Many Chapin residents say they want tighter zoning and fewer homes an acre.

“The integrity of Chapin is threatened by overgrowth,” said Marcia Pierce, at Lexington County’s open house at St. Thomas Lutheran Church May 3.

Their frustrated sentiment of overgrowth in the little town is driving support for County Council woman Erin Long Bergeson’s rezoning efforts.

They want to lower density zoning for responsible growth.

Tighter restrictions on the number of homes per acre and less commercial zoning in rural areas are part of the rezoning efforts on 59 roads in the Old Lexington and Wessinger road corridor.

Residents says they are trying to control an approaching calamity of higher sewer rates to pay for future expansion and more traffic on already dangerous two-lane roads.

Resident Kenneth McKellar said he strongly supports reclassifying roads.

“Chapin and this Lake Murray community cannot financially, physically or ethically accommodate these developments with over 1,200 new homes,” he said. “Roads, traffic, schools, and law enforcement are not in a position to handle such an explosion in our community.

“If developers want to build all these homes, then let them foot the bill for the new schools, road expansion, and law enforcement, not us taxpayers.”

Another resident Jeanne Denton said, “ I’m tired of greedy developers making money off our quiet little lake communities’ backs. Developers go away!”

Lexington County Community Development Department and other county officials were present to answer any citizen’s questions about the rezoning of the roads.