Developer wants to charge Fort Mill homebuyers $1,700+ for infrastructure

FORT MILL, S.C. — Some new homebuyers in Fort Mill may have to pay more than $1,700 every year if a developer gets their way.

It’s proposed for the Elizabeth community along Fort Mill Parkway. It would be one of the largest subdivisions in Fort Mill, with more than 820 single-family homes and close to 500 townhomes.

James Rivenbark owns a business nearby. He sees the community as just another sign of growth.

“A lot of growth. Traffic’s bad, but we’re right beside a big city, so big city problems,” he said. “The schools in Fort Mill are great so people will continue to come.”

The developer, Lennar Homes, wants city leaders to create a special municipal improvement district. Homeowners in Elizabeth would pay up to $1,750 per year in addition to their property taxes.

The money would pay for infrastructure improvements like roads, water, and sewer.

A new single-family home in Fort Mill already costs $18,000 more due to impact fees approved by York County for Fort Mill Schools. Rivenbark doesn’t mind those fees, but he said the Lennar proposal goes too far.

“As far as all that’s concerned, that’s their responsibility, not the public,” he said. “If they want to do business, do business.”

Fort Mill’s town council will have the final say. Channel 9′s Tina Terry asked the mayor, Guynn Savage, where she stands.

“I just feel that it’s inappropriate in today for the town to work to delay or advance any money towards a development that certainly isn’t bringing any benefit to the whole of the community that elected me,” she said.

Lennar will make a formal presentation to town council in the near future, but Terry was told the date hasn’t been set just yet.

Terry has reached out to Lennar Homes to hear their thoughts on the plan.

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