Have you seen the “Zoning Notice” signs popping up around Fort Mill?
They talk about a public hearing on Sept. 9. Here’s the explanation we got from the Town of Fort Mill:
“The rezoning signs are providing notice that Fort Mill Town Council will be considering a rezoning of all Fort Mill School District properties within the Town limits at a public hearing on Sept. 9. The intent is to establish a consistent zoning classification (“INST Institutional”) for all K-12 school sites as opposed to having school properties being zoned to a variety of zoning classifications as they are today.
“Council directed staff to look into this rezoning following the recent annexations of property for the new middle and elementary schools. At that time, staff recommended zoning those properties to residential to be consistent with the majority of the other school sites in town. Many of the school sites are zoned residential, which is a common practice since most schools are located in residential areas.
“However, this common practice could lead to unanticipated consequences if residentially zoned school sites went undeveloped or were redeveloped in the future. This could unintentionally allow new subdivisions to be built in those areas based on the residential zoning, which led council to direct staff to consider rezoning the school properties. Rezoning schools to the Institutional District would eliminate the concern.
“If you have any questions on the purpose of the rezoning, please call the Town’s Planning Department at 803-547-2034.”