Chester County residents are once again in an uproar over a decision made at their latest council meeting held on Monday 10/16. Many spoke at the meeting and prior meetings, and have taken to Facebook to vent their concerns about the new development on Gaston Farm Road that the County Council voted in favor of.
The development boasts 400 new homes with $5000 per home coming back to the county.
Residents brought a petition with over 400 signatures to the meeting, so the Chester County Council could see what residents who live in the area think, but it fell on deaf ears. Many residents do not wish for this development and others just want County Council to continue with the Gateway plan that's already been developed along with the Comprehensive 2020-2030 plan.
Councilmen Agee and Vaughn emerged as the heroes to the people at this meeting, with Councilman Agee making a motion to deny approval of the agreement between Chester County and Gaston Springs L.L.C. regarding the Gaston Farm Road project and other matters related. Councilman Vaughn seconded that motion. They teamed up and continued to stall the vote, but they were not successful. Councilman Agee said, "I'm not going against the will of the people. I don't care if it's $5,000,000 or whatever, they have a right to say they don't want this in their community," and he was met with applause.
Resident, Dorothy Neely, garnered applause at the 10/16 meeting after her impassioned statement, where she had this to say:
"It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see when millions of dollars are involved, it tends to blind the man, the mind, the man. And we forget about everything else that's important. Land, animals, peace. You don't have peace when there's so much traffic in and out...We want the country to stay the country."
Joan Heid commented at the meeting, "When the people in our area stayed in our area because they had family land, or just a farm or decided to live there and build a house, it was based upon the zoning. And the zoning said that this property on Gaston Farm Rd. was commercial, so to change that is unfair to the people and wrong."
Chester County resident, Robin Dodson, commented on County Councilman, Pete Wilson's, Facebook post:
"Thank you, Pete, for allowing us to read your updates. Please allow me to express my thoughts on last night's decisions. Sadly to me, this zoning change was approved by Council last night. 400 homes will now come to Gaston Farm Road. There were two petitions against this zoning change presented to council last night. 422 citizens signed against this Zoning change alone. The other petition had 355 signatures asking for the council approved Gateway and County Comprehensive Plans to be FOLLOWED!. What if all 422 had packed council's chambers and spoken for their 3 minutes each last night?? Thank you, to the citizens who did attend holding signs asking for "No" votes. Many did publicly speak against , however not one citizen spoke in favor of this Planned Development !!!. We WANTED to be different from our surrounding counties. We WANTED to be a safe haven from the world. We WANTED to be the envy of the region because of the smart growth we planned!!!. We WANTED to be the best spot to live , work and play in harmony without overcrowded roads and living spaces!!! What now?? I loved Mr. Compton's vision from the workshop on October 5, where he spoke of Highway 9 having grand potential to be the most beautiful highway in South Carolina, from the Broad to the Catawba Rivers. My heart swelled with pride when he said that and I began to have hope for our future here. But again..What now? More homes approved, they say? When over 3000 homes are approved to date, to build out in the next 10-15 years.???!!! For Edgemoor.... an 85 year old narrow two lane bridge on Hwy 901 will be used daily as a major connector road to an artery road(Hwy 9)... for 265 new homes or 500 plus cars. 400 more homes with 800 cars will be coming out on Lyle road in front of the GITI tire entrance for the Gaston Farm Road Housing project during rush hour !!!!!!! Safety for citizens? Impact on Livability for current citizens? Growing our county in the proactive way we decide together? Smart tax dollar choices?? Smart choices for our county in 50 years?? Having a hard time here grasping the impact ofthese zoning decisions.
Chuck Howell said this on a Facebook post, "It is a Real Pity. I rode up that way Wednesday 72 to Fishing Creek Church Rd. To Lyles Rd and out to hwy 9. The Cow Pasture Mansions are building up and predictably here comes the Subdivisions. If you guys up there don’t raise Hell and elect real people not money grubbing politicians y’all are going to lose something special."
Some residents have even gone so far as to speculate why Chester County Council may be voting in favor of these developments. One resident said this, "Probably doing things like old days getting kick backs from them."- Stacey Land
We reached out to Chester County Council to get statements from the Council. As of the posting of this article, Chester County Councilman, Pete Wilson, responded to us and gave us this statement:
Thanks for reaching out to me.
I am not aware of an accusation regarding kickbacks. I will go on record that I have not taken or been offered any kickbacks of any kind regarding the project at Gaston Farm Rd or any other matter relating to county business. Also, I am not aware of any kickbacks for any other member of council and if I did know something, then it would be my duty to pass it along to the appropriate authorities.
The Gaston Farm Rd rezoning was a difficult decision for me to make because I realized from the beginning that there were many in the community who strongly opposed it. I did my best to explain exactly what I was thinking and why from the beginning up until the vote so people would know exactly where I stood even if they disagreed with me.
I want to see our county prosper and have a strong local economy. I also want to see us have the right amount of oversight from our local government while also striving for a limited government that preserves property rights for property owners and allows the free market to meet demands for many things—including residential housing. So often, when the government interferes in these things citizens end up paying higher prices and having less to choose from. The key has always been finding the right balance between government control and freedom and I recognize that there are many different views on exactly what that looks like.
No other Chester County Council Members have responded to our request for comment at this time.
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