Amid growing pressure on the MorningStar tower, York County won’t budge. Here’s why
A recent swell of vocal support for the MorningStar tower in Fort Mill won’t sway York County government leaders.
In recent months, MorningStar Fellowship Church backers have filled York County Council meetings in support of a completing the tower. Rick Joyner, president of MorningStar, asked council in February to let his group build the tower and warned of an “all out war” through legal filings if the county continued to delay.
On March 7, MorningStar filed a legal motion as the latest in more than a decade of legal wrangling with the county. MorningStar alleges a county attorney violated procedural rules by not consulting with MorningStar prior to filing a motion to restore a legal case against the church group, and by stating there was an agreement related to the tower, which MorningStar denies.
On Wednesday, York County made its position known. A five-page news release offers the county’s position on the tower, and on what’s likely to happen.
“MorningStar’s attempts to characterize its dispute with the county as a ‘holy war’ related to religious liberty and government oppression are a distraction from the real issue and the facts related to the tower,” the release states.
What is the MorningStar tower?
The MorningStar tower is a remnant of the Heritage USA era in Fort Mill. It’s part of the property made famous by Praise The Lord Ministries founders Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker. The 21-story tower in what is now the Regent Park area was never finished.
MorningStar bought the property and intends to complete the tower, which the church will use for senior housing. York County contends the tower should have come down already, and isn’t fit for occupancy.
Construction on the tower began in 1986. Foundations and the exterior were completed, as was the interior on some floors. According to the county, PTL never applied for a certificate of occupancy and there was never one granted. Work on the tower stopped when PTL filed for bankruptcy in 1987.
Legal cases on the tower
According to the county, any effort to open the tower now would mean it must meet current building codes. Since it never got its certificate of occupancy, it couldn’t revert to grandfathered-in codes from when construction started.
The property has had several owners since PTL. MorningStar entered into a sale agreement in 2004 from then owner Coulston Enterprises. According to the county, demolition of the tower was a specific requirement of the purchase contract. It was supposed to happen within 24 months or MorningStar would have to pay Coulston $300,000 with an understanding York County still could require demolition.
The county approved a planned development agreement submitted by Coulston, on behalf of MorningStar, in early 2005. That plan, according to the county, required demolition by 2007.
Later in 2005, MorningStar asked York County to allow completion of the tower. The county rejected the request. The county did, however, agree to a development agreement proposed by MorningStar in early 2006 that would require completion or demolition of the tower within five years.
The county and MorningStar disagree on what happened since then. In recent court filings and public statements, MorningStar alleges the county repeatedly and unfairly would not allow the church to obtain needed building permits to complete the tower. The county alleges MorningStar missed key deadlines on required financing proofs.
In 2010 the county sent MorningStar a default notice. Efforts to resolve the issue involved mediation, and what the county states were extended deadlines, but were unsuccessful.
MorningStar sued the county in 2013 alleging a breach of the development agreement between the two. The county filed its own claim that MorningStar breached the agreement. MorningStar’s claims were eventually dismissed, but the county’s weren’t. The appeals process went through 2019, when the case went back for a trial to hear the county’s counterclaims.
MorningStar and the county submitted a joint agreement in mid-2020 that would remove the case as an active trial for one year to allow MorningStar time to submit a building permit to complete the tower. MorningStar characterizes the 2020 agreement as a conclusion to the legal issues.
David Yarnes, president of Heritage Tower Community, and a MorningStar vice president, told York County Council last month his group agreed to end three lawsuits with the 2020 agreement and began investment in the tower.
“We began to make significant expenditures after that,” Yarnes told council.
His group was blindsided, he said, a year later when the county reinstated lawsuits after MorningStar got a $75 million tax exempt bond, brought in 60 subcontractors and started engineering documents.
According to the county, the 2020 agreement wasn’t a dismissal but was an attempt to give MorningStar time. The county claims it never promised MorningStar legal actions would be dismissed.
The county alleges MorningStar didn’t submit a building permit application during the year between the agreement and the reinstatement of legal proceedings. The county also argues it didn’t need MorningStar’s consent to reinstate.
During the tower debate there have been other filings. MorningStar filed suit in 2018 against the county and former county officials alleging religious discrimination. The claims were dismissed but are under appeal.
In 2019 MorningStar sued the county related to alleged Freedom of Information Act violations.
York County tower stance
According to the county, MorningStar has never shown evidence the county treated the church any differently that it would another developer. Both the county and MorningStar point to significant upgrades to other parts of the church property. MorningStar says they’re proof the county and church should be able to work together on the tower. The county says work on other properties shows fairness to MorningStar.
York County also states the tower, legally, should have come down no later than 2013.
“York County has done nothing to deny MorningStar the right to develop its own property,” reads the county release sent Wednesday. “All York County has asked from MorningStar is that it do so in the same manner required of any other developer in a similar situation in order to ensure the safety, health, and welfare of citizens and residents.”
The county states there are codes in place to bring down abandoned, uninhabited or decaying structures that potentially could harm the community.
“The county has a duty to the health, safety, and welfare of its citizens and simply cannot allow a 35-year-old building that has never been completed to stand in its current condition,” reads the release.
This story was originally published March 16, 2022 at 11:52 AM.
