The York County Board of Zoning Appeals Thursday rejected a Canada-based solar panel manufacturer’s bid to build a facility in Fort Mill.
The county announced last fall that Silfab Solar was set to invest $150 million in a manufacturing plant that would bring as many as 800 jobs to the region.
The project was designed to be the lynchpin of Silfab’s East Coast operations, and was touted by Gov. Henry McMaster and State Secretary of Commerce Harry Lightsey.
But residents in and around Fort Mill were quick to speak out against the project, citing environmental concerns and saying that the facility would be improperly zoned. The area of State Highway 21 is zoned for light manufacturing; critics said the plant would entail heavy manufacturing.
The company has denied that its processes create harmful chemicals.
Although opponents who attended Thursday’s Zoning Board meeting cheered at the board’s rejection, the decision might not keep the plant from coming to York County, or even Fort Mill.
Silfab has the option to appeal the board’s decision. The company may also seek to get the area rezoned, or it may look for an alternative site in York County to build.
