider for the area.

ȑ The information contained in this document has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable. While we do not doubt its accuracy, Clemson University has not verified it and makes no guarantee, warranty, or representation about it. Any projections, opinions, assumptions, or estimates used are for example only and do not represent the current or future performance of the area.

ȑ The timeframe of the data collection and this written report was from August 19 to December 3, 2022. Because of these time limitations and the uncertainty of the final Greenville City Council decision on the Woven mixed-use development, this report does not consider its positive or negative impact. Furthermore, this study did not include any reference to the draft Land Management Ordinance (LMO) that was released in draft form in early 2023.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

ȑ On behalf of their efforts and contributions to the development of this plan, we would like to thank the following individuals. It is because of the time invested by them to educate, listen, and discuss with us the opportunities and challenges in the Village of West Greenville that this document is able to provide a more thorough and accurate representation of the Village today, as well as what the Village of tomorrow should embody.

Key Village stakeholders: City of Greenville:

ȑ Ryan Johnston

ȑ Shannon Lavrin

ȑ Steve Pace ȑ Mary Douglas Hirsch

ȑ Al Mitchell ȑ Edward Kinney

ȑ Beth and Greg McPhee

ȑ Katie Skoloff

ȑ Brian Schick

ȑ Barrett Armstrong

ȑ Dan Weidenbenner Clemson

ȑ Tom Fox

ȑ Robert Poppleton

ȑ Steve Navarro

Dr. Barry Nocks

Dr. Robert Benedict

ȑ Shelby Dodson ȑ Dr. John Gaber

ȑ Cherington Shucker ȑ CRP 8070 Students

01.1 Introduction

ȑ Located partially within Greenville, SC’s city limits, the Village of West Greenville is a neighborhood of great potential, but not one without great divisions. Stakeholder groups such as residents, businesses, the artist community, and developers have various interests that have come into conflict with the onset of the city’s newest development surge. Though there have been numerous planning efforts to address the intricacies and future of Greenville’s multifaceted “second downtown,” none have been able to offer a concrete solution to organize development in the area and institutionalize collaboration among the neighborhood’s groups in the face of change. This Plan offers several specific, overarching solutions, while also including four categories of contributing recommendations to ensure the Village blossoms to the fullest extent possible.

Woodside Mill, 1913, photo provided by the Lofts at Woodside Mill for GVL Today

01.2 Brief history

In the 1860s, the Village of West Greenville was known as Stradleyville -a small town center located beyond the edge of a growing Greenville. Early commercial activity began to emerge during this time, but it was not until Brandon Mill opened nearby in 1900, and Woodside Mill in 1902, that the area emerged as the core of a thriving mill community. Most buildings constructed at the intersection of Pendleton and Traction St -Stradleyville’s commercial core, were low in stature with minimal setbacks, creating a pedestrian environment that was easily accessible by the surrounding streets of single-family houses. Like the mills, the buildings along Pendleton St were largely constructed of brick, a design element that continues to shape the area’s feel today.

Stradleyville found success in the early 1900s from its close proximity to the Reedy River, textile mills, and railroads (Wernick & Co, 2021, p. 4). Furthermore, development in the area increased as Brandon Mill witnessed heightened success, drawing over 2,000 residents to the area by 1925 (Wernick & Co, 2021, p. 4). In 1948, West Greenville agreed to annexation by the much larger City of Greenville (Wernick & Co, WLA). However, due to its reliance on the adjacent mill economy, when the textile industry faltered as globalization rose in the 1970s, the area fell on hard times.

Today, the Village has steadily cultivated a reputation as a hub of local arts and retail activity, rebounding from a low point of widespread vacancy and elevated crime. Most significant in the fueling of this resurgence was the opening of ArtBomb Studios in 2001, an adaptive reuse project of the historic Brandon Mill Village Store that began to attract the

creatives the area is now known for. Richard Heusel was the investor and developer with ArtBomb, playing an instrumental role in revitalizing the Village with his partner Diane Kilgore, who is still active in the Village today. Overall, the Village encapsulates the grit and hard work of its previous textile industry workers and is distinguished by a resilience to continuously build back over time through periods of economic downturn.

Assisted by the city’s investments in reconfiguring Pendleton as a complete street, as well as social and financial leadership from key stakeholders, such as Ryan Johnston, the commercial core along Pendleton Street has resurged, as well as another industrial building (Poe West), which was reimagined as an innovative office, retail, and culinary incubator. Despite these successes, the current business-owners have struggled and been forced to reinvent themselves into “destination locations,” not adequately supported by a lack of foot traffic from the low-density mill houses abutting them. However, solutions to increasing population, such as Woven, have been opposed by residents, and a rising tide of NIMBYism may block future redevelopment efforts in the Village. Issues such as housing affordability, threats to affordable local retail, gentrification, and development pressure are coalescing in the area presently to oppose further development.

Brandon Mills employees, photo from Clemson University digital library

Brandon Mills 1986, photo from Greenville News

01.3 Historic Character Overview

Due to its origins as a textile mill community, many of the Village’s dominant buildings are low-slung, and composed of 1, 1.5, or 2-story masonry construction, intended to house the small-scale businesses that served local mill employees until the mid-twentieth century. As they were constructed to prioritize pedestrians, such as those walking from homes in the surrounding blocks, the structures offer attributes conducive to an active streetscape, such as high levels of ground floor glazing, minimal setbacks, and a human scale. Furthermore, instead of long, repeating forms, the buildings along Pendleton Street exhibit a diversity of facade designs, helping to make the local urban environment more inherently interesting. As planners and designers nationally have called for a return to walkable cities, and especially urban retail districts, the Village represents a premiere existing example of this form and has embraced these designbased roots to fuel its resurgence.

Even within its limited area, the Village contains other large commercial buildings not located directly along Pendleton Street. Aside from the mills, most prominent among these are Poe West, a 1940s non-textile industrial facility with a large addition dating from the 1960s, and West Greenville Plaza, a midcentury, suburban-style strip mall, occupied with various discount tenants. Due to their out-of-the-way situation and less pedestrianfocused or interesting design, adapting them to better engage with the Village of today has proven more challenging.

The Village also contains many blocks of single-family homes dating from the mill’s heyday, arranged along irregular street grids, some of which partially fall into the 20-acre boundary. These saddlebag homes are small, almost all single-story with gabled roofs, and feature front porches. Once home to those locally employed, the examples within the study area have generally fallen into disrepair. Located at 4 Smith Street, the Morgan House, however, stands apart from these other properties. The historic home of a Brandon Mill superintendent, this distinct, two-story structure boasts bright white paint and a wraparound porch, a feature unique for the neighborhood, establishing it as the best residential historic resource in the Village. Overall, the Village is what it is today because of its history. It has served as home to generations of mill workers and families, attracted adventurous small business owners, and cultivated local artists who provide its flare. It is through the history and contributions of each group, which is embedded in its built form, that the Village maintains its identity as a special node.

Brandon Mill community, photo from South Carolina Digital Library

Brandon Mill Village Store, photo from Greenville County Historical Society

1.4 Importance of GVL 2040

Greenville’s comprehensive plan, GVL 2040, outlines a new approach to growth, centered on increased density and infill development in order to cultivate a more walkable, urbanized city over the next two decades. The document, and its accompanying land development regulations to be adopted in the spring of 2023, seek to concentrate densification across downtown and twelve other nodes -an industry term used to describe mixed-use community hubs along corridors suited for higher intensity development. GVL 2040 envisions these nodes serving Greenville’s neighborhoods as miniature downtowns and local commercial centers, providing locals with walkable access to daily needs. Nodes will be interconnected via densified corridors.

In the comprehensive plan, the Village of West Greenville, and Pendleton Street, which runs through the heart of the area, have been designated as node and corridor, respectively. In order for them to support a vibrant mix of uses, it has been recommended they are allowed to be developed at an average density of 30 dwelling units per acre (dua), with the Village’s Micro Area Plan suggesting individual buildings on catalyst sites be increased up to 90 dua (Wernick & Co, 2021, p. 63). GVL 2040 also highlights that this style of development will preserve existing neighborhoods while adding variety to the housing stock (both in terms of form and price) in the areas of higher density with the most services.

The importance of the comprehensive plan and land development regulations is that their recommendations and legislation outline the city’s vision for the Village to grow denser and increasingly mixed-use. Noting this, the suggestions in this plan offer how to reconcile these changes, which have been done in the

interest of advancing affordable housing and environmental goals, with the demands of the neighborhood and the perspective of legacy residents.

Within the study area used to define the Village (discussed in Section 2.2b), there were 1,020 total residents across 465 households, by 2022 estimates. Nearly half of these were family households. Altogether, the area demonstrated low levels of median household income ($34,135) compared to the city ($58,259) and county ($62,422), as well as a low median disposable income of $28,654. As disposable income represents the amount remaining after taxes paid, residents generally do not have the income necessary to spend at destination restaurants or buy the expensive townhomes being developed in the Village today, highlighting one of the area’s current struggles.

The community is very diverse, with a population 42% African American, 32% white, and nearly 9% identifying with two or more races. About 24% of the population reported Hispanic origins. Employment is stable, at 95.1%, but only 14.1% of the population over age 25 holds a bachelor’s degree, far lower than the 50.8% citywide.

Between 2000 and 2020, the study area population has actually shrunk, but with the new housing developed in the last decade, this trend has quickly turned around and is projected to continue. In fact, between 2010 and 2020, the Village grew nearly twice as fast as the rest of the country. As such, this Plan is relevant and necessary to provide direction for the most appropriate growth, and to activate and redevelop the area in a way that benefits the existing population and their needs.

1.5 Demographics

Within the study area used to define the Village (discussed in Section 2.2b), there were 1,020 total residents across 465 households, by 2022 estimates. Nearly half of these were family households. Altogether, the area demonstrated low levels of median household income ($34,135) compared to the city ($58,259) and county ($62,422), as well as a low median disposable income of $28,654. As disposable income represents the amount remaining after taxes paid, residents generally do not have the income necessary to spend at destination restaurants or buy the expensive townhomes being developed in the Village today, highlighting one of the area’s current struggles.

The community is very diverse, with a population 42% African American, 32% white, and nearly 9% identifying with two or more races. About 24% of the population reported Hispanic origins. Employment is stable, at 95.1%, but only 14.1% of the population over age 25 holds a bachelor’s degree, far lower than the 50.8% citywide.

Between 2000 and 2020, the study area population has actually shrunk, but with the new housing developed in the last decade, this trend has quickly turned around and is projected to continue. In fact, between 2010 and 2020, the Village grew nearly twice as fast as the rest of the country. As such, this Plan is relevant and necessary to provide direction for the most appropriate growth, and to activate and redevelop the area in a way that benefits the existing population and their needs.

Sources: ESRI Business Analyst 2022 estimates, American Community Survey

2022 Total Population: 1,020

2020 Total Households: 465

2020 Family Households: 232

2020 Family Households: 49.89%

2022 Median Household Income: $34,135

2022 Median Home Value: $115,000

2022 White Population: 32.16%

2022 Black Population: 42.06%

2022 Total Population: 1,020

2020 Total Households: 465

2020 Family Households: 232

2020 Family Households: 49.89%

2022 Median Household Income: $34,135

2022 Median Home Value: $115,000

2022 White Population: 32.16%

2022 Black Population: 42.06%

2022 Asian Population: 0.29%

02. PLAN ESSENTIALS

02.1 Intentions of This Plan

ȑ The goal of this document, the Strategic Planning Analysis for the Village of West Greenville Arts District, is to unleash the potential of the Village to become an attractive, accessible, and vibrant neighborhood anchored in history and the arts. Achieving this will promote the sustained welfare of stakeholders, including residents, protection of the area’s mill village character, and the attraction of visitors to grow and sustain local art and retail activities. Overall, the Plan is designed to address the gaps between where the Village is today and the potential it has to become a stronger and more identifiable community.

ȑ Simultaneously, there are contradictions in the Village’s sense of place, messaging, and the reality on the ground. It has a strong built form along the Pendleton St corridor, but lacks clear connections to areas that help define it, such as Poe West and Brandon Mill. For instance, the Village is situated just a mile from Downtown Greenville, but a visiting pedestrian would never know. Considering branding, the arts community is strong, but lacks connective structure and collaboration. Despite the arts serving as a pull for tourism and retail shoppers, lack of organization keeps the village from reaching its potential as an “Arts District.” In spite of this, innovation has always been felt in the Village, dating back to the textile era. Over the past two decades, designers, culinary artists, and other creative minds have invested in this area, but these investments are not realizing a full return in a post-COVID world. This may be associated with the contributing factors of lack of density and local resistance to change, which hinder

the area’s ability to redevelop and attract further adaptive reuse of vacant buildings.

ȑ As such, we provide a strategic planning analysis to identify and address the Village’s greatest issues, but also its massive potential. The intention of this report is to go beyond the Micro Vision Plan produced by Wernick & Co in 2021, and to provide grounded policy recommendations that can be implemented in the short and long term, with goals of enhancing the Village’s Conservation, Collaboration, Connectivity, and Character. We use a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis to identify areas and attributes of significance, and recommend actions to address weaknesses or opportunities in order to better the Village for those who live, visit, work, shop, or dine there. Each action is derived from the SWOT analysis, and includes a discussion of desired outcomes, benefits, and resources.

02.2 Study Methodology

02.2 a Focus Area

Whereas the WLA Studio Historic Survey and the Wernick & Co. Village of West Greenville Micro Area Plan used narrowly drawn site boundaries (full discussion in Section 3.1), this study attempts to examine the area more comprehensively. Of specific interest are the parcels most likely to be redeveloped in the coming years, due to their proximity to the Village’s commercial core, or large, nearby adaptive reuse projects, like Brandon Mill. This is especially important due to recent proposed projects along Pendleton Street, as well as the node designation the Village received from the City of Greenville’s most recent comprehensive plan, GVL 2040, calling for more densely developed mixed-use areas. As such, the focus area stretches from Brandon Mill and the Shoeless Joe Jackson Memorial Park, across the railroad tracks up to Woodlawn Ave, northeast of Poe West, and along the triple corridors of Perry Avenue, Pendleton Street, and Traction Avenue toward downtown.

2.2b Methods Followed

In our research, several methods were applied to explore the area and determine recommendations for its future development. We first critically reviewed the existing proposals, plans, and guidelines. These included the 2017 WLA Historic Resources Survey, GVL 2040 Comprehensive Plan, West End Small Area Plan, and the Village of West Greenville Micro Area Plan. Using this prior work as a launchpad, we built upon their combined foundation with new insights on the Village’s

communities, assets, and broader development visions.

To better understand the character of the Village, our team conducted repeated site visits and a reconnaissance study. This strategy allowed us to identify the current condition of historic resources in the Village, and estimate their integrity based on the presence of alternations. The field research also helped to determine the historic district’s extent and logical boundaries for the overlay districts proposed. Additionally, during our visits to Greenville, we attended meetings and discussed the opportunities and challenges of the Village today with those representing the residential, business-owner, developer, artist, and nonprofit communities.

Our dive into the Village also included attending an outreach event and city council meetings discussing Woven, a higher density project recently proposed in the Village that gathered substantial public interest. Attending these meetings provided us with insight on the existing local conflicts in the area, as well as a better understanding of the visions and aspirations of different stakeholders.

In conjunction with this, we explored the best practices of other arts districts via case studies, and how their lessons might be useful for the growth of this identity in the Village.

Finally, we conducted a SWOT analysis based on all information we had collected. The major takeaways from this multilevel analysis shaped the framework used for the recommendations contained within this plan.

Field study in the Village of West Greenville, August 2022

03.1 Review of Prior Planning Efforts

03.1a WLA Historic Survey

ȑ In 2017, the Athens, GA-based historic preservation firm, WLA Studio, was hired to conduct a historic resources survey for the City of Greenville. This took the form of in-depth fieldwork, research, and analysis for eight priority areas within the city, including the Village of West Greenville. Through work with community development staff, the examination of historical property records, and a reconnaissance survey that determined which properties in the priority areas had retained their historic integrity, an inventory was generated. Ten of these properties were deemed potentially eligible for individual listing on the National Register of Historic Places, while four were recommended for individual recognition. Notably, the Maternity Shelter Hospital, located within the Village at 1200 Pendleton St, was deemed to meet National Register criteria under “Social History.”

ȑ Likewise, the concentration of several historic properties within the neighborhoods examined led WLA to recommend different legal solutions in order to preserve and administer them. As an addendum to the seven local historic overlay districts in the city, of which perhaps the best known is the West End, four additional districts were recommended. For the Village, in recognition of its uniqueness and cultural legacy, the suggestion was instead for a National Register Historic District, which would include 35 structures, with 30 contributing. The district would meet the National Register’s Criteria A, for “Commerce,” due to its historic background as a mill village commercial district, as well as Criteria C, for its architecture.

03.1 Review of Prior Planning Efforts

3.1b Village Micro Area Plan

Finalized in 2021, the Village of West Greenville Micro Area Plan was prepared by Wernick & Co as an overview of the conditions in the area at the time and focused on four guiding principles: 1) Maintaining the Village’s authentic character, 2) Reinforcing its unique identity, 3) Facilitating a mix of uses and services, and 4) Planning for inclusive growth. The plan is significant in its emphasis on community involvement and the importance of the local stakeholders that define the Village’s culture, and echoes calls for density in the area, as prescribed by GVL 2040. This includes specific catalyst sites that could be developed at up to 90 dwelling units per acre, justified by the necessity to activate the streets, create business-sustaining foot traffic, and provide the additional density required to develop new affordable housing.

SCOPE OF WORK

study area, identifying four distinct Village sub-areas, each with their own anchor. To draw these together and further cultivate the “urban village” the Plan identifies as its endgoal, it highlights several ingredients, including defining its edge, entrances, and center, ensuring everywhere can be easily covered on foot, and promoting a diverse range of intertwined residents and land uses.

Located within the heart of the former Textile Crescent and the western gateway into the City of Greenville, the Village of West Greenville has experienced renewed activity and investment in recent years as an emerging arts district, home to artists, galleries, and a number of creative small businesses.

The City of Greenville engaged Wernick & Co. PLLC in connection with an action plan for the Village of West Greenville to identify strategies to further economic development, improved connectivity and mix of uses and development patterns consistent with the uni ue character of the Village and surrounding residential neighborhoods.

The Village Action Plan is focused on a acre study area comprised of a primarily commercial core centered around Pendleton Street. The study area is bounded by the Norfolk Southern Rail Corridor (North), Poe West and ason Street ( ast), and the City of Greenville municipal boundaries (South and West).

For this plan, a Strategic Planning Analysis for the Village of West Greenville Arts District, the Village’s Micro Area Plan was most important in informing this updated SWOT via its own, providing survey data on the details and attitudes of stakeholders, and offering a list of existing recommendations. Our new strategic plan builds from this foundation, marrying its observations, our own, and that of the Historic Survey to generate an organizational and legal

The Plan also notes differences in the built environment within the 20-acres used as its

[Credit: Robert William Satterfield / Arcane Remedies ]

The Village Action Plan Study Area

Understanding Historic Protection

It is important to describe the distinction between a local historic overlay district and a National Register Historic District. Though the moniker “National Register” may evoke tones of a strict, federally-mandated protection of any structure listed, it is instead, at the local level, where a property is actually preserved. Indeed, national listing does not prohibit the alteration of a listed property, nor does it even prevent demolition, except for instances of federal funds being applied. Instead, the National Register unlocks funding mechanisms that allow buildings being revitalized to a specific standard, including the restoration of each historic element to its original integrity (walls, floors, ceilings, windows, doors, etc) to have 20 percent of their qualifying rehabilitation costs paid for through corresponding tax credits. Optionally, these credits may be sold to secondary-market investors. Finally, National Register structures must be income-producing properties to receive the tax benefits, although this can include scenarios where the owner of a building transfers ownership to a personal LLC and leases the building back to themselves.

Local historic overlays, on the other hand, can vary widely, depending on the goals and intentions of the particular community. Above all, however, they are intended to protect buildings and neighborhoods regardless of national listing. One strategy is a preservation overlay, which, as used in Greenville today, prohibits the demolition of structurally sound buildings, and requires approval from the Design Review Board for exterior alterations. Specific design guidelines to control new construction are also common nationally in preservation overlay districts. Lastly, neighborhood conservation districts represent another type of local historic overlay. Used in Cambridge, MA and Philadelphia, PA, for example, these legal tools place control of new development, demolition, and exterior alterations into the hands of the neighborhood itself, relying on the decisions of a board or commission, who represents the local residents and other stakeholders. The decisions of this group may or may not be legally binding.

In Cambridge, neighborhood conservation districts regulate the aforementioned three activities, but do not have jurisdiction over changes made outside of view from public rights of way (to the rear of structures or interiors, for example), landscaping choices, paint colors, or normal maintenance. Such entities have seen great success in Cambridge, with six districts in place to-date, but opponents argue they cause unnecessary delays, decisions are bound to a board’s subjective views, and they can introduce unnecessary costs in order to reach compliance. They fear this may cause additional deferred maintenance. On the flipside, advocates have stressed the district’s ability to maintain original architectural details, preserve naturally occurring affordable housing, and promote generational ownership in the face of non-compliant development pressure.

The city’s neighborhood conservation districts are each governed by their own commission composed of volunteers appointed by the city manager and confirmed by the city council. These quasi-governmental bodies are organized under the Cambridge Historical Commission -a body and department of the city that furnishes them with administrative support. The district commissions have the power to levy binding and non-binding decisions, as the municipal code includes an enabling ordinance to provide them with limited control over their jurisdictions -as long as they remain compliant with Cambridge’s established land development regulations. Each neighborhood wishing to create a new conservation district first engages in a study to outline the jurisdiction and its regulatory oversight.

3.2 What is an Arts District?

“Arts districts” are commonly used as a means of economic revitalization in unique areas where artists or creatives align with retail hubs, but the concept begs the question: what exactly is an arts district? This question implicates concepts, definitions, ideas, aesthetics, and primarily location-dependent answers. Today, the Village of West Greenville markets itself as an arts district of sorts, and its current Micro Area Plan highlights its existing qualities using terms like “artistic, entrepreneurial, unconventional, and home to creative professionals” (Wernick & Co, PLLC, 2021). Among other topics, our case studies examine art districts and themes unique to their specified locations. They can help guide suggestions for the Village’s anticipated changes due to increasing development interest in the artist-centered neighborhood.

TAshley (2015), citing Florida (2002), emphasizes the arts as a “critical component” of economic development in Florida’s widely popular book, Rise of the Creative Class: How Creativity is Transforming Work, Leisure, Community, and Everyday Life (p. 39). Arts Economic Development (AED) gained popularity early in the 21st century, though these methods have been foundational to city planning since the City Beautiful movement in the 19th century (Ashley, 2015, p. 40). The City Beautiful movement emphasized public art and design to modernize old cities in combination with sanitation efforts (Ashley, 2015, p. 40). Arts districts today also emphasize elements of public art and design guidelines.

In her dissertation on the development of urban art districts, Johnson (2011) claims goals of AED target “growing economically healthy cities by (1) maintaining or growing

the economic base, (2) transforming place, (3) attracting and retaining knowledge workers and residents, (4) stimulating neighborhood arts activities, and (5) supporting sustainable development” (p. 2). Johnson also identifies five different AED typologies, each with distinctive characteristics. These typologies include the Arts Anchored Redevelopment District (AARD), Creative Production District, Artisan/ Artist District, Neighborhood Arts District, and Cultural Taxing District (Johnson, 2011, p. 6). Other literature identifies “artist-centric,” “cultural-production focused,” and “major-arts institution focused” districts (Chapple et al., 2011, p. 226). Many urban scholars debate the concepts of formal and informal arts districts, and how to plan for these districts successfully. Arts areas are commonly associated with gentrification and urban redevelopment, and Vivant (2009) suggests that cultivating relationships between planners and artists can help with opposition to redevelopment processes.

3.2 What is an Arts District?

Art district planning is more than a onesize-fits-all approach; context, culture, and location are crucial, making this type of policy highly subjective and dependent on an area’s needs. Organic and informal art districts typically follow a pattern of artists creating positive change in economically depressed areas, and the same has happened in the Village. Overall, the Village fits the mold for either a Neighborhood Arts District or Artisan/ Artist District defined by Johnson. The Village is generally an organic and naturally occurring cluster and emphasizes micro development and physical revitalization, two of the characteristics of Neighborhood Arts Districts (Johnson, 2011, p. 6). Other attributes of this typology include economic and planning motivations of community development and physical revitalization, a neighborhood scale, the existence of neighborhood art centers (such as GCCA), and includes local artists and local art businesses (Johnson, 2011, p. 6). The Village also includes some elements of the Artisan/ Artist District, such as the incorporation of artist live/work units, and artist housing. The Artisan/Artist typology centers economic and planning motivations on “local consumption, export activity, neighborhood change, and the goal of becoming a regional center” (Johnson, 2011, p. 6). It has the same neighborhood scale and naturally attracts more creatives to the area.

The Village could pull from each of these art district typologies to best promote and encourage its future goals and needs. When meeting with real estate owners and stakeholders of the Village, they brought up the idea of branding it more toward an Artisan district because of the diversity of creative use and production existing today. The Village includes a variety of local businesses such as

galleries, restaurants, a culinary and hospitality center, a music school, design agencies, retail start-ups, salons and barbershops, a distillery, and a brewery and winery, to name a few of the innovative commercial activities.

One of the most important themes we identified in the Village, with regard to the arts, is the need for more cohesion. It could benefit from more collaboration, promotional event programming, and ways to engage and gather the community to celebrate its established unique identity in arts and innovation. It is important to continually engage artists, community members, and other stakeholders appropriately to celebrate the arts without driving out the artists who have greatly amplified the Village’s sense of place.

Lastly, interviews with local artist stakeholders revealed the same themes, focusing on the absence of collective marketing for the Village as a destination for art. Today, each creative and studio must be responsible for branding and advertising themselves on their platform of choice. We identified 11 galleries in the Village, including the Greenville Center for Creative Arts, located in Brandon Mill. Eight galleries participate in the monthly First Friday Art Crawl, sponsored by the Metropolitan Arts Council. This event could be great marketing for the Village galleries, but it is confusing to navigate from place to place, further highlighting disconnect in the art community. While the Metropolitan Arts Council is responsible for the event city-wide, it is not responsible for advertisement or areaspecific event facilitation. With a Village-wide organization behind an all-encompassing effort, the ability to brand the entire arts district becomes more intentional, and smaller creators can thrive.

Public art mural by Sunny Mullarkey (Image from Greenville Journal, “Art in Focus: Love’s in Need of Love Today,” 2020)

Flatiron building

3.3 SWOT Analysis

3.3a SWOT Overview

Summarizing what we learned about the Village of West Greenville during the research phase is the following SWOT analysis. This selection of the most important Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats highlights a community currently torn between the interests of its three primary stakeholders: residents, business-owners, and artists. We focused on the set of internal and external resources and challenges that either support or create the barriers for the desired vision of a vibrant arts district, based on the authentic historic context and legacy community members. These advantages and risks represent the opposite sites of the resources the Village possesses: its unique historic character, active community members, and strategic location both provide a strong foundation for further development and create the conflicts of interests which are considered in our recommendations.

With a built form conducive to walkability and storefront retail, as well as a strong presence of creatives, the Village holds the potential to truly become Greenville’s Arts District, but is held back by social and physical disconnectedness. Likewise, anti-development attitudes and the potential for change in the neighborhood’s character represent the major threats to the long-term health of the area. Fortunately, it is from these issues that the Village has the opportunity to grow, with the potential to address the largest drawbacks by establishing institutionalized stakeholder representation, adopting historic protections, and continuing to pursue connectivity and annexation goals. Recommendations based on the SWOT begin in the following section and follow a central strategy of historic preservation and neighborhood input safeguards.

Strengths

Built form follows the function

Weaknesses

Social group fragmentation, including low-income categories

Strong presence of creatives

Energized and eclectic stakeholders

Parts of the Village of West Greenville are outside city limits

Pendleton St under SCDOT control

More affordable than downtown

Opportunities

Connectivity between downtown and other nodes

The Village board representing community interests

Historic protection

Room for growth and infill development

Lack of visibility and wayfinding strategy

Threats

Displacement & affordability

Changing character

Anti-development attitude

Disinvestment of absentee property owners

3.3b SWOT Analysis By Topic STRENGTHS

Built form follows the function

With wide sidewalks, street lighting, and decorative improvements funded by the city in 2012, the commercial corridor along Pendleton Street is undeniably inviting to foot traffic. Pendleton Street is also anchored by historic buildings and storefronts that are well-scaled for pedestrians. Connections between the commercial and residential areas will only further highlight the strengths in the Village’s pre-existing form. It will be important to build in the context of the existing urban pattern to continue to promote a walkable neighborhood. Strong presence of creatives

Creativity is the most continuous theme throughout the Village’s history, driving the industrial mill days, and still influencing growth and change in the Village today. For example, artists motivated a new wave of the Village’s vitality in the 2000s, after repurposing local abandoned buildings for studio space. This stimulated more creative activities in the area, leading to the eventual opening of Greenville’s Center for Creative Arts in Brandon Mill.

Entrepreneurs are also provided with new opportunities in the Village. Start-up and established businesses in the Village represent diverse backgrounds, with over 50% of tenants in the Village’s commercial area being minority-owned and operated. Creativity is at the forefront of the Village’s unique retail, gallery, and restaurant businesses, which have invented themselves into destination locations to attract more visitors. Furthermore, Mill Village Ministries runs an event called Village Launch: Third Thursdays, which showcases minority and women-owned startups in the Poe West parking lot on the third Thursday of each month. In essence, this is a manifested display of local entrepreneurial and non-profit creativity. With an existing base that knows how to adapt and bring innovation to the area, the outlook of business leadership in the Village continues to improve.

Energized and Eclectic Stakeholders

As previously mentioned, there exists a diverse range of business owners and commercial renters in the area. This sense of energy and arts comes from investment by local forces that hope to see the Village grow. Business incubators, educational institutions, historic resources, vibrant restaurants, distinctive start-ups, and community spaces are all evidence of the energized and unique stakeholders in the Village. The Village organizations are offering job training and financial aid for new businesses. Not only does the Village represent creativity and innovation, but it invests in the creativity-based microeconomy. Ryan Johnston’s Saltbox, a business incubator with below market rents for start-ups, is a prime example of an energized stakeholder. More affordable than downtown

The Village of West Greenville’s commercial core was reawakened by artists, in part because of its affordability. The commercial rent in the Village is still half that of downtown Greenville, allowing first-time business owners to take a chance in the area. Though it does come with the trade-off of vastly reduced foot traffic, this affordability has been part of the success of businesses in the Village. Residents also have taken advantage of the Village’s affordability. With Greenville’s exponential development growth, there has been a pressure on housing availability and housing cost in the area. The rising prices and the limited house availability on the market impact the costs significantly. The Village’s housing costs are currently more affordable than other neighborhoods in the City of Greenville, which is what many local residents want to keep as a status quo. This is important to provide a reasonable amount of affordability as new development continues to surround the Village’s core. Additionally, lower income levels of the residents are not conducive to local retail purchases, further complicating Village’s reality.

WEAKNESSES

Social group fragmentation

There are multiple actors involved in the area’s redevelopment, inevitably conflicting with one another. The result of these conflicts increases the resistance of the local residents to new economic development and undermines the mutual understanding in the process. The key actors involved include permanent residents of the Village and the adjacent areas, artists, local entrepreneurs, and neighborhood organizations. The interests of the groups deeply rooted in the area might have conflicts with the goals and aspirations of the new businesses, land developers, and potential newcomers. The city needs to find the golden middle to mitigate the conflict of interest and allow a reasonable combination of protection and privacy with development and attracting new visitors. It will be vital for the Village to create a platform for the constructive communication of all stakeholders.

Significant parts of the Village of West Greenville are outside city limits

The Village of West Greenville, the former city surrounding the area we know as the Village today, stretches beyond the City of Greenville’s legal limits - a problem that has left the historic area disconnected and divided between city and county jurisdictions. As an example of this problematic situation, annexation efforts by the city have brought Woodside Mill into the jurisdiction, yet Brandon Mill, which is far closer and more impactful on the Village, remains in Greenville County. Furthermore, the partial authority the city has over the bifurcated area has caused an imbalance in regulations and funding. Annexation might mitigate these problems and enable a more comprehensive approach to managing growth in the Village.

Pendleton Street under SCDOT control

The same problem of undetermined areas of responsibility affects the traffic connectivity, safety, and walkability of Pendleton Street - the main area corridor. The city is the primary actor responsible for the development along the corridor, whereas the street falls under the jurisdiction of Greenville County. Thus, the threat of uncontrolled changes compromises the public spaces` uniformity. Working with SCDOT on road diets, streetscape improvement, and better connectivity in the Village could create a safer area for pedestrians and a stronger physical connection to downtown.

Lack of visibility & wayfinding

Key landmarks in the Village, especially Poe West and the mills, for example, are hidden, and not easily accessible, due to their location off the Pendleton Street corridor. As a result, the businesses located there lack an inflow of visitors, and vacant properties are generally left unnoticed. The area needs to market these distinct features by implementing recognizable visual coordination and signage to enforce the neighborhood’s connectivity and image. Local small businesses and artists would benefit considerably from the visual coordination of their location along the walkable routes by street signage.

3.3b SWOT Analysis By Topic

Connectivity between downtown, other nodes

One of the Village’s greatest weaknesses is its lack of visibility and connectivity to downtown, as well as other nodes that will continue to develop across Greenville. Thoughtfully establishing this missing linkage presents an excellent opportunity to continue to cultivate the area’s vibrancy. GVL 2040, the city’s comprehensive plan that was adopted in 2021, offers a new strategy for Greenville’s growth, which underscores infill and redevelopment as the keys to success. It suggests density be pushed to welldesigned corridor streets that connect nodes offering diverse land uses, like a micro-scaled downtown. As the plan identifies the Village as a node and Pendleton Street as a corridor, the city must prioritize forming a walkable corridor that makes accessing the Village from the West End more obvious.

With the right regulations and street characteristics, adjacent private development should follow that will support this vision. Lastly, embracing these planned extensions of urban development into West Greenville with wayfinding signage and a clearer gateway is paramount.

Neighborhood board, representation

Disagreements between the Village’s stakeholder groups on their vision for the future has driven them apart, leaving some long-term residents feeling disenfranchised. This is especially concerning given the everincreasing development pressure in the Village as a byproduct of interest in its built form and Greenville’s ballooning growth. Therefore, as legacy and even new residents represent those that have the most to gain or lose from the area’s redevelopment, their voices must be amplified. One way to return power to the neighborhood could be through a residentled board dedicated to public consultation of development in the Village. This organization

could even be paired with design guidelines, such as the conservation district in Cambridge, MA detailed in Section 3.1a. This board could then be responsible for oversight and approval of all new construction, demolition, or exterior modifications. See Section 4 for a discussion of this concept as it relates to the Village.

Historic protections

As alluded to above, the opportunity for resident-driven oversight of the Village could be structured as a board with jurisdiction over a specific overlay area. Because the Village has ample historic assets, especially those the WLA Historic Survey identified as potentially National Register District-contributing, the conservation district concept to protect historical assets through design guidelines and resident input is all the more logical. Of course, this would require Additionally, the recommended National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) Historic District could be instituted to unlock the federal historic tax credits that might make adaptive reuse even more appetizing for landowners in the area. This would apply to 30 buildings within the district, as well as the Village’s Maternity Shelter Hospital, which could be added by listing it independently, if desired.

Room to grow

Finally, the Village has ample parcels of vacant land and derelict buildings, which present opportunities for infill development that are not at the expense of the node’s historic fabric. Therefore, there is room for the Village to grow its number of local businesses, artists, and population through continued new development at mid-sized scales, adding more density without disrespecting the established development patterns.

THREATS

Displacement & affordability

The Village has vacant lots, absentee landlords, and homeowners who live in a variety of housing conditions, including homes with low property values and affordable rent. The costs for commercial and residential real estate being relatively low, as compared to downtown, are attracting investors to the Village, causing some discomfort among the current residents. The residents are not the only stakeholders at risk for displacement eitherlocal artists and small businesses could also be forced out by rising rents and property taxes. As such, solutions to preserve and encourage affordable housing, as well as provide property tax relief for existing owners will be important to the future of the Village.

Changing character

The Village of West Greenville is known for its unique, eclectic character, but future development pressure could shift or dampen it -a pattern that has been repeated nationally. This attitude has been reflected through sentiments against potential mixed-use developments like the Woven project. While this project has endured numerous resident meetings and communication with other local stakeholders, as well as several public concessions, other developments may alter the character of the Village without such regard for neighborhood opinions. Creating basic guidelines that can be enforced through City processes by implementing a historic or conservation district with the ability to decide on changes for the residential areas can create promising results in maintaining the character of the Village.

Anti-development attitude

Change is always hard for residents that have a sense of place in any community. Various neighborhood stakeholders and homeowners in the Village have opposed

multiple new development projects. Stakeholders fear that changes in character will lead to an unrecognizable neighborhood they will be priced out of, so they discourage projects that they feel will change the character of the Village. Challenging new development is also an outgrowth of a national trend of rising NIMBYism (not in my back yard) by homeowners, possibly out of an additional fear of sharing their neighborhood with a rental demographic, inappropriately accusing them of lacking investment in the community and, at worst, potentially lowering their land values. Of course, this is quite the opposite, as new rental residents are just as likely to support local businesses, creating the foot traffic needed to sustain them for the benefit of the neighborhood. Unfortunately, by blocking new construction and adaptive reuse, this anti-development attitude can lead directly to problems of displacement and affordability, as projects at lower price points achieved through higher unit counts are chased away.

Disinvestment of absentee property owners

Some absentee owners (non-locals who own and rent properties in the neighborhood) lack the financial or personal interest to upkeep their properties and maintain the appearance of the Village, keeping affected real estate values low. Though this technically represents naturally-occurring affordable housing in a desirable neighborhood (also known as “filtering”), this can hinder the outside view of the Village and hurt the property values of buildings -new or old, near these likely code-deficient properties. Additionally, these properties with deferred maintenance have made prime targets for investors interested in redevelopment and “house flipping” in the Village, meaning these affordable homes are effectively removed from the market first, and “ground zero” for gentrification.

04. STRATEGY

04.1 Overview

ȑ Recall that the area surrounding and including the Village was an independent municipality called West Greenville from 1914 to 1948 - the origins of its eclectic spirit. This unique history means the area has had greater autonomy in the past, and a distinct cultural legacy. As such, addressing the multifaceted issues that face the area today requires a West Greenville, or Village-specific approach that understands the area as its own micro community, not just another node or neighborhood.

ȑ Even so, today’s West Greenville can be thought of as a community psychologically divided between its residents and businesses, who both accurately recognize the Village core as part of their home. In fact, the area’s name is even contentious, as legacy residents continue to use the moniker “West Greenville,” seeing the “Village” as representative of recent changes brought on by outside investment.

ȑ Exemplifying this, newly proposed development with an increased density along Pendleton Street, a direct response to the growth strategy established by GVL 2040, has been caught amid this bifurcation. Residents argue denser concepts step too far, destined to change the neighborhood, while area businesses clamor excitedly at the potential of increased foot traffic, a resource lacking to such a degree that many Village shops and restaurants have been forced to reinvent themselves as destination locations based on

attracting outsiders, with varying levels of success.

ȑ As such, forming a conservation district overlay and corresponding board would help greatly to ameliorate this problem, as would creating separate organizations to support the Village artist and business communities, ensuring all primary stakeholders and their needs are addressed. Together, these proposed groups form the proposed “Village Coalition.”

4.2 Village Coalitions

Whereas the suggested conservation district overlay is designed to serve as the basis for the Village’s careful redevelopment management strategy, a collaborative of three organizations, collectively referred to as the Village Coalition, is recommended to represent each of the local interest groups. The first two groups would need to be created in partnership with the city, while the Village Arts Foundation would simply operate as a traditional nonprofit.

Already discussed, the Conservation District Board (CDB) would be tied to the conservation district overlay, encompassing the parcels of the Village most likely to be redeveloped due to vacancy, large lots, or derelict structures near other recent projects. The CDB, though made up of a board intended to represent a diverse group of stakeholders, doubles as a resident advocacy tool, allowing for more local control and autonomy among neighbors to weigh in on new developments in an institutionalized fashion.

The Business Improvement District (BID), on the other hand, could evolve naturally as an outgrowth of the current Village of West Greenville Business Association (VOWGBA). We heard from stakeholders that the current association has great potential, and helps to organize existing events, but could do more. Therefore, by taking on small annual fees from each business (governed by a linear equation with a base rate and increases for businesses generating above an appropriate threshold of income), the association could transform into a BID. This new arrangement would allow them to finance independent infrastructure upgrades, like wayfinding signage, which is especially needed, and implement the improvements far before the city. It would also allow them to hire

dedicated staff, lessening the time required by the busy entrepreneurs themselves. Even better, the city would still supply its typical level of investment and maintenance in the Village -the BID would simply act as a vehicle for additional infrastructure deployment and beautification.

The third proposed organization, the Village Arts Foundation (VAF), would fulfill another desire we heard when interviewing the neighborhood’s artist community: each studio has to market themselves, when a collective effort would be much more impactful. Though the Metropolitan Arts Council is a similar advocacy and support foundation for artists across Greenville, and the Greenville Center for Creative Arts is located in Brandon Mill, there is still no single group to market the Village as a hub of creative studios, despite an artistic reputation. By forming a new foundation, Village arts marketing could be conducted collectively, backing up its intended identity.

Finally, it is worth noting that all of these organizations could theoretically be wrapped into a single force, potentially sharing resources to reduce operation costs. However, we believe each proposed entity is distinct, with separate identities, and they would operate best with the focused missions outlined. For example, the CDB, intended to manage new development within a conservation district overlay, may not be the best group to organize artist marketing and studio events.

The remainder of this section, items 4.2a-4.2c profile each organization in the Village Coalition, while Section 5 offers further recommendations and ideas on how potential city actions could support each group.

Village Studios Gallery, Pendleton Street

4.2a Conservation District Board

To ameliorate the identity struggle for the Village’s future character and built form, a conservation district could be created in West Greenville to establish the community’s own review board. This would differ from the Preservation and Downtown overlays in the city by being City board advisory to the DRB Design Review Board (DRB) review, or at least serving as an advisory group to them when addressing projects in the neighborhood. As a note, talking to residents revealed a distaste for potentially being placed under the judgment of the DRB in the future, which this plan accounts for. The go-to example for those in opposition was the Village Harvest mural on the side of the Anchorage restaurant. Funky and eclectic design can be further codified under updated design or preservation standards.

The Village’s conservation district board could be composed of 7-9 appointed members,

representing Village visionaries, business owners, area residents, a planner, and perhaps another design professional. Appointments would occur in conjunction with the city and a locally elected Village president, whose constituency would be those living within the conservation district’s boundaries. Together, the board and president would have advisory input to decisions on construction, demolition, and exterior modifications made to sites within the Village. The team would be trusted to represent local interests, and may also conduct public outreach of their own.

However, as a caveat, we recommend the conservation district board be created without the authority of direct, legally binding decisions. This is due to concerns of strong NIMBYism in and around the Village, and potential struggles with finding volunteers to serve on the board itself to keep all positions.

Proposed conservation district (green parcels would be included at full extent, likely post-annexation)

Case Study: East Nashville, Tennesse

Nashville, Tennessee has a number of historic zoning overlay districts in a variety of locations including the downtown, urban neighborhoods, and some neighborhoods farther from the city center. While Nashville uses both historic preservation districts and conservation districts, the Neighborhood Conservation Zoning Overlay (NCZO) is more popular and widely used, accounting for 10% of total parcels within Nashville city limits (Placeeconomics, 2019, p. 9). According to PlaceEconomics and their study on historic preservation in Nashville, the city has 23 conservation overlay districts. Particularly, East Nashville, known for being a home to creative working individuals, has made a name for itself within the broader Music City. East Nashville embraces a variety of businesses, restaurants, local retailers, art galleries, and a unique nightlife scene. Five points, one of the major commercial districts in East Nashville, is surrounded by two historic overlays, and is partially located within a conservation overlay. The area has developed into a commercial center for East Nashville and developed creatively and successfully while also protecting urban housing stock and unique historic and local resources. Due to the success and growth in established East Nashville neighborhoods, commercial centers, and mixed-use areas, Nashville continues to invest and support growth in historic neighborhoods and their accompanied conservation overlays.

East Nashville, and the Five Points area specifically, feels very similar to the Village of West Greenville. East Nashville is marketed as the hip, artsy, and alternative version of Music City, but it also encapsulates this creative environment that is distinct from downtown Nashville. In the 1970s neighborhoods such as Edgefield and Lockeland Springs- East End, located in East Nashville, were rediscovered by those in need of more affordable housing. By the 1990s, young musicians, artists, and creative types discovered East Nashville’s charming qualities and low housing and rent costs (Historic Edgefield Timeline, n.d.). The Five Points area was specifically marked as a redevelopment zone by the Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency (MDHA) (“Redevelopment Districts,” n.d.). This designation along with the conservation overlay have helped to protect the historic character of the area, preserving the qualities of a walkable urban neighborhood, and creating the unique and lively urban neighborhood center it is today.

The Metropolitan Historic Zoning Commission is responsible for reviewing applications for new zoning overlay districts and approves and reviews permits for changes to structures in the historic overlay districts throughout the city (Metropolitan Government of Nashville, n.d.). The Neighborhood Conservation Zoning Overlay (NCZO) is described as, “the least restrictive type and only guides change for new construction, additions, demolitions or moving of structures” (Metropolitan Historic Zoning Commission, 2022, p. 7). Placeeconomics similarly describes this overlay type as a way to protect character, with less stringent guidelines (2019, p. 8). According to the Metropolitan Historic Zoning Commission (MHZC), the use of these zones is typically initiated by local residents or neighborhood members. The zoning proposal will work its way through the MHZC and end up facing final decisions in front of the Metropolitan Council. If approved, the zoning overlay is supported with the adoption of an ordinance and area-specific design guidelines.

Instead, their oversight would be required by developers and others making changes in the district, who would need to work with the board before receiving formal approval from the Planning Commission. Overall, the board would be concerned with promoting design that fit its own limited guidelines that would focus on mass, form, and scale more than paint color or fenestrations, for example.

Altogether, if the city created this body, the West Greenville Conservation District Board, the organization would fill the void between city and Village communication, serving as an official advisory board for the neighborhood, as well as providing a specific method with which to bring residents and business owners together as part of one voice.

Drawing from the rationale used to define the study area, the conservation district boundaries will need to be set to include the properties most likely to harbor larger-scale new development, which are predicted to be proposed close to Pendleton Street and the Village’s core buildings, as well as larger redevelopments, like Brandon and Woodside Mills, or Poe West. As such, a proposed boundary has been prepared that includes 467 parcels, and as previously explained, this new overlay would be placed under the jurisdiction of the West Greenville Conservation District Commission.

As seen in the included graphic, the proposed conservation district includes up to 467 parcels, stretching from Brandon Mill and the Shoeless Joe Jackson Memorial Park, across the railroad easement dividing the neighborhood and up to Woodlawn Ave, some parcels northeast of Poe West, and along the triple corridors of Perry Ave, Pendleton Street, and Traction Avenue toward downtown. Woodside Mill and its adjacent residential neighborhood was deemed too spatially distant

from the Village core to be included within these initial boundaries. Conversely, the height and scale of Brandon Mill, which is far closer to Pendleton Street and ongoing redevelopment, could encourage surrounding projects to scale up or add inappropriate density. As such, it has been included in the conservation district. The same potential to spur development incongruent with the rest of the Village is true of the major streets, especially Pendleton Street, as it was highlighted as a corridor with the suggestion for denser adjacent land use in GVL 2040, the city’s comprehensive plan.

Additionally, this boundary was set to limit the amount of parcels the proposed neighborhood board will be able to weigh in on, as an unnecessarily excessive jurisdiction runs the risk of overloading the group. Also of note, many of the proposed parcels fall outside of city limits, meaning an agreement would have to be arranged between Greenville County and the city, in conjunction with the neighborhood, to legally establish this zone in that unincorporated area. Annexation may be a better solution, as well as the inevitable one, as any legal power of such a board is dependent on local authority. See Section 5.3 for recommendations concerning annexation by the city.

Of course, this proposed boundary should not be seen as the permanent limits of the conservation district, but instead one that must be agreed to by the community, and revisited at regular intervals, such as every five to 10 years, to be redrawn. Though this conservation district will differ from Greenville’s preservation overlays, it will follow the same process of originating from the neighborhood and working its way up with the help of professionals until it meets and receives approval by the Greenville City Council and Planning Commission.

4.2a Conservation District Board

Case Study: East Nashville, Tennesse

Nashville has also established a unique design review process for overlay districts through its city ordinance. Technically, the MHZC oversees creating design guidelines for overlay districts and approving changes on structures within these districts. According to the Nashville and Davidson County Code of Ordinances (17 § 40-400), two residents of overlay districts and two property owners or business owners within historic overlay districts must be a part of the MHZC. The MHZC is separate from the Planning Commission and the Zoning Appeals Board, and has its own authority.

While Nashville has a deep-rooted history in music and the arts, the conservation overlay zoning type has been used actively to protect the character of historic neighborhoods and neighborhood centers while controlling growth in an effective way that fits the architectural style and community needs. According to Lubens & Miller (2002), Nashville’s NCZOs have helped protect against undesirable commercial encroachment and has allowed for small business expansion in the Lockeland Springs- East End neighborhoods. Lubens & Miller also noted an increase in homeownership and property value coupled with a decrease in absentee landlords. The MHZC staff credits success to property owners and homeowners that respect the historic character, and effectively achieved better rehabilitation and new construction projects (Lubens & Miller, 2002). Placeeconomics confirms the continuing property value increases in historic districts, and states that they have outperformed the rest of Nashville’s market (2019, Executive Summary). While the effects of increased property values can have varying negative and positive impacts on communities, this example in East Nashville shows how historic conservation overlays have succeeded in protecting architectural character and quality. Currently, the City of Greenville has a Preservation Overlay (PO) District, with a purpose of recognizing historic and architectural resources throughout the city (Greenville Code of Ordinances 19 § 3.2.2). Preservation Overlay Districts are adopted by City Council, which are recommended by the Design Review Board (DRB) Neighborhood Panel (19 § 2.1.1). The Neighborhood Panel of the DRB also issues certificates of appropriateness for modifications to structures within PO districts (19 § 2.3.8). Applications for a Certificate of Appropriateness in a PO district strictly address demolition, new construction, and modifications such as additions or alterations of exterior architectural features (Greenville Code of Ordinances 19 § 2.3.8). A Conservation Overlay district could be added to the City Ordinance as an alternative option for historic preservation, but would need to be distinguished from the currently existing Preservation Overlay

4.2b Village Arts Foundation

As discussed in the SWOT Analysis in Section 3, one of the most prevalent complaints we heard from artists in the area was the effort required by each of them to market themselves individually, when collective action could be far more impactful and far less burdensome. Currently, it is almost as if the agglomeration potential of the eleven galleries in the neighborhood is ignored, and though the Village is discussed as an arts district, aside from the Village Harvest mural and a couple random sculptures, actual evidence of art activity is limited. It is expected for this to improve as more development leads to infill on vacant lots, providing additional foot traffic and hopefully gallery space. Fortunately, the conservation district board may be able to assist in advocacy for retail spaces in new construction to be leased as studios at affordable rates.

Through a foundation, the Village’s artists could advocate for their own donations and give the neighborhood its own name, as Greenville’s Metropolitan Arts Council supports artisans overall, but has not pushed for a geographically-specific arts district. The foundation would have its own social media accounts, website, and could design banners, flyers, and other materials used to promote the Village and this unique use.

Nearby Asheville, NC has mastered the

urban design elements of an arts district. By requiring ground-level studio and retail spaces to be occupied by artists who are open to the idea of allowing the public to walk into their studios and interact with them on a daily basis, and allowing those wishing to work in a more private environment to find spaces on non-street facing floors, the city has ensured their arts district remains active and engaging. By adopting language that supports this into development regulations (ex. excluding studios closed to the public from the ground floor in “shopfront” districts), or working with the future Village Arts Foundation to find a soft agreement, Greenville’s art activity will be brought to life for the curious public.

From there, the foundation could also be responsible for coordinating artistic/artisan events in the Village. This task may not require any dedicated employees, but could continue to be accomplished by those who organize First Fridays at Brandon Mill, simply under the new Village Arts Foundation brand.

Overall, each of these activities will continue to be impossible when left to individuals, so by creating a strong foundation that can double as a non-profit vehicle, the Village can better showcase its existing artists and attract new ones. Section 5.2 offers further suggestions.

Over-the-Rhine’s non profit organizations, 3CDC (Cincinnati Center City Development Corporation) and OTR (Over-the-Rhine) Foundations have been a basis for great change and revitalization in an area that was once recognized by the National Trust for Historic Preservation as one of “America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places” in 2006 (OTR Foundation, n.d.). Similar to the Village of West Greenville, the City of Cincinnati and its resident’s respect and value Overthe-Rhine’s historic resources, and they chose to build on this as a pathway toward their intended community revitalization. Over-the-Rhine is also taking on a fresh, artistic character, similar to the Village, and is positioned as a secondary city hub outside of downtown, meaning it shares much in common with the Village of West Greenville.

Case Study: Over-the-Rhine, Cincinnati

By 1990, Over-the-Rhine had lost 92% of its population, containing only 6,000 residents, and many of whom were lower-income African Americans who could not afford to live in nicer areas of the metro. With an incredible number of vacant buildings and the decline of adjacent, other inner-urban neighborhoods, Over-the-Rhine became a disaster zone, known for cheap liquor stores and illicit activity, as well as violence (OTR Foundation, n.d.).

The City of Cincinnati, joined by the interested parties of companies including Procter & Gamble and Kroger, which were, and continue to hold headquarters downtown, dreamed up a solution to address the neighborhood’s problematic situation. As a result, the Cincinnati Center City Development Corporation, or “3CDC,” was formed (3CDC, 2022). Privately funded, the organization’s mission “to strengthen the core assets of downtown by revitalizing and connecting the Central Business District and Over-the-Rhine,” has been carried out via two development loan funds, as well as a land banking initiative that began in 2005. The results have been incredible, as the community development corporation and its partners have seen over 100 new businesses move into the neighborhood (Alter, 2018). The success of these partnerships also led to the ability to reintroduce the street system, connecting people in Downtown, or at the Riverfront, to Overthe-Rhine (Williams, 2016).

While Over-the-Rhine has gained population, it has mostly been from new white residents, who have increased by 90%, while the share of African American residents has fallen by 43% (WCPO, 2021). Clearly, the block-by-block revitalization of Over-the-Rhine has not been inclusive, begging the question: has the initiative to better the neighborhood solved its social and safety problems, or has it simply pushed those most vulnerable to the issues out? With the reality likely closer to the second theory, 3CDC, as well as other neighborhood organizations, such as the OTR Chamber of Commerce and the OTR Foundation, have not only advocated for affordable housing, but have actually developed several projects with dozens of units priced at 50-60% AMI in each.

Cincinnati and its residents refused to shy away from engaging their local corporate base as a source of resources for larger revitalization projects. While similar initiatives are unnecessary for the Village, as the market has already taken hold of development in the area, there is still great potential for collaboration. For example, as Greenville is already home to major corporations, much like Cincinnati, these entities could be drawn upon to help fund community organizations solely focused on West Greenville and its needs, which could be useful to generate a budget to provide legitimate infill development guidelines, enable more visible resident advocacy, and even to contribute to dedicated affordable housing initiatives.

From the Village’s history, innovation and creativity have always been staple themes in the community. Forming a foundation to lift up the community, in partnership with businesses located in Greenville could provide the Village with so much opportunity. It would be worth reaching out to GADC and their partners to see if there is any interest in partnering with the Village. The artists particularly could utilize this structure to support their own initiatives, create more central branding, and market the arts and creativity in the village as a whole. This could lead to better navigation and participation during First Friday Art Crawls, community events in support of the arts, and more creative opportunities for community murals and artwork. If the Village Arts Foundation were able to establish itself as a leading organization for the area, applying for grants could become a strategy to continually improve the district through the arts, and increase the opportunity for more projects in the area. With enough traction and success, the Village Arts Foundation could eventually expand to address and support other needs of the community.

4.2c Business Improvement District

With residents, developers, and artists accounted for, the final group in need of support in the Village are business owners. These players benefit most directly from improvements to local streetscaping and public realm improvements on Pendleton Street -the dominant corridor in the entire area. As such, they may be best suited to help fund additional capital improvements to the commercial district through the expansion of their business association into a Business Improvement District (BID).

A BID has a specific geographic boundary, and is usually administered by a non-profit organization, which represents the district’s members. BIDs are designed to collect small annual fees from each property in the district over a period of time, such as 10 years, which are then leveraged against government grants, private donations, and more to create a budget for street improvements, facade renovation, marketing/branding, hosting local events, wayfinding improvements, or whichever services or benefits are defined as important to those within the BID’s boundaries.

Overall, BIDs allow their members to independently organize, forging a deeper sense of community, and enable the improvement of aspects within the district that businesses would like to see changed. Better yet, the presence of a BID does not reduce the obligations of the local government in the area, so it is simply a useful tool for allocating special additional investments and accelerating implementation without interrupting civic services. In the Village, a BID might be most useful for managing the maintenance of public spaces, funding the acquisition of street furniture, paying for the creation of wayfinding signs, and for issuing grants to cover event permitting within the area.

Though transforming the still-developing business association into an organization fullyfledged enough to support a BID may seem challenging, its actions could be conducted over time, first agreeing on an annual fee and linear fee formula that increases with profits, and following that with later decisions on spending priorities, which should be coordinated with the city.

Coconut Grove BID in Miami, Florida

Case Study: Coconut Grove in Miami, Florida

The inception of Business Improvement Districts (BID) dates back to the 1970s in Ontario, Canada, and by 2017, between the United States and Canada, there were over 800 of these districts existing to meet the needs of their local communities (Ziebarth, 2020, p. 129). Ziebarth (2020) citing to Grossman (2010) describes these improvement districts as a form of public-private partnership, operating as a private organization tied to local policy and governmental operations, while simultaneously addressing economic revitalization and community development that may not get the opportunity through baseline public funding alone (pp. 128-9). BIDs were created amidst the challenges of mass suburbanization and manufacturing decline, when urban areas were left without tax revenue substantial enough to address public services (Ziebarth, 2020, p. 129). Today, BIDs have only grown in popularity as an innovative method of utilizing entrepreneurship as a vehicle toward community service improvements. Through taxing real commercial property owners that make up the BID, they in turn have a greater say as to where these funds can be distributed, and what direct purposes they can serve for the community.

Coconut Grove, Miami’s oldest neighborhood, is an area highly influenced by the arts and the history of its Bahamian settlers (Coconut Grove Miami, 2022). According to the Coconut Grove Miami website, it has been a home to writers, artists, and musicians since the late 1800s (2022). Today, “The Grove” is really defined by its unique restaurants, retailers, sidewalk cafes, and the beauty of its natural and built environment (Coconut Grove Miami, 2022). Like the Village, the Grove is a growing hub outside of Miami’s city center, and continues to densify today. Coconut Grove has been able to fund beautification projects and programs, programs for District cleaning and security, marketing, special events, capital improvements, and further economic development research through their BID, established in 2009 (Coconut Grove Miami, 2020). Additionally, the BID has allowed the Grove to better facilitate parking access, and has partnered with a variety of national, state, and local organizations. Just like a BID in any other location, the Grove’s is successful due to the buy-in from commercial property owners, and their dedication to creating a better experience for residents and tourists alike. Coconut Grove’s BID includes a nine member representative board tasked with preparing annual budgets, planning, proposing, and implementing programs and various services in accordance with the BID (Miami Code of Ordinances § 17-21250-1251). The Coconut Grove BID has given the neighborhood increased opportunity to address services that the City of Miami does not have the funds to prioritize (Coconut Grove Miami, 2020). While this may look a little different in the Village, continuous support from those who wish to see success in the Village can directly benefit the community as a whole. We imagine a BID for the Village of West Greenville to be a collaborative extension of the local government, creating greater opportunity for specified community development projects aimed to improve and enhance the Village’s identity as an art district and local business hub outside Greenville’s downtown center. It is important to note that Coconut Grove and the Village of West Greenville differ vastly in their socioeconomic levels, available resources, size, and number of commercial property owners forming the district tax base. The Grove’s BID also has enough funding for a staff to direct agendas and carry out programs, which may not be possible for the Village in its immediate future (Community News Releases, 2023). Still, BIDs are commonly used as a means for economic revitalization, understanding that each community has different strategies and needs to address. Lee (2016) found that BIDs were successful in lower-income areas where leadership comes from within the community, there are organizational resources beyond the city government, there exists strong Neighborhood Council presence, and there are clear goals and motivations for embracing multiethnicity and diversity within the community (p. 21).