County council members receive death threats over controversial solar panel plant

FORT MILL, S.C. — York County Council members said they have received death threats over a controversial solar panel manufacturer that wants its facility to be in Fort Mill.

Some Fort Mill residents do not want the plant in their community, however, the company behind the facility is pushing ahead with an appeal over a zoning ruling.

“I recently received a death threat related to the Silfab development,” said York County Council Chairwoman Christi Cox on Monday. “The message was essentially that if I did not put a stop to that development that my family would regret it, that I would die.”

She said the letter was mailed to her home and didn’t know who sent it or what motivated them.

However, Cox said that after this weekend’s assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, she felt now was the time to speak out.

“It bothered me,” she said. “It bothered me enough that I feel like I need to talk to the people in my community,” she said. “I need to connect.”

She wasn’t alone.

Councilman Bump Roddey also said he found a similar threat waiting for him before Monday night’s meeting.

He said it threatened his home and his family.

“We’ve made some critical decisions ever since I’ve been on this council, but it’s never gotten to the point of death threats or threatening letters over any vote,” he said. “The us-versus-them mentality has got to stop.”

Cox says she wants the public to know that words have power, and she’s hoping they’ll be used wisely to veer away from anger and fear, and to promote understanding.

“I am all for passionate leadership, but if you’re a leader, I think we’re required to make sure that everything we say is absolute truth, has honor, integrity, doesn’t lead folks to believe the very worst case scenario,” Cox said.

State law enforcement said they’re investigating the letters but didn’t have an update on Tuesday.

Postponed protest

Neighbors wanted to speak out against Silfab Solar during the county council meeting Monday night, but they weren’t able to. That’s because the matter has now been appealed to state district court.

Channel 9′s Tina Terry found a court document on Monday filed by Silfab Solar, and it’s an official appeal to a decision made by the York County Board of Zoning Appeals in May.

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At that time, the BZA reversed a previous decision and ruled that a solar panel manufacturing plant cannot open in an area zoned for “light industrial.”

Neighbors thought that decision meant Silfab would no longer be able to open in Fort Mill, and Silfab even appealed the BZA decision.

For months, neighbors have expressed concerns over the manufacturing process, alleging that it could harm the nearby environment. The company says its process is safe and doesn’t pollute the surrounding area.

York County management released a statement saying the decision didn’t apply to Silfab, only applying to future developments. Neighbors didn’t agree with that statement, and they wanted to speak with local leaders about it at the end of Monday’s meeting.

County leaders say the pending litigation prevented the public comment.

“Because that wasn’t going to be allowed at the end of the meeting for that session, our county manager, our council chair Christi Cox and others decided, ‘We’ll sit down and meet with you, we’ll discuss this, we’ll hear your concerns,’ and they did that last week,” said Greg Suskin with York County.

One neighbor, John Lee, said he wants the county to take action.

“What we are asking them to do is to uphold the Board of Zoning Appeals decision and revoke any zoning approvals that may or may not have been given to Silfab,” Lee said.

On Monday, Channel 9 asked Silfab Solar why it appealed the BZA decision to district court if it didn’t apply to them. A statement said they agree with the county that the decision didn’t apply to them, but they want clarity for themselves and for the public.

VIDEO: Neighbors continue to push back as solar panel manufacturer files zoning appeal