Neighborhood Meeting Summary – November 2025

Featuring guest speakers Calin Owens (City of Greenville) and Jasmine Vanadore (Bike Walk Greenville)

Bennett Meares

01 Dec 2025 — 3 min read

Photo by Bennett Meares

Public Safety Updates

The meeting opened with reports from the City of Greenville Fire Department and Police Department, covering recent call volumes, seasonal safety tips (chimney maintenance, preventing frozen pipes), crime updates, and reminders about car theft prevention during cold weather. Officers encouraged residents to continue submitting issues through Greenville Cares so the city can track recurring concerns.

City Council & Community Updates

Councilmember Dorothy Dowe shared neighborhood updates, including:
• Reminders about separating sticks from leaves for pickup
• Illegal truck traffic on Church Street / Haynie Street
• Downtown Ambassadors program launch
• Upcoming Historic Review Board hearings
• Notes on ongoing rezoning cases near Augusta Street

Mobility Presentation — Calin Owens, City of Greenville

Calin Owens gave an overview of the city’s active mobility and trail projects:

How Mobility Projects Move Forward

Calin explained the typical multi-year process: dreaming → planning → public input → engineering → construction. Even simple ideas often require years of coordination, design, permitting, and funding.

Neighborhood Project: South Downtown Trail

A new trail connection through the Springer Street Tunnel is planned, but work is paused until the city completes a master plan for the recently acquired land on the south side of the neighborhood. The tunnel design must address lighting and recurring drainage issues. Stormwater concerns and maintenance reports are encouraged through Greenville Cares.

Other Major Trail Projects

Calin provided updates on several citywide projects, including:
• North Main Connector – ongoing public engagement with design expected in 2026
• Zoo Trail – long-planned connection between Main Street, the Zoo, and Cleveland Park
• Unity Park → Downtown Trail Upgrades – widening, smoothing, new crossings, and a separated 16-ft bike/ped cross-section
• Wheeled Sports Park – a new skate park, pump track, and bike playground near the Downtown Airport (target completion ~2028)
• Airport Loop Trail – concept for a 5-mile loop around the airport
• Updated trail wayfinding – modernized, consistent signage throughout the network

Calin emphasized the city’s goal of creating infrastructure families can safely use and the importance of long-term planning.

Mobility Presentation — Jasmine Vanadore, Bike Walk Greenville

Jasmine Vanadore shared Bike Walk Greenville’s mission and tools for empowering residents to advocate for safer, more connected streets.

Organization Overview

Bike Walk Greenville educates, advocates, and collaborates to improve walking, biking, transit access, and street safety across Greenville County. Their work includes group rides, walk audits, bike valet services, public meeting outreach, and data-driven advocacy.

Key Local Challenges

• South Carolina is ranked #3 worst in the U.S. for pedestrian fatalities.
• White Horse Road is the 2nd deadliest corridor for pedestrians statewide.
• A significant portion of Greenville County lacks access to a car.
• Infrastructure change is slow and often limited by road ownership and funding.

New Community Tools

Jasmine introduced two public tools developed by the Bike Walk Greenville volunteer Data Analytics team:

Road Ownership Map – lets residents quickly see whether a road is owned by the City, County, State, or another municipality, helping direct maintenance and safety requests to the correct agency.
Vulnerable Road Users Crash Map – a visual, 10-year dataset showing where pedestrian injuries and fatalities occur across the county, helping guide advocacy and identify problem areas.

Residents were encouraged to use these tools and continue reporting issues to help build the case for improvements.

Neighborhood Rezoning Update

The association reviewed the updated rezoning map (reflecting work begun two years ago during the neighborhood plan update). The Planning Commission unanimously recommended approval. City Council will hear the final reading in December.