The Fort Mill School District has asked Gov. Henry McMaster, the South Carolina General Assembly, Attorney General Alan Wilson and York County Council to move quickly on enforcement at the Silfab Solar plant on Logistics Lane, three days after a circuit judge upheld a county ruling that solar panel manufacturing is not permitted at the site.
Board Chairwoman Kristy Spears and Superintendent Grey Young signed the letter, dated July 24. It asks all governing agencies to take “immediate and decisive action” to restrict activity at 7149 Logistics Lane to uses permitted in a Light Industrial district.
The facility sits next to Flint Hill Elementary School, which is open and serving students, and Flint Hill Middle School, which is under construction. Two chemical release incidents at the Silfab site days apart closed Flint Hill Elementary for multiple days.
What the district is asking for
The letter sets out three requests. It asks officials to ensure that all present and future activity at the site conforms to permissible Light Industrial uses as defined by county ordinance. It asks them to require full compliance with local land use laws before any manufacturing incompatible with that zoning proceeds or expands. And it asks for what the district describes as transparent communication and rigorous regulatory oversight of industrial activity near school property.
Spears and Young point to the purpose of the zoning classification itself, quoting county code language that Light Industrial designations exist in part to “protect nearby residential areas from undesirable aspects of heavy manufacturing.”
“We trust that all governing agencies will uphold the rulings of both the York County Board of Zoning Appeals and the Circuit Court by taking the necessary administrative and enforcement actions to ensure full compliance at the Silfab facility,” the two wrote.
The letter closes by thanking the recipients for their dedication to the families and children of York County.
A renewed request
The letter revives a request the board first made in a resolution adopted March 10. That document called continued manufacturing and storage of hazardous chemicals at the site “an incompatible land use with the surrounding educational environment” and asked the same four recipients to limit the facility to assembly processes without hazardous chemicals and to require removal of the chemicals already on site.
The resolution said neither chemical release was initially reported to the district by York County Emergency Management or by Silfab Solar. It cited more than 18,000 students and 2,500 employees in the district and said the closures inflicted learning loss on students while increasing fear among students, parents, staff and the community.
The letter states that the district writes to renew that request. It enclosed both the March resolution and the court order.
The ruling behind the timing
Judge William A. McKinnon of the Sixteenth Judicial Circuit signed an order July 21 affirming the York County Board of Zoning Appeals decision of May 30, 2024, which had reversed a county zoning administrator’s finding that solar panel manufacturing was a permitted use in a Light Industrial district. The zoning board vote was 5 to 0. McKinnon denied the appeal petition filed by Silfab Solar Inc. and Exeter 7149 Logistics L.P., the property owner.
York County was not a party to the appeal. The order also notes that County Council retains authority to amend the county use table at any time, and that nothing in the ruling prevents the companies from seeking a fresh interpretation under a different use category.
Neither the resolution nor the letter carries regulatory force. Both are requests to officials who hold separate authority over the site, and none of the recipients is bound to act. The letter sets no deadline for a response.
The Fort Mill School District offices are at 2233 Deerfield Drive in Fort Mill. The district can be reached at 803.548.2527, and board meeting agendas are posted at fortmillschools.org.
Sources: Fort Mill School District letter dated July 24, 2026; Fort Mill School District Board of Trustees resolution adopted March 10, 2026; Order Affirming the Decision of the York County Board of Zoning Appeals, filed July 21, 2026.
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Thomas Hyslip lives in Tega Cay with his wife and daughter. After 27 years in the U.S. Army and Federal Law Enforcement, he retired to pursue his passion for teaching. Tom is now an Assistant Professor of Instruction at the University of South Florida. In 2 short years he has won 10 awards from the South Carolina Press Association, including first place in column writing, education beat reporting and best podcast.
