Proposed RV park in northern Spartanburg County has escalated with two new legal filings

The legal battle over a proposed RV park in northern Spartanburg County has escalated with both sides filing suits against each other in the dispute.

On April 25, RV park developer Blue Sky Associates filed a defamation lawsuit against four homeowner groups and "concerned citizens."

The suit was filed in the Spartanburg County Court of Common Pleas.

Blue Sky is seeking unspecified actual and punitive damages.

It claims Blue Sky has suffered "injury to reputation, both personal and professional; embarrassment; humiliation; mental and emotional suffering; lost income" and mounting legal fees from fighting continued "meritless challenges."

"Defendants and/or their agents have knowingly made and published false statements with defamatory meaning concerning the plaintiff," the suit states. "The publication of these false statements was made recklessly, with ill will, with a design to wantonly injure plaintiff without cause, with reckless disregard for the truth, with reckless disregard for plaintiff’s rights, and with actual or implicit malice."

Blue Sky is planning to construct a 49-space RV Park called T. Tree Farms on a 38.68-acre non-zoned site at 1970 Landrum Mill Road in rural northern Spartanburg County.

The site is surrounded by properties of the homeowner groups, including roughly 5,000 acres of land with conservation covenants and easements. More than 1,400 acres are under formal conservation easements with two land trusts, Upstate Forever and Conserving Carolina.

Three days after the defamation suit was filed, on April 28, four homeowner groups and five residents filed an appeal of the Spartanburg County Planning Commission's March 7 conditional approval of the RV park, claiming the approval "violates the county's Unified Land Management Ordinance (ULMO)."

The appeal, filed in Spartanburg Court of Common Pleas, asks that the court require the Planning Commission to reconsider Blue Sky's site plan.

According to the appeal, the county's ULMO requires each RV park site to be "serviced by … sewer or other system approved by DHEC (the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control)."

Opponents claimed the septic system contained in Blue Sky's plan and approved by DHEC staff was rejected by the DHEC board as "inadequate," having only half the capacity required for the development, according to the appeal.

RV park enters third year of fight in Spartanburg County

Ever since the RV park was first proposed more than two years ago, residents have been involved in a fight to stop it.

RV park opponents make their case Northern Spartanburg County RV park opponents make their case, developer stands firm

Residents have claimed the roads are too narrow and winding to accommodate large RVs, that runoff from the site could pollute area streams, and that county planners have ignored calls for public hearings.

Last month, the Southern Environmental Law Center also appealed the Planning Commission's March 7 conditional approval, claiming it "violates the county's ULMO by harming an ecologically sensitive forest, clean water and a rare and threatened species -- the Dwarf Flowered Heartleaf."

On Monday, Carl Muller, attorney for the homeowner groups, declined to comment on the defamation suit filed by Blue Sky.

"We just received it and are looking at it," he said.

Blue Sky attorney Bill Young of Greenville said his client has followed all county regulations during its process to gain approval, and that opponents have made false statements that have harmed Blue Sky in delaying construction.

"When mistruths and lies are stated over and over again, there have to be consequences," he said. "We intend to make them face consequences at this point. If the shoe was on the other foot, I'm certain they would be saying you can't tell me what to do with my own property."

A look back at significant developments in RV park dispute

Here is a summary of developments in the RV park battle:

March 2, 2021: Spartanburg County Planning Commission grants conditional approval of Blue Sky's RV park site plan. Conditions include obtaining a public water line, a DHEC-approved septic system, and a traffic plan approved by the county's engineering department.

June 2021: DHEC issues septic permit to the developer. Four homeowner groups representing more than 100 members and three conservation groups appealed to the DHEC board.

December 2021: DHEC board votes to rescind the septic permit issued by DHEC staff in June, stating the developer's application was flawed because it proposed an undersized septic system.

Nov. 29, 2022: The state Administrative Law Court overturned the DHEC board's decision, during the meeting the board "acted outside of its authority" and that residents' request for final review was not timely. The ruling reinstated Blue Sky's septic permit that was originally approved by DHEC staff.

Dec. 20, 2022: The homeowner groups file an appeal of the ALC ruling with the S.C. Court of Appeals. The case has not yet been heard.

Potential environmental harm cited Residents say planned RV park in northern Spartanburg County could cause harm to environment

Feb. 8, 2023: Blue Sky withdraws its original site plan and submits a new application to the county Planning Commission, which reduces the number of RV spaces from 59 to 49; and states that drinking water will be provided by an on-site well instead of a public water line.

March 7, 2023: The Planning Commission votes 6-2 to approve the new site plan contingent on the approval of a stormwater permit and an on-site well permit from DHEC.

Planning Commission OKs site plan Tensions run high as Spartanburg County Planning Commission approves site plan for RV park

April 4, 2023: Citing ecological concerns, Southern Environmental Law Center appeals the Planning Commission's conditional approval of the RV park plan.

April 25, 2023: Blue Sky files a defamation suit against four homeowner groups and "concerned citizens," seeking unspecified damages.

April 28, 2023: Four homeowner groups and five residents filed an appeal of the Spartanburg County Planning Commission's March 7 conditional approval of the RV park, claiming the approval "violates the county's Unified Land Management Ordinance (ULMO)."

This article originally appeared on Herald-Journal: Legal battles continue over RV park in northern Spartanburg County