FORT MILL - Wally Buchanan saved the farm near his home for his niece.
Buchanan and his family have called Fort Mill home since 1941. Although Fort Mill grew rapidly in the state, surrounding the property with subdivisions, warehouses and a juice distribution center, Buchanan never left. He stayed on the farm and wanted his 19-year-old nephew to stay too.
But now he thinks.
A hundred yards away, solar system manufacturer Silfab Solar is moving into an 800,000-square-foot warehouse. And he worries: he worries about chemicals, he worries about traffic, he worries about a giant corporation that doesn't care about him or his neighbors.
"I don't want my son to try to build a family on our family property - an inheritance," Buchanan said. "You're trying to destroy his legacy."
York County Council has been debating in recent months whether to give Salfab tax breaks of 10.5% to 4% for investment in the area and the jobs it creates.
But the debate quickly turned from taxes — and even jobs — to whether residents want SilFab to be located in this growing part of Charlotte, North Carolina.
"We're not here to squeeze every penny out of the company," said Fort Mill resident Morris Rothstein. “You can't buy your way here. This is truly an ancient society. Why do we put a manufacturing plant here?
But others see the project as transformative: a company with a solid reputation that will bring high-paying manufacturing jobs to the region.
Salfab's $150 million investment plan aims to create jobs for 800 citizens, $19-an-hour workers and $60,000-an-hour workers, as well as complete infrastructure. He said the organization will provide Fort Mill Schools with more than 30 years and about $4.7 million in real estate assets in York County.
