Proposal may shift districts in House

Under a proposed S.C. House redistricting plan, Aiken County lawmakers would see their districts change to deal with shifting populations and growth statewide.

"The shift is fairly minor," said first-term Rep. Bill Taylor, R-Aiken. "We accommodated the needs of every district. It's a good plan that serves communities of interest."

Redistricting is mandated the year after the census every decade. The revamped House seats will average about 37,300 residents, up from 32,000 following the 2000 census.

All of the House members within the Aiken County delegation signed off on the proposal, including Lexington County lawmaker Kit Spires. If accepted by the House, the plan would go to the U.S. Justice Department for approval prior to the 2012 party primaries. Spires would leave the delegation under the proposal.

"I have the opportunity to fill out the area in Wagener, Salley and Perry," Taylor said. "Kit was needed into all of Lexington County. He had just a little piece of our county. I also took one little area of about 1,500 people in the Redds Branch area that Tom (Young) had."

The plan would take The Reserve at Woodside from Taylor in District 86 and move it to Tom Young's District 81. Young's revised district also would extend through Beaver Creek and College Acres subdivisions. Rep. Bill Clyburn of District 82 would pick up the area around Citizens Park in Aiken, while Rep. Roland Smith's District 84 would move toward New Ellenton. Taylor said he would keep the town of New Ellenton and the Cedar Creek subdivision. Rep. Bill Hixon of District 83 would also see his boundaries change, but not significantly, Taylor said.

The redistricting plan "would take a good portion of the Graniteville area and give it to Tom Young," said Smith. "It's part of the old Augusta road with about 500 people. I think we can work that out. I've served that area since 1989 and would like to still have it."

As expected, none of the legislators have gotten everything they wanted, Clyburn said.

"But it looks OK and is generally working out for everybody," he said. "I picked up about 200 to 300 people from Tom in the Citizens Park area and also picked up additional people out of Saluda County. Once you make adjustments in one district, it has a ripple effect."

Contact Rob Novit at rnovit@aikenstandard.com.