Fort Mill board candidate takes Shea Homes protest online and he wants you to sign on
A candidate for Fort Mill school board is asking neighbors and community members to rally with him online against a home building company.
Brian Murphy, one of nine candidates for four school board seats up for election this fall, originally planned a rally at the Shea Homes sales center in the Habersham neighborhood on Aug. 18. He asked for other residents within the school district to join him in asking the company to drop a lawsuit against York County related to school impact fees.
After learning the neighborhood had a back-to-school event planned at the same time, Murphy turned the rally into an online protest.
“This protest is about letting Shea Homes know of our community’s outrage and not interfering with other community events,” he said.
Attorneys representing the state and York County home builders associations, along with Shea Homes and Soni Construction, served York County Council members with a complaint last week arguing the decision to raise impact fees in the Fort Mill school district shouldn’t be allowed. Attorneys intended to file suit directly to the state Supreme Court.
As of mid-Monday, the clerk’s office at the Supreme Court couldn’t confirm the lawsuit filing. But a little after noon Monday, attorneys from the plaintiff’s said it had been filed.
The attorneys did provide a copy of the complaint and their argument for why it should start in at the high court rather than in a local one. At one point, a document states the fee increases are “so unreasonable and excessive that it shocks the conscience.”
However, “This lawsuit shocks the conscience of all who live within our school district,” said Murphy, himself an attorney. “We must let these builders know that we will not tolerate unrestrained growth that leaves the community with huge financial burdens to pay for schools.”
The impact fee for Fort Mill schools, charged within the district on new construction and used to offset district costs, began in 1996 and has been charged at $2,500 ever since. But on July 16, the county upped the amount to more than $18,000 per new home and $12,000 per new apartment.
The fee impacts new construction in Fort Mill, Tega Cay and the unincorporated part of York County between the two. Fort Mill and Tega Cay have their own separate municipal impact fees, while York County is studying its own.
Murphy said he is asking Shea to drop the lawsuit. He points to marketing material by the company referencing the Fort Mill school district as a reason to buy in the area.
“It’s hypocritical to use the school district’s excellent reputation to sell homes and then file suit to stop an impact fee that will help the schools expand to serve the neighborhoods Shea Homes builds,” Murphy said.
A Shea representative said the company is referring all questions regarding the lawsuit to the S.C. Home Builders Association. That group is referring questions to attorneys who the suit has been filed, but declined further comment.
The protest, first scheduled for Saturday at the the Habersham sales center, is now online via a change.org petition and at social media sites for the plaintiff companies. In less than 24 hours, the online petition gathered more than 500 signatures.
This story was originally published August 13, 2018 at 2:49 PM.