Community Alliance for Sustainable Development meets in Pickens County

PICKENS CO., S.C. (FOX Carolina) - The Community Alliance for Sustainable Development (CASD) in Pickens County formed three months ago but is already starting to make an impact.

“Living in Pickens County is a great thing, but we got to keep it and we have to work for it,” said Kara Forward, who lives in Pickens County.

Part of the work was happening tonight as members of CASD met.

“It is absolutely critical for people to jump in and attend as many meetings as they can. Or if they can’t attend meetings, write into the county council, and city council and our other elected officials to make sure that their voice is being heard,” said Jessica Berryhill Massey.

Massey helped form CASD after attending a planning commission meeting on a proposed nearly 1,300-lot development near her home in December.

Since then, members of the group have attended every county council, city council, and planning commission meeting.

“To see all of our neighbors, and I don’t just mean immediate neighbors but the whole countywide neighborhood, come together and work for a common purpose is really, really good,” said Forward.

About once a month, CASD gets together to share updates from those meetings and the status of developments in Pickens County.

“I think it has become the biggest thing. It’s become more urgent because of how many people have been showing up to these meetings and the other meetings at the county and city level and writing in,” said Massey.

“We are not trying to hamstring anybody, we’re not trying to cut anybody out. We just want things done right and for the best interest of everyone in the county,” added Forward.

But what does growing the “right” way look like?

“Not having every square inch of Pickens County packed with the densest possible number of houses. It’s not letting developers come in and have a complete lack of accountability and enforcement from the county level,” said Massey.

One of the biggest priorities right now for CASD is to see the Pickens County UDSO get updated.

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