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Duke Energy land sale has neighbors worried about safety near nuclear station

By Greg Suskin, wsoctv.com
By Greg Suskin, wsoctv.com

YORK COUNTY, S.C. — Concord Road off Highway 274 near Lake Wylie is very quiet.

Once drivers get past the Catawba Nuclear Station there's little traffic, but that could soon change, and when it does, neighbors worry that getting out during a potential emergency won’t be easy.

Duke Energy is selling a 348-acre tract of undeveloped land at the end of Concord Road.

The land is a peninsula on Lake Wylie next to the Catawba Nuclear Station. It's land Duke owned before the plant was ever built, but for which the company says it no longer has a business need.

Some neighbors like Mark and Joyce Sleeper agree Duke has the right to sell the land, but they're concerned about a big subdivision going in that would bring thousands more people, and make a potential evacuation, much tougher.

There is one two-lane road with a bridge leading out of the area.

"All of us trying to get through a single bridge, especially past the nuclear plant, which could be the cause of the evacuation, is irresponsible," Mark Sleeper said.

Duke Energy sent letters to residents in June about the sale and set up a meeting to talk to people about it.  About 200 people showed up.

Duke told Channel 9 on Thursday that a real estate agent is promoting the site for sale.

A site map from that agent, Southern Real Estate of Charlotte, shows a complete neighborhood plan that lists 394 home sites, about an acre each. Some lots are on the water, others are in the interior of the peninsula.

Dave Simpson, with Southern Real Estate, didn't agree with concerns about evacuation if the area is developed.

"That's an absurd overreaction," Simpson said. "This will be a signature development on a very good location on the lake."

Sleeper said neighbors on Concord Road are asking Duke to compromise and consider development only on the waterfront lots, leaving the interior wooded for green space so fewer homes are built.

They have contacted congressional leaders, appeared before the York County Council, and have approached local land trusts and preservation organizations about trying to keep a large subdivision from building on the whole property.

"They're not taking our concerns seriously as far as evacuation," Sleeper said. "To me, that's not good faith."

Duke Energy said the company is listening to concerns of homeowners there, and has kept the lines of communication open.

"Regardless of the decision related to this piece of property, Duke Energy is committed to keeping an open dialogue with our plant neighbors and the community, as we have been doing," Duke spokeswoman Mary Kathryn Green said.

Green said the utility’s priority is safety, and since the land is already zoned residential, development is allowed there under York County laws.

Simpson said that the county's zoning classification for the land, R-2, allows for 2.5 houses per acre. However, the intention is not to develop a community nearly so dense.

"We'll show anyone our plans, at any time. Any of the people there are welcome to come take a look at it," Simpson said.

The same property was proposed for sale once before in 2004. However, at the time the Catawba Nuclear Station was in a re-licensing process, and the company decided against the sale.

The land does not have a buyer at this time. The real estate agent said he couldn't disclose an asking price for the land.

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