Petition to pause housing development in Lancaster County gains steam

INDIAN LAND, S.C. — Hundreds of people say the infrastructure in Lancaster County hasn’t kept up with all of the residential growth, and they want leaders to take a hard pause on development.

Being the third-fastest growing county in South Carolina means a lot of new homes and more business for locals like Patrick Lloyd.

“We are growing sales, we’ve been busier than we were last year, so that’s definitely a positive trend I’d like to see continue,” Lloyd, the owner of Sweetwaters Coffee and Tea, told Channel 9′s Tina Terry.

But this week, some in the county are pushing back against the growth. More than 300 people have signed an online petition demanding a 180-day housing development moratorium in Lancaster County.

“During the moratorium, you will have a chance to build an infrastructure plan based off the newest growth projections,” said Angela Davis, the creator of the petition.

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Davis spoke to county leaders at a meeting this week and said the break from building will give leaders a chance to create a new plan to address growth.

Derrick Durkee says it’s a good idea.

“I think the last time I heard there’s 8,000 houses approved to be built in Indian Land and there’s no infrastructure for it,” he told Terry.

More than 600 new home construction permits were issued from January to August of this year, according to records.

Lancaster County says they’re not currently considering a formal moratorium. In a statement, a spokesperson said the county has “denied at least six development projects, including residential” in the past two years, and that “much of the current residential building activity throughout the county is related to developments that were approved over four years ago.”

The county administrator says the county is working on a comprehensive rewrite of the entire development ordinance. That should be completed in mid-2025.

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Supporters of that moratorium say they want to put a tax plan to pay for roads on the ballot next year as well.

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