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Land Resources / News / South Carolina
Growth pushes some out of Panhandle
Source: Fort Mill Times, by Jenny Overman
Neighbors on opposite sides of a rezoning battle are fighting to keep growth from creeping closer to their doorsteps.
Bill and Mary McGinn live in their "dream house," a log cabin that sits on property that Bill McGinn's great-grandparents farmed more than 100 years ago.
November 21, 2007 But the McGinns, like many Indian Land residents, are faced with the reality of growth in the Panhandle: heavy traffic flowing passed their driveway on Hwy. 521, a Lowe's Home Improvement store slated to move in across the street, and other retailers ready to move in up and down the highway. "When we came here we thought this is where we'd stay forever," Mary McGinn said. "Then we started seeing the writing on the wall." The McGinns, along with relatives who own adjoining property, are ready to sell their property and move to more peaceful surroundings. But the McGinns' neighbors in Black Horse Run are concerned that if the McGinn property is sold, it will mean growth begins knocking louder on their own doors. Right now, the McGinns' property, and the family land for sale around it, is zoned primarily residential. But at least one developer who has eyed the property, Raley Miller Properties, considered rezoning the property for big-box retail. Last week, Raley Miller Properties pulled its application to rezone the property and withdrew a contract on the McGinns' property. David Miller, CEO of Raley Miller, would not say why he withdrew the contract. Although it wasn't sold this time, the property is still for sale and because of its frontage on Hwy. 521, it's likely any buyer will consider it for the commercial possibilities. Some of the horse trails in Black Horse Run border the McGinns' property. Resident Meta Wasson said she worries the horse trails could one day end up bordering commercial buildings or a parking lot. Traffic and noise would be dangerous for the horses and the riders, she said. The horse trails in Black Horse Run are among the last safe places to ride horses in Indian Land, she said. "There's no land left except for the green space in developments," Wasson said. "And that's really a farce. It's just a little green land for the people that live there." Many people in the Panhandle are finding themselves in this position, Mary McGinn said, of having to sell their property to get away from the growth or to fight to protect their land from it. They are fighting for the same thing, she said. "We all want the same thing," Mary McGinn says. "We all want Indian Land to be the same thing it was 20 years ago, but that's not reality. It's not going to be." Selling their property will mean a more stable financial future. The money from the sale of their property would help the couple retire. While the money helps, Mary McGinn said, it will still be hard to give up family land and give up the dream they had when they built their log cabin 12 years ago. "There are pluses but there are a lot of minuses," Mary McGinn says. "I think everyone in this position up and down the highway feels the same. You grieve for what you lose." Although the application to rezone the McGinns' property has been dropped for the time being, residents of Black Horse Run have already mobilized. They've signed petitions and contacted the county council to make sure the council is aware that commercial property beside Black Horse Run is not welcome. "My concern is the quality of life and the safety of my family and animals," Wasson said. Read the complete article from Fort Mill Times » |
