Sports fields, truck stop might rise on old Green Diamond site in Cayce

Baseball fields and a truck stop might rise on different parts of a flood plain in Cayce.

City officials are considering requests for both developments in what is known as the Green Diamond area along the Congaree River.

The Palmetto Baseball League is seeking to open three baseball fields for its 400 youngsters in 2017, Executive Director Ralph Williams said. The 10-acre site is near Heathwood Hall Episcopal School. If approved, the site would become the organization’s permanent home, he said.

It now plays games on fields at Hammond School, but an expansion there is forcing the group to move, he said.

Creating the complex is a $1 million project, he said.

Meanwhile, plans are taking shape for a travel center on approximately 20 acres at the edge of the flood plan along Bluff Road near I-77, Assistant City Manager Shaun Williams said.

It would include fuel stations and a restaurant, he said. A similar operation currently operates across the street.

Members of the City Planning Commission signed off on different aspects of the projects Monday. The plans now go to City Council for acceptance.

Both would join an apartment complex previously built on another part of the flood plain, Greenwood said.

Cayce has annexed most of the old Green Diamond site at the request of developers who were frustrated with the reluctance of Richland County officials to allow significant developement in an area federal officials say is prone to flooding.

This story was originally published September 22, 2015 at 11:00 AM.