Medical building planned for Fort Mill recycling site

The place where residents have taken trash and recyclables for years soon could be the place they go for medical services.

Carolinas HealthCare System is looking for a development agreement for almost 40 acres, where the company wants to put a multistory medical building and outparcel businesses. The site sits at Tom Hall Street and Fort Mill Parkway, and includes land currently used as a York County Collection and Recycling Center.

The plan includes annexation of almost 30 acres into Fort Mill. The town planning commission recommended the annexation and larger development agreement Tuesday night. Fort Mill Town Council has final say on both decisions.

Ben Johnson, with Carolinas HealthCare, said his company doesn’t own any property there now. It is under contract. The current owner already informed the county of changing plans for the trash and recycling site.

“Assuming the applicant does close on the property, the plan is that lease would expire with the county,” said Joe Cronin, town planning director.

Johnson said it is too early for many details on the new medical building, the main component of the plan.

“We don’t own the property yet, so we still have to do property analysis, site studies, geology studies to see what can be done on this site,” he said.

The site has a creek bisecting it and a “significant ravine” limiting overall site development, he said. The company is asking for an increased building height allowance to make up for an inability to develop along the creek and ravine.

“Because less of the property is usable,” Johnson said, “they’re probably going to have to go with three stories.”

The requested zoning allows buildings up to 35 feet. The company is asking for 50 feet, expecting a building between the two numbers. James McMullen, planning commission member, wanted to make sure the change doesn’t impact nearby homeowners.

“If we’re going to be giving the additional height on the building, I’d like to see an increase in the buffer,” he said.

While final plans for the building aren’t known, what is clear is much of the property would change from a residential use zoning to a business one, a direction town planners and elected officials have stated as a goal amid considerable residential construction in recent years.

Planning commission member Chris Wolfe, his group having seen many of those residential projects, smiled as he told the applicant Tuesday, “We’re glad you’re not wanting to pack 400 homes in there.”

“We don’t want any – zero,” Johnson said.

This story was originally published June 24, 2016 at 6:05 PM with the headline "Medical building planned for Fort Mill recycling site."