FORT MILL, S.C. — The Fort Mill School District wants a voice in the court fight between Silfab Solar and York County over where the company may build solar panels, after its school board voted without dissent Friday afternoon to pursue intervenor status in the case.
The vote tells district administrators and attorneys to ask the court to make the district a party to the dispute. Board member Michele Branning said the goal is to make sure the health and safety concerns of students, teachers, staff and families are heard.
Silfab, a Canadian manufacturer recruited to the county three years ago, operates at 7149 Logistics Lane on land zoned for light industrial use. Several rulings have found that panel making with industrial chemicals belongs in heavy industrial zones. The company and the county argue those rulings should not reach a plant that was already approved, and each has sued the other so a judge can settle the question.
The plant sits beside the new Flint Hill elementary and middle schools. Two chemical incidents reported at the site in March led the district to shut Flint Hill Elementary for a pair of days.
The issue is also on voters’ minds this fall. Voters across the district will fill four at-large board seats in the Nov. 3 election, and seven candidates are running, including incumbents Branning, Joe Helms and Lipi Pratt. Board member Wayne Bouldin is not seeking another term.
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