This Lake Murry community has paused new water taps in bid to control growth
Chapin is making a move to slow new development in its immediate neighborhood by pausing approval of any new connections to its municipal water service.
Mayor Bill Mitchell, who won election on Nov. 4, announced the freeze in a media release this week.
“As your newly elected Mayor, my first priority is to ensure the long-term reliability, safety, and capacity of our Town’s critical infrastructure,” Mitchell said in the statement. “Upon taking office, I have directed an immediate pause on all new sewer tap approvals until a comprehensive review of our sewer system’s current capacity, maintenance backlog, and growth projections is completed.”
Mitchell had said during the campaign that the town of 2,000 north of Lake Murray could deal with concerns about growth outside the town limits by controlling approval for connections to its municipal water system, which extends beyond the town limits. New neighborhoods or commercial developments would not be able to move forward in or outside the town limits without approval for those connections.
Chapin has dealt with issues caused by the strain on its town system caused by expanding growth around the lake. In the past year, the town has had to respond to more than one sewer overflow during rainstorms that led to overflows running into Lake Murray.
Now any new applications for connections to the town system will now be paused as Chapin reviews its capacity and infrastructure needs. Mitchell didn’t say in his statement how long such a review is expected to take.
“I ran on a promise of responsible stewardship,” Mitchell said. “This pause honors that commitment. We will resume issuing taps as soon as we have the facts — and only then.”
Mitchell won the election after incumbent Mayor Al Koon died only weeks before the vote in which he was a candidate for re-election. Mitchell normally wouldn’t take office until the new year, but he moved to be sworn-in shortly after the election because of the vacancy caused by Koon’s death.
This story was originally published November 19, 2025 at 10:08 AM.
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