Neighborhood Meeting Summary – May 2025

Presentation Slides

Meeting Recording

Meeting Summary

Welcome and Introductions

John Slipke opened the meeting by thanking Eric Weissmann and the staff at NEXT for hosting the gathering, and he welcomed several city and community representatives in attendance, including:

• Shannon Lavrin (City Manager)
• Leslie Fletcher (City of Greenville Public Engagement Manager)
• Will Brasington and Ken Gibson (City Council Members)
• Amber Stewart (Greenville Housing Fund)
• Clint Link (City of Greenville, Director of Engineering Services)

Neighborhood Website Announcement

Presenters: Summer and Bennett Meares

Summer and Bennett Meares, Haynie-Sirrine residents and volunteers, introduced the new neighborhood website: haynie-sirrine.com. The site features:

• Meeting summaries and newsletters
• Updates on neighborhood developments
• Access to neighborhood plans and codes

Residents are encouraged to subscribe via the green buttons on the site. Since the newsletter is new, it may go to spam — residents should whitelist the newsletter email address (newsletter@haynie-sirrine.community).

NEXT Innovation Center Presentation

Presenter: Eric Weissmann, Executive Director

Eric shared the mission and impact of NEXT (Greenville Entrepreneur Network), which supports startups and high-growth founders. Key highlights:

• Greenville is gaining national attention, even being spotlighted in The Economist.
• NEXT is supported by the City of Greenville, Greenville County, and organizations like Hollingsworth Funds.
• Their three main goals:
  1. Stewarding the startup ecosystem (StartupGVL)
  2. Supporting high-growth founders
  3. Measuring ecosystem impact

Events include:

• StartupGVL Night (Aug 27) at Fluor Field
• NEXT Venture Summit (Sep 16–17)
• Regular events like Founders Forum and Suds & Startups

Impact metrics show Greenville companies raised ~$37M in the past year, contributing over 50% of South Carolina's startup capital.

State of the City Highlights

Presenter: Shannon Lavrin, City Manager

Shannon delivered a highlight version of the State of the City address, with key takeaways:

City Demographics

• Population: 78,000
• Households: 37,000
• Daytime population: 154,000
• Median home value: $439,000 (up from $324,000 five years ago)
• Rental occupancy: 49%
• Education: 56% hold a bachelor’s or higher

Development & Infrastructure

• Updates to the development code are ongoing
• Planning underway for the airport loop trail and Wheel Park (skate park + pump track)
• Small area plans completed for Haynie-Sirrine and Greenmont-Sports Bar; next up: West Greenville
• New land acquired in Haynie-Sirrine for future affordable housing development

Transportation

• Major investment in safety improvements to Pleasantburg Dr
• New parking deck planned near University Ridge
• Reimagining City Hall underway
• Tours encouraged at the new Halton Rd Public Safety Facility and Traffic Management Center

Parks & Recreation

• Upcoming park openings:
  • Mayberry Park (Aug 28)
  • Honor Tower (October, tentative)
• Cleveland Park courts near completion
• Trail connectivity expansions: Orange Line, Verdae Bridge, connections to CU-ICAR
• Zoo updates: African Painted Dogs and a new farmyard coming soon
• Popular "goatscaping" program continues, clearing invasive vegetation from public land

Public Safety

• Crime rate at a 10-year low
• 6 new firefighters and 4 new police officers added to the budget
• New Stone Ave fire station groundbreaking scheduled for June

Affordable Housing

• Over $10 million allocated to affordable housing efforts
• Fee waivers and rebates supporting developments like The Rail Overbrook and Gateway at Green

Economic Development

• Launch of the Greenville City Economic Development Corporation
• New Downtown Ambassador Program to improve cleanliness and support downtown visitors
• “Meet on Main” pilot for pedestrian-only Saturdays for parts of Main St going through July

Downtown Transportation Master Plan

Presenter: Clint Link, Director of Engineering Services

Clint presented an update on the Downtown Transportation Master Plan (Phase II), aimed at improving safety, reducing congestion, and enhancing multimodal transportation.

Study Area:

From McDaniel to Pendleton to Lawrence Road, including Haynie-Sirrine.

Key Topics:

• Past Phase I outcomes: road diets, signal optimization, crosswalk improvements
• Future planning through 2045 to support anticipated traffic growth
• Focus areas: Church Street, East North, Academy, Pete Hollis, Stone Ave, etc.
• Input is being gathered via a public survey (available until May 31)

City Council Update

Presenters: Wil Brasington & Ken Gibson

Both council members praised City Manager Shannon and highlighted key priorities:

• Maintaining strong public safety and financial responsibility (no new taxes or fees)
• Emphasis on affordable housing, green spaces, trails, and recreation
• Credit rating: Greenville remains the only SC municipality with AAA ratings from all three major agencies
• Church Street Bridge rehabilitation seems to be progressing well — ongoing monitoring encouraged

Announcements & Closing

• County Square Update Meeting: Wednesday, June 4, 5:30 – 6:30 PM
• Next Neighborhood Meeting: Wednesday, August 27, 6:00 – 7:30 PM
  • Special Feature: Meet the candidates for City Council At-Large seat (Tina Belge & Matt Alexander)

John Slipke closed the meeting by thanking all attendees, speakers, and volunteers.