On Monday night, October 26, Blythewood Town Council voted 3-2 against a request to annex 314.75 acres on Mount Valley Road. The same request would also have rezoned that land and the 61-acre Berrian property, which is already in town, to R-5, which allows 5,000-square-foot lots. A few minutes later, Councilman Donald Brock, who had voted no, moved to reconsider. Council then voted 4-1 to approve the request on first reading. The second and final vote is set for November 23, according to The Voice of Blythewood & Fairfield County.
The vote flipped because the town has little say over most of the land near the Scout Motors plant. If you're comparing Blythewood with other northeast Midlands options, that limit affects how many homes get built near you, how dense they are, and when they show up.
The land was already zoned before the town voted
The Mount Valley tract sits in unincorporated Richland County. The county had already rezoned about 315 acres at the back of the property, which allows roughly 600 homes, WLTX reported. The town's own piece of the deal was about 60 acres along Fulmer Road. The developers wanted that land rezoned for 93 more homes and planned to use it as the main entrance.
Town Manager Doug Polen explained what that means in practice. In the same WLTX story, he said the developers "can build the houses in the rear" using the vested rights they earned from Richland County, even if council rejects the town-side rezoning.
Brandon Pridemore, who represented R. Joe Harris & Associates and developer South Fork Ventures LLC at the October 26 meeting, said the same thing, as reported by The Voice:
"We've spent a lot of money to buy the property, so Mt Valley's going forward, irrespective of what happens here tonight."
So the town can't decide whether the Mount Valley homes get built. Its leverage is annexation. Bringing the land into town is the thing the developer wants, and the town can ask for limits in return.
How a "no" can mean more homes
Before the October votes, Pridemore told WLTX what the developer would do if the town turned down the Fulmer Road rezoning. "We'll probably increase density," he said. "We might increase the number of smaller lots that we are proposing" on the county side.
At the October 26 meeting, Polen warned that the county's existing R-3 zoning on the Mount Valley land could, on paper, allow 1,800 homes. County zoning officials told The Voice the real number is closer to 1,200, because about 30 percent of the land goes to setbacks, roads and right-of-way. Pridemore said 900 or 1,200 homes would be "reasonable" there but "that was never our vision for this site."
Under the conditions the town negotiated, the two properties together would be capped at 718 homes: up to 625 on Mount Valley and 93 on the Berrian parcel. Council members Andrea Fripp and Rich McKenrick, who sponsored the request, argued that annexing the land would give the town more control and reduce the number of homes. The Voice noted that nobody has said what number the 625 was reduced from.
That's why a planning commission recommendation against the deal can end with fewer limits on what gets built. The Blythewood Planning Commission voted 3-2 to recommend denial. If council follows that recommendation, the county-side land keeps its existing zoning. The developer then has the option of putting more, smaller lots there, and the town's 718-home cap disappears.
Brock told The Voice he wants to reopen talks only on the 61-acre Berrian property and push it from R-5 to R-12, which has slightly larger lots. He said he isn't trying to change the annexation or the R-5 zoning on Mount Valley.
This is also the second time around. Council denied the Berrian R-5 request 4-1 on May 26. It came back within a year because town staff added conditions, including no on-street parking on the main road, a limit on the number of homes and required two-car garages.
Two more big projects, with the county voting first
Mount Valley isn't the only large project in line. Two others near Blythewood have gone through Richland County Council this year.
| Project | Where | Who decides | Status | What the developer has said |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mount Valley / Berrian | Mount Valley Rd. and Fulmer Rd. | Town of Blythewood, through annexation; county zoning already in place | Passed first reading Oct. 26; final reading Nov. 23 | Up to 718 homes combined under town conditions |
| Haven Communities | Between Blythebrook Rd. and Fulmer Rd., across from Ashley Oaks | Richland County for 157.44 county acres; Town of Blythewood for 60.5 town acres | County initial approval May 19, 10-1; two more county votes required; town portion pending | 255 homes, average price $350,000 and up |
| Winnsboro Road | 133 acres between Winnsboro Rd. and Blythewood Rd. | Richland County | First reading approved Oct. 27; second reading expected in November | Fewer than 300 homes, about half the land kept as green space |
The Winnsboro Road project shows how far apart the zoning limit and the developer's plan can be. County documents said the requested R-3 zoning could allow up to 800 homes. Developer Luke Boatright, working with Stanley Martin Homes, said the plan is for fewer than 300, according to WLTX. Boatright told WLTX the project would extend an existing neighborhood, with full amenities and shared open space.
The Haven Communities plan already changed after public input. The Post and Courier reported that the developer cut the county side from 388 homes to 255 and raised the average lot size from 7,620 square feet to 14,500. The plan includes a pool, walking paths, pocket parks and an HOA to maintain the common areas.
All three projects say Blythewood in the headlines. On Winnsboro Road and the bigger, county side of Haven, Richland County casts the votes that count. On Mount Valley, Blythewood is negotiating over land the county had already zoned.
The plant, the subdivisions and resale are on three different timelines
- The plant is well along. Scout Motors' July 2026 progress update, published August 6, said the paint shop was nearly finished, assembly conveyors were going in and the supplier buildings were moving along. The Blythewood site is planned for up to 200,000 vehicles a year, and the $300 million supplier park is expected to support about 1,000 supplier jobs. When Scout opened its training center in April, it said it had already hired more than 600 people in South Carolina, WIS reported.
- The subdivisions are years away. Haven Communities expects to start its first construction phase in summer 2028 and finish around 2033, according to the Post and Courier. The Mount Valley and Winnsboro Road projects both still have votes ahead of them, and neither has announced a construction date.
- Resale homes are available now, and there are more of them. In September 2026, the Columbia Northeast area tracked by the Consolidated Multiple Listing Service had 807 homes for sale, up 37.7% from September 2025. The median sale price that month was $266,374, down 3.1% year over year. Closed sales fell 8.0% to 196. Homes took a median 54 days to sell, the same as a year earlier, and sold for 99.3% of list price.
Put those together and the picture is clear. As of September 2026, buyers in this part of the Midlands have more homes to choose from than they did a year ago, and prices are flat. From January through September 2026, the area's median was $289,215, up just 0.2% from the same stretch in 2025. Across the whole CMLS market in September 2026, inventory was 4,237 homes, up 33.7%, and there was 3.6 months of supply.
For someone moving soon, that means the homes being argued over this fall aren't the homes you'll be able to buy. You'll be buying from today's resale inventory, which grew over the past year while those projects were still in hearings.
What a Blythewood address won't tell you
A Blythewood mailing address can cover land inside town limits or in unincorporated Richland County, and the rules are different. The Haven Communities land, for example, runs across that line, with 157.44 acres in the county and 60.5 acres in town. If you're looking at a house near open land along Fulmer Road, Mount Valley Road, Blythebrook Road or Winnsboro Road, it helps to know which government zoned the land next door, because that body heard the case.
Traffic has come up at every hearing. A Blythewood resident told WLTX that traffic on Fulmer Road is "absolutely horrible now." In August, WIS reported that residents brought concerns about water supply and traffic patterns tied to the Scout development to a council meeting. The town said its regulatory role in that development was limited. If you plan to drive Fulmer or Mount Valley every day, try the commute at rush hour before you make an offer.
A few questions that come up
Does the November 23 vote decide whether Mount Valley gets built? No. That vote decides whether the land is annexed into town under the 718-home cap and the town's design conditions. The developer has said the Mount Valley project moves forward either way.
What are the new homes expected to cost? Haven Communities' representative, Phillip Reams, told the county the developer expects an average sale price of $350,000 and up. The other two projects haven't released pricing.
Will these projects change today's resale market? Not right away. Haven Communities doesn't plan to break ground until summer 2028, and the other two projects still have votes pending. The supply that matters in the near term is the resale inventory already listed.
If you're looking at a house near one of these sites, we'll help you figure out which side of the town line it's on, what's been approved around it and where each vote stands. Reach out to Half Moon Realty and we'll go through the Blythewood map with you.
