Monday, Apr. 06, 2009

Growing pains for Ballentine and Chapin

The development from Irmo and Harbison is moving northwest to the Ballentine area and the town of Chapin.

The mushrooming development in Ballentine has raised protests from some residents.

A new shopping center of three dozen stores at Broad River and Dutch Fork roads — anchored by a Wal-Mart supercenter — is due to open this fall. A few other retailers are setting up stores nearby.

That scenario led Irmo to take in the 450-acre area, reaching out nearly two miles along rail lines to annex it in 2007.

Nearby homeowners unsuccessfully fought the center as an unwanted urban intrusion into a largely rural area that bills itself as the gateway to Lake Murray.

Their anger led to an effort to create a new town on the northwest corner of Lake Murray to control growth.

Voters rejected the idea last year amid fear of more taxes and unwanted regulation. But an effort to create a smaller municipality in Ballentine is under way.

Meanwhile, Chapin is getting ready for growth.

The town is expanding its sewers to handle four times the 1,500 homes and businesses served in northern Lexington County.

That effort comes after forecasts on growth expected by 2020 in and around the town of 1,000 seven miles northwest of the Ballentine area and 15 miles north west of Irmo.

— Tim Flach

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