Huge Fort Mill annexation now official

FORT MILL -- Fort Mill doubled in size this week.

The town council unanimously approved annexations and development agreements covering more than 5,000 acres during a 7 a.m. workshop meeting Monday. The votes covered two long awaited projects - the development of the remaining Clear Springs Development villages and a new Culture and Heritage Commission museum and surrounding 340-acre development called Kanawha.

"In about 25 years it will probably be a really good thing for Fort Mill on the revenue side," Councilman Grady Ervin said. "It will take a number of years for it to develop."

Mayor Danny Funderburk was a bit more ebullient in his post-vote remarks.

"It was a great day, a very historic day for Fort Mill," said. "And we did it in an effective way with smart growth principals."

For example, he said, the plan calls for an initial focus on commercial development that will help the tax base grow before more homes are built. And it concentrates density in specific areas to spread growth around the town, Funderburk explained. It also respects the environment and leaves large swaths of land untouched by bulldozers.

Clear Springs, which controls approximately 2,700 of the annexed acres, plans to begin developing Kingsley Village first. The project spans several hundred acres from Hwy. 160 West to the north between I-77 and Hwy. 21. The village will include both commercial and residential components, similar to Baxter Village, but with more commercial buildings, according to company officials. Clear Springs is still creating detailed development plans for the village and others, and construction is still likely more than a year away.

The Clear Springs development agreement covering all 2,700 acres lasts 20 years with the option to renew it for another 20 years. That, in conjunction with the town's recently completed comprehensive plan, gives local leaders a long-range view of the future of Fort Mill and allows for planning to meet the coming needs, Funderburk said.

Additionally, Leroy Springs and Co. sought and received annexation of the 1,800-acre Anne Springs Close Greenway. Except for a yet-to-be determined 10-acre parcel, the only development that will occur on the Greenway will be enhancements to its current amenities. Those enhancements are allowed under the terms of the conservation easement covering the greenway.

Officials with the Culture and Heritage Commission and a developer, Cherokee Partners, are finalizing plans for a new museum on the Catawba River and the Kanawha Development on approximately 400 acres West of I-77 and south of Sutton Road. The plan includes 40 to 50 acres of commercial development and 337 single-family homes, 111 town houses and as many as 267 apartments. Cherokee plans to start with a small section of homes near the museum site as models and testbeds for sustainable and "green" design and technologies that may be incorporated in the overall development, according to Project Manager Allen Harrington. The goal is to have the models ready by next summer.

Some residents’ concerns

Spurred on by a deluge of questions about its plans at a town council meeting earlier this month, Clear Springs Development set up a public meeting last week to try to answer them. About a dozen residents attended the presentation and question session held at the Spratt Building at lunch time last Wednesday.

Following a slide show overview of the 2,700-acre development, which is spread across several properties around Fort Mill, Clear Springs Executives took questions from the audience one-on-one. However, they were not able to satisfy everyone.

“I’m concerned about growth on Hwy. 21,” Terri Oley said. “They can’t answer any questions about the widening of Hwy. 21.”

Oley is worried about her children trying to cross Hwy. 21 at Harris Street to get to school at Riverview Elementary or Fort Mill High. She also worries about increased traffic noise in the neighborhoods along Hwy. 21 when heavy trucks begin delivering and picking things up from the Kingsley Village project located north of the Peach Stand at the intersection of Hwy. 21 and Hwy. 160 West.

“You’d think if they’re going to develop all that land, they should have some answers on what the state is doing with the road,” Oley said.

She said she’s been trying to get information about widening Hwy. 21 for the past six years with no luck.

“They need to address all the issues, not just their issues,” she said.

Town Councilman Larry Huntley was among the town officials at the meeting. He said he had not received many questions from residents regarding the Clear Springs plan. He also said he liked the plan, and that many of his peers from around the state were talking about the plan in a positive light at the last Municipal Association meeting in Columbia earlier this month.

“I’m very much in favor of it,” Huntley said. “And I never worked for Springs, either.”

This story was originally published July 30, 2008 at 10:23 AM with the headline "Huge Fort Mill annexation now official."