FORT MILL TOWNSHIP--Next Wednesday the York County Council will take a look at the possible future.

The council will pore over the proposed Comprehensive Land-Use Plan, an inch-and-a-half thick document that could guide the county's development for the next 20 years.

York County's population is expected to reach between 281,000 and 291,000 by 2025, with roughly 2,182 new houses built each year, mostly in the Fort Mill and northern Rock Hill areas.

The plan's purpose: to identify what residents will need in the future, what services must be provided, and how property values can be protected.

It covers seven elements: population, development and land use, economy, housing, infrastructure, natural resources and quality of life. It gauges the county's strengths and weaknesses, and it considers trends and future goals.

It's still in a draft form and can be changed, but once the council adopts it, the plan will direct all of its development and planning decisions for the next 20 years - everything from how to zone property, where to install a water line, how much money the Sheriff's Department needs to patrol growing areas, and where to locate new industries.

How did things get started?

Two and a half years ago, county leaders hired Wallace Roberts and Todd, LLC, a consulting firm in Coral Gables, Fla., to work with the planning staff and a steering committee of 29 residents.

Eric Greenway - as the county's planning and zoning director, the man leading the work on the new plan - said

York County leaders needed to do something to get ahead of the game.

"We are behind the growth curve now and we are reacting to the growth that is occurring," Greenway said. "The new plan is going to put us in front of that growth curve and we are going to start planning ahead of the growth for the growth."

Starting in March 2002, the steering committee began gather opinions from other residents about the county's strengths, weaknesses, future opportunities and future threats.

"The overwhelming consensus from the public was a discomfort with the rate of change and growth that was taking place in the county," said John Fernsler, consultant with Wallace Roberts and Todd.

From there the group moved forward to develop the plan, essentially ignoring the county's old comprehensive plan, written in 2000.

"People didn't like the old plan," said Jeff Updike of Tega Cay, a member of the steering committee. "The council didn't have any faith in it. It wasn't that much of a source of reference."

Said Fernsler, "This plan doesn't suit any faction 100 percent, but it reflects what the community wants as a whole."

What happens next?

The council is expected to review the proposal over the coming months, and approve a final plan this summer. Three separate votes and a public hearing are needed to adopt the plan, and the council might also hold more public forums.

Once it's adopted, nearly two more years will be needed to change county ordinances to conform with the plan's guidelines.

"My hope is we get more balanced growth, more industrial and commercial," Updike said. "People say we should put a moratorium on growth. That is the worst thing you can do. A moratorium on growth means businesses wouldn't come, retail wouldn't come. This is what you need to restructure your residential tax base."