CAMDEN — Tom Mullikin has traveled the world, diving in all five oceans and climbing the seven highest peaks. But there's something that keeps him coming back to Camden, a small city about 30 miles northeast of Columbia. Mullikin, the chairman of the Carolina Cup Racing Association board of directors, boasts about the city's deep historical ties and culture.
It is the state's oldest inland city, the site of two Revolutionary War battles and famously has a long history in the horse industry. To Mullikin, it is one of the most beautiful places on earth — one he is afraid of losing. For months, groups of Camden residents have fought against proposals that would develop the Camden Training Center , a property where steeplechase and racehorses have trained for nearly a century.
Various versions of plans for a subdivision have been brought to city leaders, including proposals for a larger development and a recommendation to annex land from unincorporated Kershaw County, which the commission shot down. The most recent proposal would have built 152 houses, pickleball courts, a clubhouse and a pool on top of the historic track. Meetings considering the development were attended by large numbers of residents opposing the project, and the crowd burst into cheers when the planning commission unanimously denied the plan during a recent July meeting.
"I mean, these are critical cultural issues that need to be thoughtfully approached," Mullikin said. "To drop several hundred homes to di.