PACOLET — Looking out her kitchen window, DeDee Quinn can see a large pasture that could soon change from green landscape to another housing development.
She doesn't want that view to change. She's lived 35 years at her Briarwood Drive house, where she's enjoyed solitude and friendly neighbors who also don't want to see their lives disrupted a by new development of 276 homes proposed to be built just 25 feet away from their property lines.
She was among several residents who voiced their opposition to the proposed development at the Pacolet Planning Commission on June 2 and at the Pacolet Town Council meeting on June 5.
While the planning commission recommended rejecting Mark III Properties' rezoning request for the land in the eastern Spartanburg County community of roughly 2,500, Town Council gave initial approval to the request, which will require a second reading on June 26 before it's approved. The development would be the first major development since the town's old textile mill along the Pacolet River was built in the mid-1880s.
The Town Council's 3-2 vote was met with hostility as Quinn and others expressed their concerns about the direction the town was taking.
The June 5 meeting saw several outbursts, and at least one person was asked to leave over the disruptions.
Darren Webb, Mark III Properties' land acquisition manager, told Town Council the company understood approval would be an uphill battle. Webb hopes, if rezoning is approved, the developer can close on the 80-acre site and begin recruiting a builder. Several builders have already expressed interest in the project, he said, which could take three to five years to complete.
Meanwhile, Quinn hopes the Town Council will reverse course and vote down the rezoning request on second reading. She said the $75 million project doesn't fit with Pacolet's small-town charm, and lot sizes are too small.
The houses would cost between $260,000 and $290,000. Pacolet has long sought a new housing development to offer something new. Thirty-three percent of the housing in town was built prior to 1950, with 66 percent of the houses having been built between 1950 and 2009.
Quinn suggested she might sell her home if the new housing development moves forward.
"I would like to have a little more privacy and not have homes built on top of each other side by side," Quinn told The Post and Courier. "If the new development is built, it will totally change the view from my kitchen window. We need thoughtful growth. This plan is too dense and we need something that is a better fit."
Her neighbor, Danny Weathers, agrees. He's lived in the area for 39 years. He moved to the area because it's not overrun with development. All of that could soon change.
"I don't like it," Weathers said. "I don't like it at all. I don't want to see a neighborhood built there, not with cookie-cutter houses built on top of each other. I am going to build a privacy berm with shrubs on them. Even with that, I think we are still going to have issues."
The development — Wilson Crossing — would be built on 80 acres.
Some of the property would be designated for green open space. The site is located in Spartanburg County School District 3 and within the Pacolet Fire District. Duke Energy would provide power service to the development. Each home would have a one- or two-car garage and range from 1,415 to 2,015 square feet.
Wilson Crossing would include a pavilion, dog park, recreation field, and playground. Four new roads would be built to serve as primary access points to the development. They would be public roads maintained by the town.
The development would be constructed in two phases.
Spartanburg Sanitary Sewer District would be the sewer provider while the town of Pacolet would be responsible for picking up residents' trash.
For Pacolet Mayor Ned Camby, it's now or never. He supports the project.
Camby said during the June 5 meeting that the town has tried for decades to recruit new housing with little success. He's watched other areas in Spartanburg County grow rapidly while Pacolet's growth has stagnated. Pacolet needs to capitalize on this new housing opportunity, he said.
"Pacolet has been asking for new housing development and now some people are saying, 'No,'" Camby said. "If we say no to this one developer, other developers may not come."
The site also includes about 12 acres for commercial businesses. Some town leaders hope this will help bring new businesses to the area. Webb suggested the commercial site could attract restaurants or coffee shops.
Council members Thomas Williams and April Palmer-Green, along with Camby, voted in favor of rezoning on first reading. Council members Theresa Sexton and Jason Wright voted against the rezoning request.
Councilman Richard Brackins abstained from casting a vote because he needed more time to consider it.
"We need growth," Brackins said. "I have heard from citizens who are for it and from citizens who are against it. Right now, I am split down the middle. I am not going to vote for it or against it. I need more time."
Sexton and Wright don't believe the development is the right fit.
Wright said he would prefer to see larger lot sizes on developments and the town should "pull back a little bit" on recruiting large developments. Sexton said she agrees.
"What the developer wants does not mean it is good for Pacolet," Sexton said. "Citizens oppose this rezoning and this type of development."
Pacolet once thrived as a mill town.
The first mill was built in 1884. It was closed in 1983. Many of the houses on the mill hill still remain.
Williams, a local business owner and first-term council member, said new housing is needed to boost the area's economy. Once new housing comes, new businesses are likely to follow.
"There will never be something that everyone agrees on, but this comes pretty darn close," Williams said. "It is outside of historic Pacolet and does not interfere with our small-town feel. It's going to help raise our tax base which allows us to raise our debt ceiling."