Developer seeks county’s permission to sell more home lots
By Samantha Lyles, Staff Writer, slyles@newsandpress.net
Darlington County Council convened its regular monthly meeting November 7, and heard a plea from a local real estate developer seeking to continue building homes in a Hoffmeyer Road subdivision.
Keith Evans told council that his Summerville development has sold the allowable number of properties set forth in the initial memorandum granted by council, and he asked for a supplemental memorandum permitting him to continue selling homes in order to pay for the installation of a turn lane required by SCDOT. Evans said that if he builds the turn lane, it would cost him about $200,000, but if DOT builds it using his money, the cost would rise to about $300,000.
Evans and his attorney Gary Finklea explained that SCDOT required the Summerville project to install a turn lane based on initial subdivision sales potential of 200 residential lots. That number was later reduced to 80, yet the turn lane requirement remained in effect.
After discussing the matter with county attorney Jim Cox, council agreed that if Evans and Finklea could provide verification that the project received a proper DOT encroachment permit, council would place his request for a supplemental memorandum on the agenda for their December meeting.
Also at this meeting, council voted to carry over consideration of Ordinance 16-19, amending the county’s renewable energy industry development codes. Council referred the ordinance to the Planning Commission for further review. On this subject, during his closing comments council member David Coker asked Darlington County Assessor Kyle Johnson what kind of tax revenue the county might see if landowners begin leasing or selling their unused farmland for solar energy developments.
“Farmland is taxed at an agricultural rate, and that means we’re taxing it at a use value of about $1.90 or $2. When that use value changes and goes to commercial or 6-percent residential, we still keep it at the market value of what it would sell for on the open market on average, so the tax dollars per acre would go up to about $45 or $50 an acre,” said Johnson.
Further, Johnson explained that structures and equipment used to build a solar farm – such as the photovoltaic panels, wiring, and lights would all be taxed at 10.5 percent by the Department of Revenue as utility infrastructure, yielding “a significant gain” for the county.
Council member Wilhelmina Johnson nominated William Hudson to serve on the Darlington County Planning Commission, and council voted to affirm this nomination.
Resolution 671, adding Hartsville Corrugating, LLC as an affiliate to existing incentive agreements between the county and Sonoco Products Company, received unanimous approval. This resolution also adds a provision to cover possible aircraft acquisitions under the existing FILOT (Fee In Lieu of Tax) agreement.
Council held a title-only first reading of Ordinance 16-20, which would allow the Darlington County Library System to receive and expend an additional $18,000 in state aid from unclaimed lottery funds. This addition would bring the library’s total from state aid to $103,000 for the current fiscal year.
Ordinance 16-18, amending county Fire Prevention and Protection codes to allow for fee changes, was carried over until December. These amendments amount to a cost recovery process to help the county streamline insurance company billing. The ordinance extract states that “at no time will a citizen be charged for fire department services.” Changing insurance company billing procedures should yield an additional $7,000 annually for the Fire District.