COLUMBIA, S.C. — Change could be on the way for a Richland County community through a massive planned development district.
According to the county, a property between Fairfield Road and Crane Church Road is zoned for over 1,000 homes and could get bigger.
On Thursday, developers and engineers from several groups pitched an idea to residents to expand their area by adding a sizeable lagoon-style beach with plans to add more amenities for residents.
Christina Tran is the project director at Contender Development.
"The portion that we're talking about tonight is what we're kind of dubbing the 'amenity parcel," she said. "We're looking at restaurants, swim-up bars, retail space, future consideration for a hotel, event venue, pretty much anything you want. It's a blank slate, and we get to paint it with whatever the community wants and what the community can enjoy."
District Seven Councilwoman Gretchen Barron says the proposal comes during a time of rapid growth in her district.
"We're located in the center of Richland County. They built around us for many years, now people are coming and building close to us," she said.
The project was not given a firm timeline, but Tran hopes construction could begin as early as the end of the year.
Residents had mixed reactions to the idea. Edward Middleton lives by the development.
RELATED: Richland One hosts free housing clinic with a special session on evictions on Saturday, March 9
"I'm looking forward to it. Over 15-20 years ago, our old pastor envisioned our community with some grocery stores and stuff like that, and now I hear it sounds like it's coming," he said.
Other residents mentioned concerns about the environmental impact, especially with the close vicinity to the Oak Hills Golf Club.
Tran says her company is focused on creating as little impact as possible.
"They have developed this proprietary tech that allows us to build this in a really sustainable way. We are using significantly less water and chemicals. And the energy that it takes is significantly less than most other amenities of this size: pool, golf course, any of those things," she said.
The county encourages residents who couldn't attend Thursday's meeting to contact a council member or Richland County Zoning and Development Services at 803-576-2190.