Over 900 homes proposed in Lancaster County near a site seeking about 600 homes
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Lennar proposes 926-home Haven at North Corner on 605 acres near Lancaster.
- Developer offers $4.1M in payments, including funds for schools and public safety.
- County council will form review committee; final approval still required.
Another massive subdivision in Lancaster County could bring over 900 new homes, right beside a site where hundreds more homes are proposed.
Florida homebuilder Lennar submitted a development agreement proposal to Lancaster County Sept. 3 for 605 acres east of Charlotte Highway, near the city of Lancaster. The Haven at North Corner would have 926 homes.
The property is across Charlotte Highway from West North Corner Road. It stretches past Craig Farm Road on its east side. The property is immediately north of a 356-acre property where Meritage Homes proposes 578 homes.
The Meritage proposal went to the county Planning Commission on Sept. 16 for a rezoning, but the commission postponed a decision at the applicant’s request. Lancaster County Council hasn’t scheduled a decision yet on the Meritage project.
Lancaster County Council will set up a committee to review the Lennar development proposal. Councilman Billy Mosteller will chair it. The entire council would have to approve any final agreement with Lennar.
The Lennar proposal includes $4.1 million in payments to fund public services and land donations for a school, convenience center, fire and EMS station, said Lennar Charlotte Division President Jon Hardy.
“We understand that there are services and infrastructure improvements, and we want to be part of those,” Hardy told the council on Monday night.
A $2 million payment for the Lancaster County School District comes to $2,200 per home. Lennar would pay $1.2 million for public safety services ($1,319 per home) and more than $825,000 for parks and recreation ($892 per home), Hardy said.
Lennar would seek a special tax district, something the company has had mixed success with in the area. Lancaster County has several large subdivisions with their own tax assessments, where that money is used to offset public infrastructure costs.
Lennar asked for something similar for the 1,300-home Elizabeth neighborhood in Fort Mill, but the town opted against a tax district that would’ve added up to $52,500 to the cost of each new home over 30 years.
Without a special tax district, a developer — in this case Lennar — is financially responsible for infrastructure costs.
Lennar in Lancaster County
Lennar has plenty of experience building in Lancaster County, from the more than 2,200-home Walnut Creek subdivision to the more than 1,800-home Roselyn neighborhood.
The Haven at North Corner would keep a wedding venue and the 20 acres where it sits, Hardy said. The property would have 168 acres of open space, or about five times the size of the Lancaster High School campus, he said.
Lennar doesn’t own the property for The Haven at North Corner, county land records show. It has multiple owners, with Dooley Investments and Able Farms combining for most of it.
Lennar spent more than $6 million for materials and payouts to laborers, contractors or suppliers in Lancaster County last year, Hardy said. To date, he said Monday, the figure this year is $5.3 million.
The Haven at North Corner is only the latest large proposal in Lancaster County.
Several other residential projects came to the Lancaster County Planning Commission this month, totaling nearly 1,100 homes.
Lancaster County grew 16.3% from the 2020 Census to last year, when there were an estimated 111,652 residents, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That’s the highest growth rate in the Charlotte region in that span, and the third highest in South Carolina behind only Jasper and Horry counties.
