Florence City Council members cleared the way Monday night for the city to receive federal grants to promote historic preservation.
Council gave first reading on an ordinance to make a minor change to their design review board.
The change will allow the city to comply with the final steps necessary to become a Certified Local Government or CLG.
That status opens up the way for Florence to tap into federal funding for historic properties.
"I almost can't name a town in South Carolina that's not a CLG because it is such an incredibly good resource for historic properties. There is almost no other monies that we can apply for," said Agnes Wilcox with the Florence Downtown Development Corporation.
Downtown Development board members say when the city passes the final reading to make the slight change, they can submit the application for the CLG status and start applying for grants shortly afterwards.
