This Week in Landrum….
This Week in Landrum
From the City Administrator’s Office Monday, August 17, 2026
A Note from the Administrator
One of the harder conversations in local government, and one worth having openly, is how to balance smart and sustainable community growth with respect for private property rights. That balance is not a slogan or a talking point. It is the actual, daily work of a City Hall that sits at the intersection of what the community wants Landrum to look like ten and twenty years from now and what individual property owners are lawfully entitled to do with land they own today. The two are not enemies. They are also not always in easy agreement.
It helps to name plainly how growth actually happens in a place like Landrum. Cities do not, in the ordinary course, decide what gets built. Cities do not decide who sells and who buys. Cities do not set the timing of a project or, in most cases, its size. Those decisions are made by property owners, buyers, and developers, in transactions the City is not a party to. Local government’s role is to set the rules of the game before those transactions happen: the zoning that says what uses are allowed where, the ordinances that set the standards for how those uses have to be built, the comprehensive plan that lays out the community’s long-term vision, and the review processes that make sure projects meet those rules. That is real influence. It is also, honestly, limited influence.
What a well-run city can do is make sure the rules of the game reflect community values, are written clearly, are applied consistently, and are updated when they fall out of step with reality. What a well-run city cannot do is direct private commerce or override the constitutional protections that come with owning property. That reality is not a bug in our system; it is a feature of it. Property rights are one of the foundational protections in American law, and they exist for reasons that go well beyond any single project or any single debate. The job, then, is to use the influence local government actually has, deliberately and well, without pretending it has powers it does not.
That balance sits behind almost every land-use conversation we have been reporting on in this letter. The planning and zoning inventory and assessment is aimed at making sure our rules match the community we are becoming. The proposed data center moratorium is a temporary pause so we can update those rules before any decision gets locked in.
Coordination with Spartanburg County on Cardinal Point RV Park is an effort to shape outcomes across a jurisdictional line where our direct authority is limited. Conservation partnerships like the ongoing Frohlich Property work are one of the few ways a city can help ensure that particular green spaces remain protected regardless of who owns them next. All of that is smart-growth work. None of it forces or prevents any individual property owner from doing what they lawfully choose to do with their property. Staff continues to work with the City Attorney on additional tools and options to bring to Council in the months ahead, options designed to preserve the community’s values while fully respecting individual property rights.
Last week’s Council work session and Business Meeting proceeded smoothly, with all items handled as expected. Deputy City Administrator April Williams led the meetings in my absence, and I am grateful for her steady hand at the dais. One meaningful outcome to flag: Council intends to establish quarterly work sessions open to the public and focused specifically on long-term planning. These will be a forum for the deeper, less time-pressured conversations a healthy city needs to have about where we want to be in five, ten, and twenty years. Details on dates and format will follow.
Also last week, Deputy City Administrator April Williams, Chief Bouwkamp, Councilwoman Carol Browning, and Councilman Warren Ashmore attended the South Carolina Small Cities Summit. The focus of the summit was best practices in municipal finance, and the team returned with contacts, ideas, and specific practices we will integrate into ongoing internal-controls and audit work. Peer learning at events like this is one of the highest-return uses of a small team’s time.
On a personal note, I am attending professional development training at the South Carolina Fire Academy this week. Continuing to sharpen those skills is part of my other work outside this office, and I am grateful for the flexibility and support that lets me keep that practice up alongside my time as Interim City Administrator. Staff will be in the office and on call throughout the week; anything requiring my attention will reach me.
As I have noted the past several 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 while continuing my law practice in Tryon and instructing at a North Carolina fire academy from time to time. I am generally in the office at City Hall on weekday mornings.
A Note from the Deputy City Administrator
During the time JJ has been Interim City Administrator, he has worked to streamline processes and create standardized practices both internally and outward facing. He has spent that time, detailing the work that we have been doing at City Hall. This is extremely important in any organization, and these types of processes significantly help with any interoffice transitions that may occur. As many of you know, last week we lost our longtime CFO, Rita Bruce to the wonderful world of retirement. Rita was the face of city hall for 13 years and her dedication and service to the city will be sorely missed. In local government, the Clerk/Treasurer position is one of the most important rules and during Rita’s time here, she literally kept the city going.
While no one can fully replace her, some of the systems that JJ has put into place, along with Rita training others, will help the city make a seamless transition. If you see Rita out and about make sure to extend your thanks to her for the hard work and time that she gave to the City of Landrum.
We are still accepting applications for our city boards and commissions. If you are interested, please check out our Facebook page or come by City Hall for the application. We are looking for a few good folks to help out with all things Landrum!
What Happened This Week:
*Tuesday, August 11: Council work session and Business Meeting proceeded smoothly. Deputy City Administrator April Williams led the meetings. Council indicated it intends to establish quarterly public work sessions focused on long-term planning; details on dates and format to follow.
*Deputy City Administrator April Williams, Chief Bouwkamp, Councilwoman Carol Browning, and Councilman Warren Ashmore attended the South Carolina Small Cities Summit to learn about best practices in municipal finance.
*Continued coordination with Spartanburg County to clarify the changes approved at the Cardinal Point RV Park project.
*Continued work with the City Attorney on options to bring to Council for smart and sustainable growth strategies that preserve community values while respecting individual property rights.
*Continued Frohlich Property conservation easement work toward closing.
*Continued Fiscal Year 2025-2026 close-out activities in preparation for the October third-party independent audit.
*Continued rolling receipt and processing of applications for the permanent City Administrator position.
What We’re Working on Now:
~Planning the quarterly public long-term planning work sessions Council intends to establish; dates, format, and topic sequencing to follow.
~Continued coordination with Spartanburg County on Cardinal Point RV Park and on additional projects near the City’s border that may be candidates for future annexation.
~Drafting options with the City Attorney for balanced growth-management tools to bring to Council in the months ahead.
~Integrating specific finance and internal-controls practices from the SC Small Cities Summit into our ongoing FY close-out and pre-audit preparation.
~Active recruitment and screening for the permanent City Administrator, with preparation for Council review of candidates in the weeks ahead.
~Stand-up of the International Property Maintenance Code enforcement program.
~Planning and zoning inventory and assessment, with recommendations expected to flow to Council in the months ahead.
~Implementation planning for the new municipal court system, which must be in place by December 31, 2026.
~On-boarding of our new IT provider, Acumen.
~Frohlich Property easement finalization.
~Coordination with School District One on site plans for the new school.
~Engagement with the South Carolina Main Street Program.
~Maintenance and improvement discussions with Spartanburg County
Parks and Recreation District.
~Standing by to assist the Northside (Simmons St.) Park property owners as they clear title through the probate courts.
Looking Ahead:
*Quarterly public long-term planning work sessions: first date and format to be announced in the coming weeks.
*Next Council work session and Business Meeting: Tuesday September 8, 2026 beginning at 5:15pm. Full agenda and packet will be posted a week in advance.
*Coffee with the City: Thursday, August 27, 2026 at Cardinal Coffee & Bistro located at 114 East Rutherford Street at 9:00am-11:00am.
*Planning Commission Meeting August 25, 2026. work session begins at 5:30pm. Regular meeting at 6:00pm, at City Hall.
*Board of Zoning Appeals August meeting was cancelled. The next meeting is scheduled for September 15, 2026.
*October: engagement with our third-party independent auditors begins for the FY 2025-2026 audit.
*Continued follow-up engagement on the Saluda Grade Trail. More information at saludagradetrail.org. Including an update/informational session on August 18, 2026 from 5pm-7pm at the Landrum Farmer’s Market Pavilion.
*Every Saturday, 8:00am.–12:00pm: Landrum Farmers Market.
*Landrum Rail & History Museum located at 211 North Trade Avenue is open every Saturday from 10:00am-2:00pm.
*Music at the Market on Saturday, August 22, 2026 at Cunningham Market Pavilion from 7:00pm-9:30pm.
*Hogback Mountain Day on Saturday, September 12, 2026 on North Trade Avenue from 10:00am-4:00pm.
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