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Soon we will have no more trees, bushes or shrubs just housing developments.
The property on Hands Mill Hwy (Hwy 274) across from the convenience center on corner of Campbell Rd and Hands Mill. SC gave Daimler $2 million to build their offices. Daimler backed out and now a developer has the land.
Campbell Road is two lanes where Penland Christmas Tree farm is located and ends on Hwy 49 other end is Hands Mill Road Hwy 274.
York County has approved 842 new single family homes on 432 acres. That is phase one and phase two is 272 homes!!!
Down the road 4 miles is Concord Road the entrance to Duke Nuke Plant. Duke is planning to sell 348 acres probably to a developer and I am sure it will be homes.
Then I saw this today and what a mess we are going to have. Not a tree, bush or shrub will be left in York County. In addition Allison Creek could be harmed with all the developing on Hands Mill Hwy. Plus the roads and overloading the schools.
I figure that they won't stop approving housing developments until there are so many homes and so many vehicles on the road that it will be faster to walk places then drive due to all the traffic congestion.
My biggest problem is that there is no planning about the future and how all this growth affects everyone already here. Due to all the growth in Fort Mill; I've watched my property tax bill go up 41% from when I purchased the home in 2012.
The developers need to start having more skin in the game and be responsible for any infrastructure improvements that are required to support the growth. If they don't want to do that; then they should not be building in the county.
I agree 100% with you PsylockeSmythe. It's up to the elected officials to hold the developers feet to the fire regarding infrastructure improvements. Sadly it appears that the people we elect to represent our interests are in the pockets of the developers as it seems every scheme from a developer is quickly approved with little debate or input from the rest of us.
It's a shame that these massive new neighborhood developments whose houses are so close together, you can literally open your window, reach out and shake your neighbor's hand or have no sidewalks so kids play in the too narrow roads or are stripped of every living tree to put up an duplex and replanted with 3' trees that will take 50 years to grow back.
Just imagine the cluster that will occur when the bridge over Lake Wylie needs to be closed for repairs or God forbid some sort of failure. Only one reasonable way to get to Charlotte and that Bridge is it. Is anyone thinking of that. With these thousands of new homes going up, how the hell is anybody going to get anywhere ?
All the elected officials can think about is all the new tax money coming in. And not how this unbridled growth will affect the quality of life in York County.
Hate to say it but what we need is another economic slowdown that will drive these land speculators out of business for a few years. I'm interested to see what happens in Charlotte when the next downfall hits with all of the high priced 40 story apartments standing vacant.
My biggest problem is that there is no planning about the future and how all this growth affects everyone already here. Due to all the growth in Fort Mill; I've watched my property tax bill go up 41% from when I purchased the home in 2012.
The developers need to start having more skin in the game and be responsible for any infrastructure improvements that are required to support the growth. If they don't want to do that; then they should not be building in the county.
41% increase is a big 'no no' for me.
Moreover, I do not understand SC planning; in NJ, the State often requires developers to install right and left hand turning lanes, leaving the center lanes open and free flowing so traffic keeps moving. I've seen similar forward thinking measures in GA in TN.
An example of excellence in SC planning (dense developments on a road with no sidewalks; no turning lanes, inadequate laneage, and little room to expand):
I figure that they won't stop approving housing developments until there are so many homes and so many vehicles on the road that it will be faster to walk places then drive due to all the traffic congestion.
My biggest problem is that there is no planning about the future and how all this growth affects everyone already here. Due to all the growth in Fort Mill; I've watched my property tax bill go up 41% from when I purchased the home in 2012.
The developers need to start having more skin in the game and be responsible for any infrastructure improvements that are required to support the growth. If they don't want to do that; then they should not be building in the county.
Psy
Completely agree that the developers need to pay more for the privilege of building - including $$ towards the roads needed to accommodate all their new residents.
Our property taxes have also gone up about 40% since we bought our home, although we moved here in 2006.
The developers know how to work the system. Example is Newport Lakes across Hands Mill Hwy 274 from the SCDMV. In the beginning the YC Planning Commission approved single family homes on large lots with a buffer separating the division from Greenmeadow Drive. Greenmeadow was an established neighborhood original Crystal Lakes subdivision. It has been there for years acre or larger lots.
The housing bubble burst so developer goes to YC Planning Department and employees make changes and developer proceeds with the development. Lower cost homes and small lots. No approval by the YC Planning Commission or the YC Council. All heck broke loose with neighbors when construction started. If I recall (not sure) someone in the Planning Department was demoted or lost job and Buddy Motz YC Councilman was about lynched and lost his re-election bid. All because of this development mess. Present day the developer is still throwing together door to door homes. Some appear so close you couldn't get a lawnmower between then.
People are purchasing them. Two of my neighbors have adult children living here.
I know this may come across as naive, but outside of personal gain, what is in the mind of these politicians?
With increased building comes increased revenue - I get that - but revenue doesn't come without a cost.
With added population comes an increase in crime, usage of natural resources, traffic, etc. Meanwhile, counties surrounding Charlotte are actively working to attract new residents, while the same people will complain that the character of their towns has changed, that the civility and friendliness common to small town living, is lost.
I have referred to NJ code on this forum, because much has been said of how certain municipalities have worked to hold down growth. In western NJ for example, some municipalities mandate a 4 acre minimum lot for new houses, as a way to keep population growth in check with the availability of natural resources, roads, etc.
The idea that politicians "hands are tied," or that "there's nothing we can do"...not buying it.
I know this may come across as naive, but outside of personal gain, what is in the mind of these politicians?
The idea that politicians "hands are tied," or that "there's nothing we can do"...not buying it.
I feel that that is just an excuse that they can use to pass the buck. They have the ability to change the zoning laws and the building requirements. The problem is that requires them to actually do work and make tough decisions that effect lots of different people. They don't want to do that because it might mean that they get voted out.
Also, based on what I've have read in the various articles that have been posted here and in the newspapers; some of the County Council have the opinion of: It is not fair to the current property owners who want to sell their land now; for us to tell them or the developers no; because they didn't sell when their neighbors or other property owners did. Even if that was years earlier.
That above is one of the reasons why the Lake Wylie overlay district was shot down. Two or three on council didn't think it would be fair to current property owners. So it got voted down.
To me a good example of how the city/county councils not controlling growth in the area has made traffic congestion horrible is exit 82 (Celanese Road exit) down in Rock Hill. Traffic on I77 south can back up past the Sutton Road exit (exit 83) week nights and the what should be a 10 minute drive can be 30+ minutes on Celanese Road during this time due to all the vehicles on the road. This is happening because of all the homes that have been approved in that area of Rock Hill. Rock Hill now wants to have another bridge built over the Catawba River that connects to Sutton Road in Fort Mill so that people will start using Sutton Road to get on and off I77 and relieve the traffic congestion on Celanese Road. Fort Mill won't agree to this; because Fort Mill doesn't want to deal with all the traffic that this would cause on Sutton Road (a 2 lane road).
For me; this is Rock Hill's problem; because they didn't plan for the growth and the traffic that approving all those new homes would cause. They should have known that the Celanese Road exit would be the bottleneck for traffic flow and either improve it so that it can handle to traffic flow or not approve the new developments.
I know this may come across as naive, but outside of personal gain, what is in the mind of these politicians?
Their perception of freedom and capitalism. I'm always taken back when I read or hear someone say "Why don't these politicians in the very conservative Republican dominated state do they same thing as a Democratically leaning or dominated state."
York County has ISSUES. If we don't get some people elected who care about the growth and understand it soon, it's going to be a real mess. We've been having some issues in our community and when we pressed the HOA about it, we learned that the COUNTY is dictating some of these rules. The County has planning/zoning ordinances that served it well a few decades ago, but they really need to bring the development planning into the 21st century.
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