Van Wyck looks to beat Indian Land to town status

There’s a land rush going on in the Lancaster County Panhandle.

As a group of Indian Land residents works to create a new town, Van Wyck residents are looking to beat them to it. Not because Van Wyck particularly wants to be its own town, but rather because some residents just don’t want to be part of an incorporated Indian Land.

“Obviously we’re against the incorporation because we’re having to incorporate just to protect ourselves,” Van Wyck resident Rosa Sansbury said.

A little less than two years ago, there was discussion in the rural Van Wyck community about incorporation. It never gained traction. Yet a couple weeks back, several dozen residents gathered to discuss ongoing efforts in Indian Land. Almost five dozen people decided Van Wyck shouldn’t be part of those efforts.

“It changed people’s tune,” Sansbury said. “Everybody is on board.”

A petition circulated and by the end of the month, Van Wyck residents should have an application delivered to the state. Petition signatures would then be certified and a legislative committee would begin work on the plan. A community vote would be set. Residents would have to set up a form of government and other matters related to incorporating.

“We know that when this comes up for an election, that’s not going to be an issue,” said organizer Becky Peed.

The group already is notifying nearby municipalities Fort Mill, Lancaster and Rock Hill. Residents say the Van Wyck government would be limited. Proponents aren’t looking to keep new growth out entirely but want more say on it than they feel an incorporated Indian Land would afford them.

“We want to control our land and protect it,” Peed said. “It’s really the ability to continue to live on the land that we have the right to.”

The Van Wyck plan involves about 200 registered voters and has one small area with enough people to meet minimum requirements for incorporation. The Indian Land plan involves the entire Panhandle and would bring in an estimated $7.9 million annually in new tax and fee revenue.

Van Wyck residents say they have a problem making up almost half the acreage in the Indian Land plan but only getting one vote on a new council with a mayor and five seats. Some say the only reason Indian Land proponents would include them is the availability of land in Van Wyck, compared with Indian Land where much of the land already is developed.

“We do not see Van Wyck being ‘Van Wyck’ as it is today if we become a part of Indian Land,” Sansbury said. “Do what they want to do up there, but don’t involve us. We’re OK down here.”

The Municipal Association of South Carolina is helping both groups gather information on requirements for incorporation. With only two incorporations statewide the past several decades, the idea of two communities incorporating at the same time is unique. Then, there’s the overlap.

“To my knowledge this has just never occurred before,” said Jeff Shacker, field services manager with the association.

Petitions, state certification, voting and a variety of factors depend on an area to be incorporated. Determining boundaries is the first step recommended. It helps create demographic data, which could throw a wrench into the larger Indian Land plan if Van Wyck takes itself off the table by incorporating.

“It’s not contemplated in the law,” Shacker said. “It’s not addressed in the law: If two groups look to incorporate the same area, what happens?”

He believes, as Van Wyck residents insist, it would be first come, first served

“I don’t really know what it would mean for the second one, whether they would have to go back to the drawing board,” Shacker said.

Perhaps ironically, Indian Land supporters are in some ways working against an issue Van Wyck residents say they would face if the larger incorporation happens. Indian Land residents want more local control of growth and planning decisions. Right now, Lancaster County makes decisions for Indian Land.

Van Wyck residents say with one outnumbered seat on an Indian Land council, they would be no better off in that town than Indian Land is in the county now.

“Somebody is going to lose in that deal, and we know it would be Van Wyck,” Peed said.

John Delfausse, member of the Indian Land incorporation effort, said there isn’t animosity between the two groups.

“We are aware of the Van Wyck efforts to incorporate and wish them well,” he said.

Yet some Van Wyck residents describe a growing tension as they expect their plan to get the go-ahead sooner. Without incorporating themselves, Van Wyck has no way of excluding itself from a larger vote on the Indian Land plan.

Van Wyck residents believe development will come their way, but they envision multi-acre lots and a continued rural setting. They don’t want to be subject to town ordinances that may make sense in Indian Land, such as prohibiting livestock or shooting guns in certain areas.

“We want development on our terms,” Sansbury said.

This story was originally published March 18, 2016 at 6:24 PM with the headline "Van Wyck looks to beat Indian Land to town status."