This Week in Landrum…..
This Week in Landrum
From the City Administrator’s Office • Monday, July 13, 2026
A Note from the Administrator
One of the quieter but most important shifts happening in Landrum right now is that the City is building consistency into how it delivers services. Consistency can sound like a bureaucratic virtue, but in a small town it is really a form of fairness. When two neighboring properties get different answers to the same question, when one business owner is asked for a document, another was not, when one part of town gets a service on a schedule and another does not, the underlying message is the same. The rules depend on who you are. That is corrosive, even when nobody intends it, and it is the kind of drift a city can only tolerate for so long before residents begin to feel it.
Consistency is not the enemy of good judgment. There will always be room for discretion, and there will always be circumstances where common sense and a real conversation matter more than a checklist. But discretion only works when it sits on top of a clear, consistent baseline. Otherwise, every decision becomes a one-off, every complaint becomes a negotiation, and the staff members who serve you are put in the impossible position of guessing what the right answer is this time. Nobody wins in that world, least of all the residents who cannot predict what to expect from their own City Hall.
The honest truth is that building consistency can be controversial, especially where consistency was not a priority in the past. When a system has been inconsistent for a long time, some residents and businesses will have benefited from that inconsistency, sometimes without even knowing it. A consistent approach can feel, to them, like a change or even a loss. It is fair to acknowledge that. The alternative, though, is not sustainable. A city government cannot operate on fifty different rulebooks. Over the past several months you have seen us pull this thread through several visible pieces of work: updating the business license process, the ongoing planning and zoning inventory and assessment, the stand-up of International Property Maintenance Code enforcement, the collection of overdue business licenses, and even something as simple as publishing agendas a full week in advance. Different projects, one underlying goal: one Landrum, one rulebook, applied evenly.
If you have experienced this shift in a personal way, whether you agree with the direction or not, please tell us. That kind of feedback genuinely shapes how we roll things out, how we communicate, and where we build in room for grace. The direction will not change; how we get there absolutely can be shaped by the people who live and work here.
As I noted the past two weeks, we are inside an intentional transition, and Deputy City Administrator April Williams will be sharing, and then taking over, authorship of this letter in the coming weeks. As a reminder, I am serving in this interim role part-time through mid-September. I am generally in the office at City Hall on weekday mornings.
A Note from the Deputy City Administrator
As JJ so eloquently stated in his section, change is sometimes uncomfortable, but often times it is necessary. We are always looking for ways to improve. The staff here at City Hall work really hard and they have done so well before JJ and I got here. We hope to continue to build on that and find ways to make work here more streamlined. We are hoping that some of the processes and procedures will make transitions simpler and assist this amazing staff with their daily work. Learning new things is sometimes slow and potentially frustrating, so as we work toward our goals, please be patient with us. Please feel free to come by City Hall or make it to one of your Coffee with the City events, or attend a public meeting or two. Please let us know what you think we can improve on and don’t hesitate to let us know what we are doing right. Sometimes, a kind word turns a day around and blurs the negativity that seems to surround local government these days. Thank you for taking time out of your day to read our notes and be engaged with the city.
What Happened This Week
• Thursday, July 9: Coffee with the City at Cardinal Coffee & Bistro. Thank you to the residents and business owners who stopped by; the conversations were substantive, and the feedback is being carried directly into ongoing work.
• Friday, July 10: WSPA 7 News filmed the ZIP TRIP series at the Cunningham Market Pavilion. A great showcase for our downtown, our small businesses, and the community that turned out to represent Landrum.
• Continued rollout planning for International Property Maintenance Code enforcement, including how we will communicate expectations, timelines, and paths to compliance to residents and property owners.
• Continued planning and zoning inventory and assessment, in coordination with Deputy City Administrator April Williams and the City Attorney.
• Continued onboarding of our new IT provider, Accumen.
• Continued one-on-one outreach with business owners working through this year’s business licensing process, and continued progress on collecting overdue business licenses.
• Continued monitoring and communication around the extreme heat, including internal coordination on employee safety for staff working outdoors and continued outreach to check on vulnerable residents.
• Continued transition planning between the Interim City Administrator and Deputy City Administrator April Williams, including handoff of this letter.
• Continued staff coordination on the Saluda Grade Trail.
What We’re Working on Now
• Final preparation for the Tuesday, July 14 Council work session and Business Meeting. The full agenda and packet have been posted a week in advance consistent with our publication standard. Residents and business owners are encouraged to review the materials and attend.
• Continued stand-up of the International Property Maintenance Code enforcement program, including outreach materials that explain what to expect, how the process works, and how to come into compliance.
• Continued planning and zoning inventory and assessment, with findings expected to drive a clear set of recommendations to Council in the months ahead.
• Continued implementation planning for the new municipal court system, which must be in place by December 31, 2026.
• Continued onboarding of our new IT provider, Accumen.
• Continued internal work on next steps from the Classification and Compensation Study Report following budget adoption.
• Ongoing maintenance and improvement discussions with Spartanburg County Parks and Recreation District.
• Continued coordination with School District One staff, architects, and engineers on the proposed site plans for the new school.
• Continued engagement with the South Carolina Main Street Program and the Municipal Association of South Carolina.
• Standing by to assist the Northside (Simmons St.) Park property owners as they work to clear title through the probate courts.
• Continued evaluation of existing and needed ordinance updates and additions with the City Attorney.
• Continued internal improvements to workflows and processes, including the one-week-in-advance agenda publication standard.
Looking Ahead
• Tuesday, July 14: Council work session and Business Meeting. Full agenda and packet posted on the City’s website.
• Continued follow-up engagement on the Saluda Grade Trail. More information at saludagradetrail.org.
• Every Saturday, 8:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.: Landrum Farmers Market. Come out, hydrate, and enjoy the season!
• July 21, 2026: Board of Zoning Appeals meeting to discuss one item. Property has been posted and public hearing notices sent.
• July 28, 2026: Planning Commission meeting. Several items on the agenda including a conditional use for the new elementary school, a text amendment to the zoning ordinance and an item to add a zoning classification to the property off High Farm Road, known locally as the “Frolich” property.
Questions or concerns? Reach us at 864.457.3000 or requests@cityoflandrumsc.com. We always want to hear from you.
Respectfully,
J.J. Sauve, Interim City Administrator
April Williams, Deputy City Administrator
Tricia Taber, Communications Director