The Fort Mill Town Council convened Monday, March 23, 2026, for one of its most substantive meetings in recent memory, completing two years of planning work by formally adopting both its “Our Path Forward” Comprehensive Plan and a new Downtown Master Plan — then immediately putting those plans to use by establishing a temporary moratorium on new residential development applications while staff works to update town ordinances to reflect the new vision.
The meeting also featured the recognition of student artists and championship athletes, significant personnel compensation decisions, a grant application for traffic signal improvements, and extensive public testimony on a proposed mixed-use development near Nims Lake Road that drew neighborhood residents out in force.
Celebrating the Community: Art and Athletics
The evening opened on a celebratory note. Mina, the town’s stormwater outreach specialist, presented awards to winners of the annual Student Stormwater Art Contest, now in its fourth year. This year’s contest drew 165 entries from 17 schools across the Fort Mill School District, with winners recognized in lower elementary, upper elementary, middle school, and high school categories. The contest is designed to help students understand that storm drains connect directly to local waterways — a message that clearly resonated, judging by the artwork on display.
Council also recognized the Fort Mill High School Boys Wrestling Team with a proclamation honoring their fourth consecutive South Carolina 5A Division 2 state championship. The Yellow Jackets completed an undefeated 31-0 season, defeating Lugoff-Elgin High School 52-11 in the title match. Head coach Melo and several team members were present to receive the proclamation.
Arden Mill Development Draws Strong Neighborhood Opposition
The longest and most emotionally charged portion of the evening was a public hearing on the proposed Arden Mill Phase 2 development, which seeks to annex approximately 73.8 acres into the town with a mixed-use zoning designation. Notably, Mayor Savage recused herself from any future vote on the project, disclosing that her property abuts the planned development.
Resident after resident from the neighboring Spring Branch Glenn and surrounding areas arrived to voice concerns covering four main themes: traffic, environmental impact, flooding risk, and the pace of Fort Mill’s overall growth.
Jack Wendell, a 37-year resident of Nims Lake Road, described a road that has already become nearly impassable on foot. He said he counted 12 to 16 cars passing in a single eight-minute window and expressed alarm that 200 new homes could add at least 400 more vehicles to the corridor. “I just can’t see that many cars on Nims Lake Road,” he said, also describing dangerous speeding at the intersection near Doby’s Bridge.
David White of Spring Branch Road described the area around the proposed site as a rich ecosystem supporting great blue herons, deer, beavers, foxes, muskrats, and occasional bald eagles. He cautioned that once water quality degrades in a lake environment, recovery is nearly impossible, and called for meaningful wildlife buffers, strong stormwater protections, and clear limits on what the mixed-use designation would permit. He also objected to a proposed 10-year vested rights period in the development agreement, calling it “a radical ask” given how rapidly conditions change in the area.
Frank Pope of Spring Branch Road submitted a detailed statement outlining four concerns: that limiting construction access to Nims Lake Road would create safety hazards for existing residents; that the loss of a planned Bank Street access point would leave 200 homes and multiple businesses with only two access points; that clear-cutting and regrading would increase water volume flowing into the Spring Branch Pond, whose dam has already been rebuilt once and has experienced recent breaches; and that the elimination of nearly 80 acres of mature woodland would permanently harm habitat for native wildlife.
Jeffrey Wagner, who lives at the corner of Nims Lake Road and Spring Branch Road, invoked the legacy of Colonel Elliott White Springs — builder of the town hall building where council now meets — in calling on council to treat preservation as a priority. “If this mixed-use rezoning is approved, it’ll leave a permanent scar on our beautiful town that no amount of landscaping can ever heal,” he said.
Other speakers called for police enforcement on Fairway Drive, protection of bald eagle nesting sites, accountability for dam maintenance, and attention to property values, which a resident who works as a real estate appraiser predicted would decline as traffic increased on Nims Lake Road.
Council will not vote on the Arden Mill annexation and rezoning at this meeting. The developer, Trip Point, requested a deferral — according to Planning Director Penelope Karagounis — to reduce overall density, increase open space, and reduce the proposed 108 homes in Phase 2 to approximately 80 or fewer. The item is now scheduled for the June 22 business meeting, when another public hearing will also be held. Mayor Savage was clear with the audience that the developer does not set the council’s schedule and that all concerns raised would be taken into consideration when a vote is taken.
A Milestone for Planning: Comprehensive Plan and Downtown Master Plan Adopted
In back-to-back votes that represented the culmination of years of community planning work, council unanimously approved the second and final reading of both the “Our Path Forward” Comprehensive Plan and the Fort Mill Downtown Master Plan. Planning Director Karagounis called the adoptions the end of one journey and the beginning of another, noting that the real work of implementation now begins through new regulations and text amendments to town ordinances.
New Development Moratorium Established
Directly building on those adoptions, council approved the first reading of a temporary moratorium on new residential development applications, effective through September 30, 2026, with a possible 90-day extension by council resolution. Town staff Chris Pettit explained that the moratorium gives staff time to translate the vision established in the comprehensive plan and downtown master plan into updated zoning and code language. Without that update, he said, new development could proceed under regulations that don’t yet reflect the community’s stated goals.
The moratorium covers new residential rezonings, annexations, and preliminary plats, as well as rezonings and development approvals in the General Industrial and Limited Industrial districts. A carefully designed set of exemptions ensures that projects already in the development pipeline — those that have received prior council approval, are already under active review, or have submitted a traffic impact analysis — are not affected. Commercial rezonings, utility projects, and amendments to approved developments that do not increase density are also exempt.
Council Member Helms voiced strong support, noting that the last moratorium produced the plan and now this one will ensure the plan produces action. “Affectionately, this will be one of the times that we don’t pay for a plan and put it on a shelf,” he said.
Employee Compensation Overhaul Approved
In two related votes, council adopted the results of a comprehensive classification and compensation study conducted by Management Advisory Group International, approving both the new pay plan and a suite of new personnel policies aimed at improving recruitment and retention.
The salary adjustments, totaling just under $1.6 million in salary and fringe — well within the $2.2 million council had budgeted — bring Fort Mill’s compensation in line with the Charlotte metropolitan labor market. Human Resources Director Carrie Vargo noted the town has 284 full-time and approximately 50 part-time employees, and that retaining skilled workers in fire, police, and other departments requires competitive pay in an increasingly competitive market.
The accompanying resolution authorizes a new set of personnel policies recommended by the study, including tuition reimbursement, an education incentive salary adjustment policy, a retention incentive policy, an employee recruitment referral bonus, parental leave, call-back pay, a lateral hire placement policy for hard-to-fill positions, and increased vacation accrual for both uniform and non-uniform staff. Mayor Savage noted that council’s goal is for every employee to be working in a new or renovated office facility within the next couple of years, calling compensation and working environment equally important parts of the total package.
Traffic Grant Application Authorized
Council unanimously approved applying for a Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality grant — known as CMAQ — through the regional transportation planning body ARFATS. The grant, in the amount of $3 million with a 20 percent town match of approximately $600,000 if fully awarded, would fund an adaptive traffic control system designed to intelligently manage signal timing across Fort Mill’s road network to reduce congestion, lower vehicle emissions, and improve emergency response times. A site visit with the South Carolina Department of Transportation is scheduled, and the application deadline is April 1. Council was cautioned that grant award decisions may not come until late summer and that the town could receive less than the full amount requested.
Old Town Hall Sale Formalized
Council approved the second reading of an ordinance authorizing the sale and conveyance of the town’s former Town Hall properties at 200 and 210 Tom Hall Street. Council Member Moody recused himself from the vote. Pettit described the action as a formality required under state law for the disposition of public property.
Flood Plain Administration Updated
Council approved the second reading of an ordinance updating the language in the town’s flood damage prevention regulations to designate the town manager or their designee — rather than the town manager specifically — as the local floodplain administrator. The change allows subject matter experts on staff to handle floodplain paperwork directly. A minor date typo on the ordinance was flagged and will be corrected.
Engineering Fee Schedule Updated
Council approved the first reading of an ordinance adding engineering services review fees to the utility fee schedule. With the town’s staff engineer position currently vacant, the town has been contracting out engineering reviews of water and sewer plans to a third-party licensed engineer. The new fee covers that cost and will be phased out as a new in-house town engineer is brought on board and trained.
Utility Easement Approved
Council approved the first reading of an ordinance authorizing a perpetual utility easement across several town-owned parcels identified by York County tax map numbers in the 020-12-01 series. Pettit described the affected property as land the town currently has no planned use for.
Juvenile Justice MOU Amended
Council approved an amendment to the town’s memorandum of understanding with the South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice, allowing DJJ to transfer juvenile offenders from its intake facility in Columbia to a newly contracted facility in Greenville County. Fort Mill officers will continue transporting juvenile detainees only to the Columbia facility, where intake and transfer decisions are made by state staff.
Executive Session
Council entered executive session to discuss contractual matters related to the property at 123 North White Street and to receive legal advice related to the Freedom of Information Act. No votes were taken in executive session, and the meeting adjourned at approximately 8:30 p.m.
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