Orangeburg City Council is delaying plans to close the portion of Goff Avenue by Claflin University.
“I just think some conversation needs to happen prior to the third reading of this ordinance,” Councilwoman Sandra Knotts said during a recent meeting.
“Numerous individuals who live in that area have expressed ... that they have not heard anything from the university,” she said. “Wouldn't you think that before we move forward with this third reading that you would at least put that in place so that you can actually hear from the property owners, because they are property owners?”
Council had previously given two of three required readings to an ordinance that would allow the city to accept ownership from the state of Goff Avenue from Clark Street to Magnolia Street.
The city could then close that portion of the road and turn it over to Claflin, which would allow the university to control the area along its campus.
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The final vote was tabled last week after concerns were raised by some council members that residents near the road closure have not been properly made aware of the closure and its rationale.
Knotts said that while many people she talked to are concerned about safety and may not disagree with plans to close the road, “that does not take away the fact that these are property owners and you have to hear from them.”
Claflin University President Dr. Dwaun Warmack said, “We need to know who they are so we can engage with them in that conversation.”
Warmack said there was a meeting months back with neighboring property owners about the road closure, although he noted only two properties are going to be directly impacted by the road closure.
Knotts said while she understands only two properties will be directly affected, neighboring property owners need to be assured that they will not be impacted.
Warmack asked Knotts for specific names of individuals who expressed concerns so the university can talk with those individuals.
Council tabled the vote with the expectation council and the university administration will meet with surrounding property owners. Councilwoman Annette Dees Grevious abstained because of a conflict of interest, as she is a professor at the university.
“We can have a meeting – we can all be there – with the people who are concerned about it and we can sit down talk with them and let them know what is going on,” Orangeburg Mayor Michael Butler said.
“We are going to have a meeting of peace so people can understand that they can get in and out of their property,” he said.
“We don't want to be ugly,” Butler said. “I just want to do it peaceful so everybody can get their saying out.”
Claflin officials say that allowing the university to close the stretch of the street –about .35 miles – to public access will improve safety.
Although details have not been worked out, Claflin Department of Public Safety Chief Melvin Williams said there is a plan to have a gate at Clark and Magnolia streets.
“We want to be able to control who comes through that gate and what time,” Williams said. The closures would primarily be at night.
Williams said that emergency, fire and law enforcement services will have unimpeded access to the road.
Two private homes stand on the stretch of Goff Avenue in question, including one owned by Norma Murdaugh. The other private residence is uninhabited.
Murdaugh has consistently been opposed to the road closure. She has raised concerns that restricting access would negatively impact her ability to take in rental revenue from the property.
Murdaugh has also questioned the feasibility of closing the road and the university's ability to control college students’ actions.
Prior to the motion to table the vote, Murdaugh reiterated her opposition.
“What type of notice was given to me about the closing of Goff Avenue?” she said. “Was it by certified personal mail or snail mail? If so, what proof do you have?”
“I want the record to reflect that I am objecting because proper notice was not sent to me,” Murdaugh said. “I want you to be clear: I object to the closing of Goff Avenue, but if you insist on doing this over my objection I want the record to reflect that I want an easement to my property.”
Murdaugh suggested less restrictive ways for the city to deal with Goff Avenue.
These include:
• A greater police presence.
• The closure of the street only when problems occur.
• The university advising students to not come out during troubled times.
“Let's be clear: you are establishing a precedence that any time the president of the university or college feels it is unsafe for his students to come to a street and you feel you need to close the street down, that is a problem because if you do so you are unjustly discriminating against us to accommodate the college students,” Murdaugh said.
Murdaugh also claimed the university's ultimate goal is to, “take over the residents and the property of Goff Avenue.”
Council members denied that’s the case.
Councilman Kalu Kalu noted the university has promised Murdaugh that an easement would be provided.
“If it is not provided, there is no plan,” Kalu said.
Butler assured Murdaugh, “You will never be kept away from your property.”
“We want you to have an easement to your house,” Butler said. “We want to establish that here.”
“We are only after those people who go in with those guns,” Butler continued. “The times have gotten very bad.”
“You hear shootings all over the world. The killings all over the world. The universities all over,” Butler said. “We can't take a chance with this. This is serious. These are people's children. They want their children safe.”
Warmack said the closure of the road is also personal to him.
“I live there,” he said. “I have a 12-year old daughter that lives in that community.”
Warmack said he promised parents at the university’s orientation that their babies would be safe.
Claflin University sophomore Promise Joseph offered her support of the road closure.
“We must be proactive rather than reactive,” Joseph said. “We cannot wait and continue to witness brazen acts of car break-ins, gunfire erupting dangerously close to our dormitories and unauthorized individuals freely entering our campus grounds due to unrestricted access provided by Goff Avenue being public.”
“I ask you: Should we continue to be at the risk of paying the ultimate price?” Joseph said. “Our students, faculty and staff live in a state of constant apprehension and fear the sanctity of our college campus, once a beacon of learning and community, has been shattered by the relentless onslaught of criminal elements exploiting the vulnerabilities of our neighborhood’s infrastructure.”
“I am a sophomore who deserves to become a junior one day,” she said.
Orangeburg resident William Green says closing a public road is not fair.
“It is just not fair to point the finger at taxpaying citizens of Orangeburg,” Green said. The Murdaugh family, “should be allowed to have freedom to go in and off their property like they have been doing all these years.”
“Students come, students go, families are here for a lifetime,” Green said. “If anybody up there votes to close that road off, I think we really need to get out and vote and replace some of the members on council. These are families. They have been here a long time.”
“Would any of you sitting up here want your road to be closed off?” Green continued. “If you want to have a Christmas party or a birthday party, your friends and families can't come visit you? Nobody sitting up there would tell me you would want to live in that kind of cage. That is like living in a prison.”
Contact the writer: gzaleski@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5551. Check out Zaleski on Twitter at @ZaleskiTD.