EASTOVER, S.C. (WIS) -Residents of Eastover are speaking out against the expansion of solar farm development in their community, following Richland County Council’s approval of a second large-scale solar project adjacent to an existing site.
The first facility, Eastover Solar, spans hundreds of acres and was completed in 2023. The $80 million, 73-megawatt site converts sunlight captured by panels into electricity.
Last year, Richland County Council approved a second solar site adjacent to Eastover Solar. That proposed project would cover more than 450 acres to house a 75-megawatt facility, with an estimated cost of more than $110 million.
Jill Lewis, an Eastover resident whose family owns Mr. Bunky’s Market, a general store in the town, said she and some neighbors living within five miles of the Vanboklen site were contacted by developers seeking to use additional land for solar farms.
Lewis disputed the classification of the projects as farms.
“Just because you use the word farm, when you call it a solar farm doesn’t make it a farm,” Lewis said. “When you look it up, the definition is land that produces crops, forest, timberland, and livestock. It is not intended for energy production on a mass scale.”
Lewis also raised concerns about the public notification process under current zoning law.
“The way that the current zoning law is written, there is no public notice that has to be provided to the neighborhood or the community before development begins,” Lewis said. “So what happened on Vanboklen was done under the nose of the neighbors.”
Eastover Mayor James Faber said he supports residents opposing the expansion.
“The only people that benefit from the solar farms are the corporations,” Faber said. “We don’t receive a dime from them. It was disingenuous for them to even come to the community when no one even discussed anything.”
Lewis is leading a petition, already signed by dozens of residents, requesting a meeting with Richland County Council to discuss a moratorium on additional solar developments in the area.
Eastover Solar, the existing facility, has had at least three changes in ownership since its completion. The company did not respond to a request for comment.
Feel more informed, prepared, and connected with WIS. For more free content like this, subscribe to our email newsletter, and download our apps. Have feedback that can help us improve? Click here.
Copyright 2026 WIS. All rights reserved.

source