YORK, S.C. — Residents who have fought the Silfab Solar plant near Fort Mill for three years took their complaints to the county seat on Monday, rallying outside before a York County Council meeting and then spending close to an hour at the public comment microphone.
Their target this time was a pair of court filings. On Oct. 16, the county and the company each filed a lawsuit against the other, the second landing less than half an hour after the first. Each asks a judge to decide whether a 2024 zoning appeals board ruling, which said solar panel manufacturing does not belong in light industrial districts, applies to the plant on Logistics Lane. Neither suit asks for money. Speakers at the meeting said the near-simultaneous timing shows the county and the company are working in tandem to sidestep the normal rezoning process.
Council normally listens without answering during public comment, but members broke that habit for Silfab. Interim County Manager Jim Baker urged both sides to stay civil, Councilman Tom Audette pledged to keep fighting for neighbors, and Councilmember Debi Cloninger said she understood the fears of families with children at the two Flint Hill schools next to the site.
The Canadian panel maker was lured with a tax incentive deal tied to promises of $150 million in investment and 800 jobs. Two chemical releases in March, including a scrubber leak of roughly 300 gallons of water mixed with potassium hydroxide, forced a temporary shutdown and closed Flint Hill Elementary for two days.
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Filed under: Rock Hill SC Politics News
