It’ll be a huge addition for Fort Mill. Too big, some say, for their neighborhood.

It’ll be one of the biggest additions in the growing Fort Mill area. Certainly among the tallest. And and it’ll serve whatever else pops up for years to come.

If it happens.

York County Council voted Tuesday night to defer a land use change allowing for a water tower between I-77 and U.S. 21, north of Gold Hill Road. The decision came after several residents spoke up against the move. Council members Michael Johnson and Christi Cox said they weren’t aware of opposition to the plan until right before time to vote.

“I was a little surprised just kind of hearing people come forward tonight,” Johnson said.

The county is “kind of married” to the site due to easements already obtained and work with a commercial property owner there, according to staff, but delaying a decision a couple of weeks won’t mean any missed deadlines.

“This is a big issue, and it affects the folks that live there,” Cox said. “I would like to get comfortable that there’s no other option for it.”

The county owns more than five acres at 191 Central Carolinas Parkway. It’s surrounded by and part of the Ross Distribution site.

The smaller property is being condemned, and the county wants to put a water storage tank there. A 2008 study identified the need for a water tower to serve the growing area there, and the 2009 county capital improvements plan listed one.

The storage tank would be 185 feet tall and hold 1.5 million gallons. A new 24-inch water main will be installed along the southern part of the property.

A letter from consulting firm Kimley-Horn stated the site would be a good fit due to its “limited value for commercial development” and close proximity to an existing water line. Early plans are for a white tank with fencing around it.

While one resident said he is “really not opposed to it” pending the aesthetics, others had several concerns, including Wally Buchanan and his wife, Esther. They are among eight families who live on the gravel-topped Baxter Lane.

“We’re not against the water tower,” Buchanan said. “We’re against the location.”

The noise from trucks in and out of Ross has him concerned the tower could add to it, though an engineer said noise shouldn’t be an issue. Buchanan also has reservations on the ground where the tower would be.

“The berm that they’re building that on is unstable,” he said. “I was there when they piled the dirt up.”

Matt Shoesmith, with the Kimley-Horn office in Charlotte, said plans are to set the tank base below the existing fill dirt level and the site won’t have pumps, meaning “little or no noise.” Once built, only small trucks would be needed for maintenance and it “wouldn’t even be daily access” required.

“This particular site is very well-suited because it meets the hydraulic needs of the distribution system based on its proximity to the 24-inch water line,” Shoesmith said.

“It is also currently undeveloped and the particular geometry of this site doesn’t lend itself to too many development options. So an elevated storage tank is one of the options that would actually fit on this site.”

Erin Chantry lives in Charlotte, but her grandparents lived two parcels down from the proposed tower for decades. The land is important to her family.

“It is the majority of what my parents have left for their retirement, and we’re very concerned that a water tower adjacent to it will really restrict its development potential,” Chantry said.

She also works as an urban planner, and from that role believes there must be better site options near commercial or industrial rather than residential neighbors. There may not be many people living nearby, but there are some.

“It’s not quite undeveloped,” Chantry said.

The proposed tank would be composite, with a concrete pillar on the bottom and a white steel tank. It would serve much of the eastern part of the county.

“The county has a need for elevated storage in the eastern portion of their distribution site,” Shoesmith said. “This need has been documented in several reports but they need that to be able to meet current and future water demands, to maintain system pressure and to provide adequate fire flow conditions.”

While several sites were evaluated, all the others were eliminated for some reason or another. Moving to another site, particularly if it means losing elevation, could change the project considerably.

“If we have a lower site we ultimately have to build a higher and more expensive tank,” Shoesmith said.

The county is looking at another, less controversial, site for water storage, too. Council approved another public service use request at 126 Hands Mill Hwy. in Rock Hill. Carter Lumber Company owns that site, but has agreed to allow a booster pump station and groundwater storage tank on a third of an acre there. The additions are needed with future demand expected on the western part of the county and in the City of York.

That ground tank will be 35 feet in diameter, but only 36 feet high. The pump station will be in a 40-by-15-foot building.

The site is surrounded by the lumber company on three sides and a railroad track on the other. Like the site in Fort Mill, several areas were considered before one was chosen. Only on the western side, no residents spoke up against it.

“The county went through a significant process of identifying sites,” said engineer Keith Costley with Keck & Wood, Inc. “Ultimately selected this site.”

This story was originally published September 6, 2017 at 4:39 PM with the headline "It’ll be a huge addition for Fort Mill. Too big, some say, for their neighborhood.."