I am so honored to be the Mayor of Camden, serving with an incredible City Council and staff. And your new City Administration has hit the ground running. At the City, we have: changed meeting dates to make council meetings more accessible to the public, started a quarterly newsletter so that our citizens and customers know more of what is going on, appointed citizen-led task forces to make recommendations on how to improve Camden, begun public strategic planning on zoning and how Camden should grow, acquired critical downtown property for redevelopment, removed dozens of overhead power poles, and created an employee of the month program to reward and encourage our wonderful City employees. Council is also focused on how we can save money, including selling off excess City owned property- did you know that the City owns a lakefront lot and cabin on Lake Wateree?
If you are not a City resident, but receive City utility service, we would love for you to join Team Camden and become a resident. Adjoining property owners can choose to join the team and become City residents by applying to the City. Benefits may include lower water rates, lower sewer rates, no fee for fire protection, and law enforcement service from Camden’s dedicated police force. If you live in an adjoining neighborhood, your entire neighborhood may be eligible to join Team Camden if 75% of the residents want to become part of our wonderful City and enjoy the many benefits of Camden.
The City of Camden is an incredible place to live, work, and visit. And I am thankful to join with you in making it even better!
The City of Camden is seeking an engineering firm to evaluate and propose viable solutions to correct existing deficiencies and provide alternatives with estimated costs to correct safety issues at the Sunnyhill Upper Pond Dam near 1211 Sunnyhill Drive (S28-0560) Camden SC. The dam is privately owned by the citizens in the residential community. The SCDOT road that is located across the dam is currently closed due to a sinkhole that is believed to be related to underlying problems with the spillway/underdrain. The project will evaluate the condition and stability of the dam and roadway.
Firms interested in the project are to submit resumes and other documentation by 2:00 pm on Thursday May 15, 2025. Please direct all inquiries to Jack Thornsberry – Director of Public Utilities jthornsberry@camdensc.org.
The South Carolina Department of Transportation will conduct lane closures on part of Springdale Drive from U.S. 1 to Knights Hill Road for paving beginning Wednesday, April 30. These closures are expected to last until June. SCDOT encourages drivers to seek alternate routes, if possible and expect delays as crews work to repave the roadway. SCDOT asks drivers to slow down and pay attention to crews and signs when driving near work zones.
The City of Camden is accepting applications to fill an opening on the City’s Parks & Trees Commission. The position on the Commission has a three year term, eligible for renewal in 2028. The Parks & Trees Commission represents the Camden community and brings to the attention of staff and City Council any areas of concern regarding the condition of our City parks, at risk trees on public property, and other issues that involve the built environment maintained by the City for citizen recreation and enjoyment. The Commission also plans the annual Arbor Day ceremony held in December, as well as any other activities to support staff as they relate to our parks and trees. Applications can be picked up in person at City Hall, 1000 Lyttleton Street, or downloaded here.
City Council recently amended the City ordinance for temporary signs to allow them in the right of way in residential areas only, provided they are 3 feet from the curb.
Temporary signs are prohibited in the public right of way, including medians and areas between the curb and sidewalk, in business districts, and on any street sign, utility pole, and light pole in the city.
The ordinance is included here, with the amended language italicized: 157.109. TEMPORARY SIGNS The following conditions shall apply to temporary signs. A. Temporary signs shall not exceed three square feet in residential zoning districts and 32 square feet in nonresidential zoning districts. A. Temporary signs shall be removed or replaced every 30 days, unless otherwise stated in this section. B. Temporary signs are prohibited on public property, street signs, utility poles, light poles, and in the public right of way, including medians and areas between the curb and sidewalk, unless the right of way adjoins the yard of a residential use adjacent to the right of way and the sign is more than 3 feet from the edge of the paved roadway. C. Temporary signs shall be limited to one per street frontage. D. Temporary signs shall not be illuminated. E. [RESERVED] F. Banners are allowed with a permit only in the CBD, GBD, LBD, OI, IND and CMU zoning districts.
Banners must be attached to a building and cannot exceed 32 square feet.
Only one banner shall be allowed per building.
Banners are allowed only if the combined square footage of the banner and all other signs does not exceed the maximum square footage allowed for building signs.
