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As one restaurant announced it’s leaving Main Street in Fort Mill, several other projects are in line to grow the commercial scene downtown.

Center Theatre Pizza & Ice Cream posted a goodbye message on its Facebook page Tuesday. The Main Street eatery that opened two years ago offered “a heartfelt thank you to all in the Fort Mill community who welcomed us and supported our small venture” before noting it is closed and won’t reopen.

Employees were given notice, according to the post, and customers can redeem gift cards at Emmet’s Social Table in Waxhaw, North Carolina. The pizza and ice cream spot at 100 Main St. was an Emmet’s Social Table small plate restaurant before the fall 2023 switch.

Just hours after the Center Theatre closing post, the town’s Historic Review Board gave unanimous approval for two projects related to new business downtown. The historic district, largely properties on or near Main Street, require approvals from that board for building or design changes.

One project involves the former Kimbrell’s Furniture building.

Developer Growing Main applied for several changes aimed at opening the 232 Main St. property to new tenants. One proposed tenant, Treadstone Defensive Tactics, is listed in documents submitted to the town. Plans show five suites on two levels, the first floor on Main and a basement.

The review board decision allows Growing Main to remove an old loading ramp at the rear of the property and replace it with a new entrance, stairwells and a covered patio area.

The former Kimbrell’s site is far from the oldest building on Main. It was built in 1956, while others date back to the early 1900s or earlier. But along with Fort Mill Barber Shop right beside it, Kimbrell’s was one of the longer-running businesses at a single spot on Main. Kimbrell’s sold the property three years ago.

Growing Main approached the Historic Review Board about the site in late 2022.

The Kimbrell’s building and the warehouse beside it at 102 Tom Hall St. would transition into a possible restaurant or brewery with other tenants, the developer proposed at the time. Online property listings still show the two buildings, which combine for more than 17,000 square feet of space, with leasing options available.

The Historic Review Board also approved new projecting and door signs at 106 Confederate St. for Mackey Realty. That address is off the side of 124 Main St., where clothing and accessories company Vestique now operates in the former and long-time home of the Fort Mill Times newspaper.

The most recent tenant at 106 Confederate St. was the Hobbs-Threet law firm. Mackey Realty is a real estate firm with other offices in Charlotte, Columbia and Asheville, North Carolina.

Other review board decisions in recent months include signage or other changes for Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate at 100 Main St., Modulex at 219 Main St., Blue Root Acupuncture at 227 Main St. and Bossy Beulah’s at 314 N. White Street.

Nearby, former business sites are changing. They include improvements at Elisha Park and work toward a new town hall.

Removing the asphalt trail at Elisha Park and putting in a concrete one is the latest phase of improvements that already brought an amphitheater, swings and a new playground.

The park is near Main Street, where the Springs Mill once stood. Beside it, the former Springs Global office building is being renovated for use as a new town hall.

This story was originally published January 16, 2025 at 6:00 AM.

A judge is weighing whether to dismiss two lawsuits that leave the future of a $150 million Fort Mill manufacturing project in limbo, and a ruling could be weeks away.

Attorneys for Silfab Solar, the Canadian solar panel manufacturer at the center of the controversy, appeared in York County court on Wednesday seeking to toss out a lawsuit filed by a nonprofit group of residents who say Silfab’s plans would harm the environment and their health.

That same group also wants to toss out a separate lawsuit brought by Silfab that seeks to overturn a zoning decision by the county’s Board of Zoning Appeals.

Earlier this year, the board decided a solar panel facility would not be properly zoned for the area, but that ruling came only after county planners had already greenlit Silfab to use the property.

Judge Martha Rivers, visiting from Aiken County, made no immediate decision on the future of the two cases and said she could not guarantee a ruling before the new year. However, Rivers suspended the evidence-gathering process for both cases until she decides whether to dismiss them.

Silfab’s project has generated controversy since last year when it was narrowly approved.

In a 4-3 decision, York County Council approved a tax incentive last September that included a 4% tax rate for 30 years and a $2 million state economic development grant. The typical manufacturing tax rate is 10.5%.

In return, Silfab expects to bring 800 new jobs to the area.

But community members have been at odds with the company over its plans to build at 1749 Logistics Lane, an industrial site between Interstate 77 and U.S. 21. The plant’s location is next door to two future schools: Flint Hill Elementary School, which will open next year, and Flint Hill Middle School, which will open in 2026.

Silfab attorney Brandon Gaskins told the court that the company has been “slandered” as conspiring to poison children, and two county council members have received death threats since voting on the tax incentive.

The group leading the effort to stave off the company is nonprofit Citizens Alliance for Government Integrity, formerly named Move Silfab. Cameron Halford, the group’s attorney, said there are approximately 5,700 members, and more than $34,000 has been raised to support its legal battle.

Citizens Alliance filed suit against Silfab, property owner Exeter 7149 Logistics and the York County planning department on Sept. 5, in an attempt to halt construction on the site and void all permits.

The group also requested Rivers designate the case as a class action lawsuit, meaning numerous people negatively impacted could join together as part of a single case.

Halford’s argument emphasized the threat of a potential spill or leak of chemicals used in the manufacturing process could be harmful to nearby properties. He said the manufacturing involves the highly acidic hydrochloric acid, which must be treated by a million or more gallons of water a day, and smoke stacks that would emit exhaust over the nearby schools and residences.

“You don’t put this stuff around schools,” Halford said.

In his argument for dismissal, Gaskins said that although Citizens Alliance claims to represent thousands of people, it is unclear who those people are or how close to the future facility they live. Gaskins said Citizens Alliance lacked standing for the legal challenge because its members could not demonstrate a particular injury that has resulted from Silfab’s activities.

“There must be something more than just an allegation that this chemical release could happen in the future,” Gaskins said. “When you look at the complaint, it is clear that they failed to meet this standard.”

Silfab and Exeter, the property owner, filed suit against the York County Board of Zoning Appeals in June after a zoning reversal threw their project into question.

In December 2022, York County planning staff issued a letter to Silfab stating the company was allowed to manufacture in light industrial areas like the Logistics Lane site, but the planning staff did not have solar cell manufacturing named in its zoning code. Staff determined it should be allowed in light industrial areas.

Wally Buchanon, the owner of a neighboring property, appealed the staff’s determination. The York County Board of Zoning Appeals voted unanimously in Buchanon’s favor in May and reversed course on the zoning staff’s decision. They said solar panel manufacturing should be considered heavy industrial, a different zoning that is not allowed at the Logistics Lane site.

York County issued a statement in June saying the zoning appeals board ruling did not apply to Silfab since it had already received approval from county planners to build on the Fort Mill property. The ruling would only apply to future projects, according to the county.

Buchanan filed to become part of this appeal case in July, and Citizens Alliance filed to join the case in September. The parties later filed a motion to dismiss the case on Nov. 15 and asked the court to revoke construction permits issued after the zoning appeal board’s May reversal.

Halford said the case boils down to the fact that Silfab is trying to operate in an area that is not properly zoned for solar panel manufacturing.

“They’re trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. It doesn’t work,” Halford said.

NS

Nicholas Sullivan

The Charlotte Observer

Nick Sullivan is The Observer’s regional accountability reporter for York County and the South Carolina communities that border Charlotte. He studied journalism at the University of South Carolina, and he previously covered education for The Arizona Republic and The Colorado Springs Gazette.

The two have been fighting for decades

FORT MILL, S.C. (WBTV) - Thirty years of controversy appear to be over as York County Leaders and MorningStar Church come to an agreement over the “Heritage Grand Hotel.”

The 21-story former Heritage Grand Hotel on Star Light Drive has stood tall in Fort Mill, South Carolina for years, even as it’s fallen further and further into disrepair over the years. The hotel was to be constructed as part of PTL (that’s short for Praise The Lord) ministry’s now-defunct Heritage USA Christian theme park.

The park was built in the late 1970s and 1980s. The hotel was never finished with work ceasing in 1987 thanks to PTL’s financial collapse under founder and televangelist Jim Bakker, who would go on to be caught in a sex scandal and convicted of fraud and conspiracy.

Following the theme park’s closure, MorningStar Ministries moved in and purchased the buildings along Star Light Drive back in 2004.

Renovations were planned to turn the old hotel into a Christian senior living center. Those plans have drug on over the years, turning into a bitter dispute between York County and MorningStar Fellowship Church.

Veteran WBTV Reporter Steve Crump spent many years covering the old tower, its new owners, and the tension within the community before his death in 2023.

Common complaints at first were that the redevelopment wasn’t happening soon enough, that the tower had stood vacant for more than 25 years. MorningStar claimed they needed more time to raise necessary funding. County leaders claimed they were using stall tactics.

Arguments came to a head in 2010 when the county told MorningStar in April that they had until the end of June to make changes to the site or the county would move ahead with demolition.

[Demolition deadline looming for old PTL hotel]

Multiple lawsuits have been filled in regards to the project, with MorningStar at one point claiming religious discrimination in 2018 to lawsuits by the county over safety in 2021.

Still, a groundbreaking ceremony was held in June of 2021.

In 2022, York County released a five-page press release claiming that, legally, the tower should have been destroyed in 2013.

Shortly beforehand, the ministry filed a legal motion, claiming a county attorney violated rules by not consulting with them before filing a motion to restore a legal case against them.

The back-and-forth between the two entities continued to boil down to one side claiming religious discrimination and another claiming safety concerns.

[York County claims Heritage Tower should have come down in 2013]

By October, 2024, the two entities have finally came to an agreement.

According to a settlement reached between York County and MorningStar Fellowship Church, MorningStar is to submit a building permit application within the next 18 months showing the tower can be finished and up to date. If it doesn’t, the tower will have to be demolished.

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