Fast-growing Fort Mill is seeing a ‘mass exodus’ within 1 mile of Silfab plant
Marissa Robbins always imagined her son graduating with his best friend next door.
They’ve been close from the womb, Robbins said. Their families met while taking a birthing class and lived next door to one another for years.
They weathered the pandemic together. They watched their kids hold hands walking into their first day of kindergarten. They share dinner every week as part of what they nicknamed the “Sunday supper club.”
They became family, Robbins said.
But the neighbors gave up their idyllic Fort Mill community this year out of concern for their safety as a controversial Canadian manufacturing company prepares to set up shop down the road. They join dozens of others in the area who’ve listed their houses in recent months.
“It’s a mass exodus,” Robbins said.
Silfab Solar is in the process of building a solar cell manufacturing facility next to two new schools slated to open in 2025 and 2026. The $150 million Silfab project is projected to create 800 jobs at 1749 Logistics Lane, an industrial site between Interstate 77 and U.S. 21.
Workers will handle hazardous chemicals, which concerns residents who live nearby and whose kids are rezoned for the new schools.
Courts are litigating a zoning dispute after York County approved Silfab to operate in a light industrial area despite using heavy industrial processes. Still, Silfab says it meets all permitting requirements and is safe for the surrounding community.
“We had no intention of changing that, of changing our lives,” Robbins said. “We certainly didn’t think that a manufacturing plant would ever be the reason to disrupt that.”
60 homes listed for sale in Fort Mill neighborhoods near Silfab
Since October, more than one in five houses listed for sale in fast-growing Fort Mill and Tega Cay fall within 1 mile of Silfab, according to data pulled from Canopy MLS, a database of property listings used by real estate agents.
That’s not normal for the area, said resident Brandon Gantt.
“Whether it was directly related to Silfab or not, I can’t say,” Gantt said. “I will say there’s been a lot of movement for houses here recently.”
Data does not show the ages of people selling or whether they have children who attend Fort Mill schools, but several families told The Herald they’re listing their homes as a direct result of Silfab. Others are waiting to sell until the court rules on whether Silfab can continue operating in its current location.
Gantt and his wife moved to Fort Mill in 2019 and were “ready to sow their roots and stay indefinitely,” he said. They had their first kid in 2022.
Home values have since “skyrocketed,” he said, but the risk of being next door to Silfab outweighs the financial burden of moving.
They’ve stopped making retirement contributions and are putting any loose money towards a new house. If Silfab opens as planned, Gantt said his family will leave in 2027 before their son starts school.
“Our house is almost twice the amount it was worth when we purchased it … I can’t even buy the house that I purchased initially,” Gantt said. “We have no inclination to move, but if (Silfab) stays the same, yeah, we’ll be moving.”
Robbins’ family was close to paying off the $260,000 home they bought in 2014, she said. The median home price in Fort Mill today is $493,000, according to Canopy Realtor Association.
Fort Mill rezones students for school next to Silfab
Fort Mill Schools consistently leads the state in most testing metrics, data from the South Carolina Department of Education shows. The sought-after district continues to grow and estimates enrollment will increase by more than 5,200 students in the next decade.
That was a draw for Ashley Castillo, who praised her children’s teachers and said families chose their neighborhood specifically for the school it was zoned for.
Then in October, another factor emerged that plays into some home listings: the district announced it redrew school boundary lines in anticipation of Flint Hill Elementary. The new school opening next door to Silfab this fall will have a projected enrollment of 840 students. Castillo was zoned for the new school.
Fifteen homes in her subdivision have since been listed for sale, Canopy MLS data shows.
“It’s like a lose-lose situation. Either I move my kids away from everyone that they know and love, or we don’t and we take the risk of staying where we are,” Castillo said. “It was taken from us.”
After months of back and forth, her family decided to sell their home and move one neighborhood over. They aren’t completely comfortable with the new location, but she said it was “the best (they) could do for now” to keep her two kids out of Flint Hill.
A network of pediatric health specialists added weight to parents’ concerns in February.
The Southeast Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit sent a letter to Fort Mill Schools saying they were concerned by the types and quantities of chemicals used by Silfab. The group of experts are considered a leading authority on preventing and managing health issues that arise from environmental exposures.
The Feb. 25 letter said children “are not exposed to hazards in the same ways or amounts as adults” and are “especially vulnerable to harmful exposures and subsequent negative brain and lung health effects.” In response, the district announced at a board meeting this month that it is searching for a firm to conduct an environmental evaluation of potential safety impacts posed by Silfab.
The district had largely remained quiet on the issue until now despite a year of push back from parents who said they did not want to send their kids to school near Silfab.
“The school board being so hush-hush about this decision and kind of just refusing to join the fight or the debate about it is really disheartening,” Castillo said. “We had a lot of trust in Fort Mill School District up until this point.”
This story was originally published April 14, 2025 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Fast-growing Fort Mill is seeing a ‘mass exodus’ within 1 mile of Silfab plant."
CORRECTION: Marissa Robbins’ last name was incorrect in a previous version of this story.
