Opinion: It’s time to face the reality of 2,650 new homes

The day so many people say they were dreading finally came last week: Fort Mill’s Town Council gave final approval to a plan for the development of the last significant chunk of real estate on this side of the Catawba River.

The property, more than 700 acres owned by former U.S. Rep. John Spratt, a descendant of the first recorded European settler of the area that would become Fort Mill and greater York County, is on track for a mixed-use development. The plan includes up to 2,650 residences – single-family homes and apartments – at least 350,000 square feet of commercial space and about 60 acres of space for parks and recreation use. The property spans Spratt Street and Brickyard Road to the end of Fort Mill Parkway.

Although the standing room only crowd that turned out to mostly oppose the plan at the council’s first reading had dwindled when it came time for what turned out to be the second and final reading June 27, that hearing was conspicuous for another reason. This time, most of those who took advantage of the opportunity to speak at the public hearing used their time to support the plan – and Spratt.

Not that it mattered either way at that point.

First reading was approved with only one dissenting vote and second reading was unanimously in favor of the proposal. We would wager that many of the residents who oppose the development could have predicted the outcome. It is no secret that Town Manager Dennis Pieper and the council, despite occasional references to some nebulous idea of “smart growth,” have a pro-growth agenda.

In some respects, they are not wrong. Growth contributes to the tax base and helps keep the tax rate low, even when the town has to meet raised demands for services. A larger population increases the chances for diversity and represents new generations for local groups from Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts to military and fraternal organizations. On the flip side, we face the specter of more traffic on already clogged roads littered with the carcasses of displaced deer and other woodland life.

Growth was inevitable. A confluence of factors, including desirable schools, proximity to Charlotte and the millions of dollars within easy reach of property owners, made it so. Knowing that might not make it any easier for those who oppose growth to swallow, but hopefully it eases their level of frustration a little.

It also might help to look at the bright side, such as what could have been. For instance, most of the property slated for development sat just outside town limits and had to be annexed in. If the town didn’t agree to annexation, it was possible the city of Rock Hill could have annexed the property, reaping the benefits of the tax base, controlling the zoning and density of development – imagine all homes and no new businesses, or businesses Fort Mill residents would not want in their backyards – and sending the children of all the new residents to Fort Mill schools. If we had to pick between that scenario and the one that came to pass, we would go with annexation into Fort Mill any day of the week.

Something else to consider is that Spratt’s representatives initially asked the town to accept up to 3,400 residences and less park space. Now, it is likely Spratt’s people knew Fort Mill would balk at the number and walked into negotiations with a rock-bottom figure in mind, allowing the town the illusion it talked them down. But no matter the process, the reality is the town got a better deal than it could have initially agreed to. Also, no one should forget that Spratt donated the property – across the road from the future development – that the Fort Mill School District used to build the new Riverview Elementary School. Maybe that was to soften the blow of what was to come, but the donation was a valuable and much needed addition to the district.

Collectively, we might not yet be at the point in the grieving process where we are ready to embrace acceptance. That will come. In the meantime, maybe we can indulge in the bargaining phase for a while longer and hope that somehow, the developer will have the foresight to set aside a more generous chunk of property for parks and open space than the earmarked 60 acres. Even another 10 acres would make a difference.

Not likely to happen, but with a projected build-out of 20 years, we can still hope and dream.

This story was originally published July 1, 2016 at 11:59 AM with the headline "Opinion: It’s time to face the reality of 2,650 new homes."