FAIRFIELD – Fairfield County Council passed first reading of three rezoning ordinances Monday night, one of which represents the first step in bringing a permanent, state-of-the-art medical facility to Western Fairfield County.
Ordinance 613, to rezone 3.76 acres in the 8000 block of Highway 215 S. from RD-1 (Rural Residential) to B-1 (Limited Business), passed first reading in a unanimous 7-0 vote during Council’s regular meeting. The land is currently owned by trustees for the Praise and Deliverance Temple, but the rezoning request was applied for by Dr. Stuart Hamilton, whose Eau Claire Medical Group has designs on the property for a new medical clinic. The land is located between one-quarter and one-half mile from the entrance to the V.C. Summer Nuclear Station in Jenkinsville.
“If this passes all three readings, this will lead to the establishment of a new healthcare facility in the Jenkinsville/Monticello area,” Council Chairman David Ferguson said prior to Monday night’s vote. “This is something that stands to be real profitable for the County and the citizens of that area.”
Ferguson said he put the zoning change on the fast track after speaking with Dr. Hamilton, who ensured him that Eau Claire had secured adequate federal grant and loan funds to break ground on the new facility. Additionally, Ferguson said, SCANA had agreed to help equip the clinic.
Eau Claire currently operates a small clinic in the area, housed in a mobile home and staffed by a Nurse Practitioner. The new brick-and-mortar facility will replace the existing clinic and will include a physician on its staff, on site several days a week. Ferguson said it is hoped that the clinic will help take some of the pressure off Fairfield Memorial Hospital’s emergency room, which many in Fairfield County use as their source of primary care. A physician at the new clinic will also be able to refer patients to the hospital for tests and other necessary treatments, boosting Fairfield Memorial’s bottom line.
Council will hold a public hearing on the rezoning Feb. 18. Two other ordinances passed on first reading Monday night will also get a public hearing Feb. 18. The first, ordinance 611, rezones 1 acre of land owned by George H. Poland and located at 177 and 179 Meadowlake Road in Blair, from B-2 (General Business) to RD-1 (Rural Residential). Ordinance 612 rezones 1 acre at 394 Hungry Hollow Road in Winnsboro, owned by George D. Robinson, also from B-2 to RD-1.
