Chapin candidates spar over development, who’s a candidate at election debate
Less than a week after the death of the town’s mayor, the remaining candidates to run the town of Chapin attended a candidate forum on Thursday to let the voters’ know their plans for the town. But the fast-developing race left even some of the candidates unsure where the election stood just days before the polls closed.
As moderators for the League of Women Voters were introducing the two mayoral candidates and four town council candidates, candidate for mayor Bill Mitchell felt the need to issue a correction.
“Actually, we have three candidates for mayor here,” he said.
But Town Councilman Gregg White, whom the Koon family is attempting to draft into the mayor’s race as a write-in candidate after the death of Mayor Al Koon, denied that he was campaigning for the job.
“I’m here for what’s on the ballot,” White said, meaning another four-year term on Chapin Town Council.
The exchange capped off a week of twists and turns in the race to lead the town of 2,000 people north of Lake Murray. Koon was a candidate for a second term as mayor in the Nov. 4 election before he went into hospice care last week and died on Friday. That leaves Mitchell and Ron Colley as the only remaining candidates for mayor.
Koon’s name is still listed on the ballot, but the Lexington County Elections and Voter Registration Office told The State that votes for the former mayor will not be counted. Koon’s sons Ryan and Chris are pushing for a write-in campaign for White, who told The State he would be willing to serve as mayor if elected but is focused on his town council campaign.
Early voting in the Chapin election started Oct. 20 and ends Oct. 31.
How to handle growth?
At Thursday’s forum, candidates for mayor and town council shared the stage, answering questions about how they want to see Chapin develop into the future.
Development has been a challenge for the town because the area around Lake Murray has exploded with new housing development in recent years. Chapin officials have few options for controlling growth outside the town limits, while all that growth has increased traffic congestion and stretched the town’s sewer system, which extends well outside the town itself.
Some candidates zeroed in on the town’s ability to approve sewer taps for new construction as a lever to stop growth.
“We’re not required to issue the sewer taps,” Mitchell said. “They might file a lawsuit, but they might also sue if we can’t carry out that agreement. ... The town owns the water plant. We’re in complete control of that. We can make our own decisions.”
White said a developer’s lawsuit to force the town to connect sewer service would only cost the town more money in the long run, and that Chapin has gotten state approval to expand its water treatment plant, which should alleviate some of the issues residents are concerned about.
Colley said homeowners have other options if the town denies a request for a sewer tap. “If we say no to sewer access, they can always use a septic tank,” he said.
Other candidates were supportive of that idea. “I have a septic tank, it works fine, and it would probably limit the developer to two or three homes per acre,” said town council candidate Warren Burritt.
But White said septic tanks can cause their own issues. “Septic tanks can be an environmental issue,” he said. “That’s where you see some of the issues we’re having with Lake Murray, because that’s what we have to deal with going into the estuaries.”
Calls for an active leader
Both of the official mayoral candidates said they wanted to be a more active and assertive figure leading the town. Colley committed himself to holding regular office hours for residents and making his phone number widely available.
“The mayor needs to have input on everything, not just on meeting nights,” he said.
Mitchell said he would look at “deleting some staff, like the town administrator,” and put the mayor in charge of directly overseeing town operations.
White said the town is in the process of making other improvements, like widening Columbia Avenue and negotiating with the Lexington-Richland 5 school district to create a community space at the old Chapin High School.
Candidates said they were interested to see the potential Brighton development that could bring nearly 400 homes inside the town limits, although they expressed concerns about the potential impact on traffic and the mixed-use nature of the neighborhood, where businesses will exist alongside homes. Burritt compared it to the town’s Tipsy Toad Tavern.
“I wouldn’t want to live above the Toad,” Burritt said.
But others thought the close development could reduce the need for residents to travel on town roadways outside the development, while still fitting within Chapin’s small-town aesthetic.
“I don’t see any plans for residences on top of buildings,” said town council candidate Jerry Taylor. “It’s not going to be New York loft apartments.”
Town council candidate Ainslee Bost said she wished the state Department of Transportation would add more exits to Interstate 26 to alleviate bottlenecks around town at rush hour.
“I get up an hour and a half early and there’s still a ton of traffic,” Bost said. “Sometimes I have to drive down to the Peak exit to get on the interstate.”
While the candidates said they would look at potential annexations or other efforts to control development within the town of Chapin, many said the popularity of Lexington County and its lakeshore as a place to live would mean changes to the small town are ultimately inevitable.
“If nobody would move here, there wouldn’t be a problem,” Taylor joked. “We just need everybody to stay put.”
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