Weddings, retreats. Birthday parties with horses. Two York County event sites planned
Make a way for event venues to open for business and, evidently, they will come.
York County has two requests from property owners looking to start new event venue sites, according to the county zoning board of appeals Nov. 8 agenda.
One site would be for weddings, corporate gatherings and birthday parties involving horses. It would be part of Starry Night Horse Farm at 3210 Chester Highway, near Sherry Acres subdivision.
The 36-acre property is on the west side of Chester Highway, between Daves and Brattonsville roads, owned by Randy and Jennifer Weiss. There is a home and access to a pond, along with three barns and utility buildings, woods and pasture.
Plans filed Oct. 16 show 5-acres of the Starry Night Horse Farm would operate as a year-round event venue, with capacity up to 100 people. It projects 20 events per year. It’s at least 200 feet from other homes, won’t operate past 10 p.m. and won’t amplify music more than 30 minutes past sunset.
The event venue would be in the center of the land parcel, south of the existing home.
A separate request is for 140 Carolina Crossing Drive in York. The former Carolina Crossing Golf Course site is 59 acres on the eastern side of South Shiloh Road. The new venue will be the former clubhouse and surrounding areas. The 4,500-square-foot building needs a special exception because it couldn’t operate as an event venue without the golf course operating.
The site has a commercial kitchen, bar and ballrooms, an outdoor porch and required parking. It can host up to 160 people at a time. The new ownership group expects 20 or more events per year.
Proposals for event sites have popped up several times in recent months. The county was in a bind for several months when event venues or land sales for them were proposed, but the county didn’t have a zoning district allowing them.
York County Council voted in June on changes to allow event venues as a special exception. It was part of months of work on when and where the county should allow quarries, wineries and more.
Councilman Robert Winkler, who represents the district where both of these requests are, spoke several times about property sales hinging on allowing an event venue, or someone waiting on new rules to start a venue.
“We’ve been telling them for months now they can’t do it, legally, because there is no zoning ordinance that allows them to do that,” Winkler said at the June vote. “That’s what we’re trying to correct here.”
Other potential sites in Lake Wylie and elsewhere were mentioned in discussions to allow event venues.