Tega Cay development plan could add 600 homes

A public hearing scheduled for Tuesday will focus on a plan that could add 600 homes to Tega Cay, along with land for business and recreation uses.

The city planning commission met Feb. 8 to discuss Windhaven, a planned development proposal for nine properties in the county and city. The properties, north of Gold Hill Road across from Tega Cay Elementary School and Hubert Graham Way, total more than 120 acres. Most of the property would be annexed to create Windhaven.

An initial proposal had up to 680 new residences. Changes following planning commission consideration would put a cap at 600. The commission doesn’t offer formal recommendations until after public hearings.

The plan provides 20 acres for the city as recreation space, a site for a future school and up to eight acres of commercial property. The residential uses will vary.

“It’s a mix of residential uses,” said Susan Britt, city planning and development manager. “It could include single-family, townhomes, patio homes.”

Tega Cay City Council meets at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Glennon Center. The planning commission will join the Council. A public hearing will be held on that plan, along with another annexation off of Dam Road. The four-acre site sits near the intersection with Highway 160 West.

“It’s an area that’s transitioning into a gateway for our city,” Britt said.

The property now has a residential zoning. If annexed, it would come in as general business.

“There are some plans but nothing has been submitted,” Britt said.

But the bigger decision will be Windhaven. Mayor George Sheppard invited residents to attend the hearing to find out what is planned. He said early discussions from the developer went as high as 740 units including 525 apartments. Negotiations with the city led to the 600-unit cap with no apartments or condos proposed, and some age-targeted patio homes not originally included.

Park space increased by eight acres through negotiation, commercial space by three acres. Future road connections were discussed with Dry Run, which intersects with Zoar Road, and an Eastwood Homes development next to City Hall. Another 34 acres are under negotiation for a future middle school.

The annexation process gave the city more say in the type of development Windhaven will bring.

“Bottom line is this,” Sheppard said. “It all comes down to property owner’s rights. The developer who owns the property can do what they want with the property. They can annex into the city and develop it the way we want it to be developed or they can go to the county and the county can determine our fate.”

Charlie Funderburk, city manager, said existing city services are near enough to connect with Windhaven without incident.

“With where we have existing infrastructure currently, we can serve Windhaven,” he said.

“Our engineers have already identified potential connection points and we are now waiting on plan submittals, which we won’t get until sometime after annexation if Council decides to move forward with this project.”

The project could help with future infrastructure needs, too.

“We have the capacity to service this project and the developer has agreed on a location for a future elevated storage tank within the project boundaries,” Funderburk said.

The planning commission is looking at 10 more rezonings, though none are expected to bring about new land uses anytime soon. The city owns eight and Fort Mill School District, two. The rezonings are to conform with the city comprehensive plan adopted two years ago, where new designations for areas like schools and parks will be used.

Years ago the city had only business or similar designations to bring in parks or nearby parking spaces. Now, new zoning designations will be used.

“This was to bring everything into consistency with our comprehensive plan,” Britt said.

This story was originally published February 15, 2016 at 3:52 PM with the headline "Tega Cay development plan could add 600 homes."