No, you aren’t hearing wrong. Expect dynamite-loud blasts near two Fort Mill schools.

John Marks
·2 min read

It could get loud — dynamite loud — beside two Fort Mill schools and a grocery store shopping center. And it could stay loud for months.

Fort Mill Middle School messaged parents Friday to inform them of potential blasting beside school property. The state fire marshal’s office issued a blasting permit to Palmetto Rock Services related to a new residential subdivision on Springfield Parkway. The company will use “explosives similar to dynamite” to blast rocks ahead of construction, according to the school notice.

Blasting could start as early as Friday and run through May 8. It could happen between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. daily.

“While there is no danger to our school or the community, we wanted to make you aware of this development to avoid any confusion regarding the potential noise resulting from the blasting activities,” reads the school notice.

Fort Mill Middle shares a campus with Fort Mill Elementary School, which followed with a matching message to parents Friday morning. Both border the project. On its other side is the Avery Plaza, a Food Lion-anchored shopping center. The new subdivision also backs up to the York and Lancaster counties line.

In May of 2022 Dan Ryan Builders bought five properties for almost $16.5 million. The more than 340 acres of residential and farm land near the S.C. 160 and Springfield Parkway intersection sits between the schools, shopping center and Anne Springs Close Greenway property.

These massive Rock Hill area land sales brought in nearly $1 billion in 2022

Springland Associates, affiliated with Clear Springs and the Avery Plaza, sold the property to the builder. The plans at the time were for about 500 age-restricted homes. The property allows for 475 age-restricted units as part of a 2008 development agreement between the town and Clear Springs.

Dan Ryan doesn’t yet list the new Fort Mill community online, but does list coming projects in York County with Baxter Village Towns in Fort Mill and Lakeside Glen in Lake Wylie.