This riverfront site could be home to the next 200-plus home subdivision in Fort Mill
One of the increasingly few undeveloped spots in Fort Mill may not be undeveloped much longer.
Property owners of almost 195 acres between South Dobys Bridge Road and the Catawba River want to put a new subdivision there. Homebuilder D.R. Horton is the applicant behind an annexation request to bring the property into town limits.
The large, wooded property is shaped somewhat like an ice cream cone with the point touching the Catawba. It widens toward the South Dobys end. There is an 1840s era home and agricultural structures on site, in some state of disrepair. A Duke Energy power line bisects the property.
The property sits behind an existing neighborhood, The Forest at Fort Mill. It’s close to several new or under-construction schools in Catawba Ridge High School, Forest Creek Middle School and both Doby’s Bridge and River Trail elementary schools. It’s also near a growing commercial base with restaurants, self-storage and other features at South Dobys and Fort Mill Parkway.
According the annexation request, a completed annexation would bring a plan from D.R. Horton for 267 new homes. The applicant spoke with the town about keeping roughly half the property as open space, though a formal development agreement proposal hasn’t been submitted. That open space would include the utility easement and flood plan acreage.
Town planning staff recommends in favor of the annexation. The town planning commission will review the request March 16 and make a recommendation to Fort Mill Town Council. Council will make a final decision.
The project will require area road improvements by the developer. A northbound right turn lane on South Dobys to an existing commercial tract is needed. So is a northbound right turn lane at Dudley Drive and a two-way left turn lane on South Dobys from the entrance of The Forest and Massey to Dryden Street.
The property will have two new entrance points from South Dobys, with lanes to enter and exit onto the main road. Sidewalks and crosswalks will be installed too. Costs for the traffic upgrades fall to the developer, who agreed to them as part of the submitted annexation package.
This story was originally published March 9, 2021 at 11:27 AM.
