WINNSBORO – After a half-hour executive session at Tuesday evening’s town council meeting and no discussion, the Winnsboro town council voted unanimously to approve the annexation of the Gum Springs property into Winnsboro.
The 390.42-acre property is bordered by Gum Springs Road, Devil’s Race Track and Highway 34. The Gum Springs property and two other nearby recently annexed properties – a 575.13-acre property and an 83-acre property – are joined to the Town of Winnsboro by a 15,000-foot long/50-foot wide path and a 4,500-foot long/15-foot wide path. The total acreage of the three Light-Industrial zoned properties is 1,048.55 acres, increasing the town’s size by approximately 15%, according to Town Manager Chris Clauson.
The Gum Springs property is the 127th property annexed into the town since former Town Manager Jason Taylor dropped the $500 annexation fee in October 2021. Just one month later, the town’s annexations numbered 16, with more than 30 more residential properties waiting to be annexed.
In July 2022, the Gum Springs property took center stage when the property owner requested the county zoning to be changed from RD-1 (Rural Residential District) to I-1 (Light Industrial District.) Despite an outcry against industrial zoning from area residents, county council voted for the rezoning.
Then, a year later, in September 2023, Scout Motors announced plans to come to Blythewood and residential housing developers began showing a growing interest in the Gum Springs property and other large-acre properties in Fairfield County.
Developer Haven Communities LLC came before the Fairfield County Planning Commission requesting a recommendation for the Gum Springs property to be rezoned again, this time from I-1 to R-2, a higher density residential zoning than RD-1.
Haven wanted to build an unspecified number of homes, but somewhere in the neighborhood of 1,000 to 1,600. The planning commission voted to recommend that council vote against rezoning the 390.42 acres to RD-2. The rezoning has not since come back before county council.
“The Town is excited to be a part of bringing managed growth to Fairfield County,” said Clauson. “By utilizing the Planned Development District zoning on the property, we hope to include as much constructive community feedback as we can and come up with a product that is an attractive development that will enhance the community for a long time to come.”