Fort Mill Town Council is set to vote Monday, Sept. 28, on a 253-page zoning code replacement that would reshape development rules across every residential district in town.
The second reading at 6 p.m. at Town Hall, 205 N. White St., marks the final vote on the overhaul, the Tega Cay Sun reported. The new code updates density limits, open-space requirements and traffic standards for zones including single-family R-25 and R-15 lots, Planned Cluster Developments and Planned Neighborhood Developments.
The code would also require multi-phase developers to submit intersection capacity analyses and show compliance with Fort Mill's multi-modal transportation plans.
The vote comes two days before the town's development moratorium expires. That moratorium expires Sept. 30. Council adopted Ordinance 2026-19 on March 31, pausing new residential rezoning, annexation and preliminary plat applications. The goal, according to town records, was to align the town's code with its Comprehensive Plan and Downtown Master Plan. Fort Mill's population has grown more than 60% since 2020 to roughly 39,559 residents, according to the Fort Mill Sun.
Council will also take final votes on the fiscal year 2025-26 and FY 2026-27 municipal budgets. The town manages a $73.5 million consolidated budget, the Fort Mill Sun reported in a Sept. 13 story on elected pay.
A separate resolution would formally designate Downtown Fort Mill as a South Carolina cultural district. The designation, administered by the South Carolina Arts Commission, opens access to marketing support and grant funding. It is renewable every five years.
Debbie Whitsett, owner of Olive's Mud Puddle and president of the Catawba River Art Guild, first pitched the idea to council in March 2025. "Requires very little from the town but brings great benefits to our area," Whitsett said at that meeting, when she and Melanie Cooper, executive director of the Arts Council of York County, presented the cultural district plan.
On the infrastructure side, council is scheduled to consider awarding the contract for the Dye Branch Stream Restoration Project. Phase 1 construction is planned for September through November. The creek runs behind Peachtree Place Apartments, past Fort Mill High School, under Highway 21 and along the Walden Park neighborhood before reaching Harris Street Park, according to the town's project page. Sections of streambank along both the main channel and an unnamed tributary need restoration and stabilization.
Fort Mill Economic Partners will open the meeting with a presentation on regional development updates.
The full agenda and ordinance documents are available at fortmillsc.gov.
