Politics & Government

Home Developers Buying Barr Pond, Surrounding Land

The Town of Lexington is selling the pond and a small piece of land, while SCE&G is selling another piece of land near the pond.

Residential developers are trying to buy Barr Pond and land surrounding it — an area the Lexington Wildlife Chapter has called home since 1955.

Lexington Town Council voted 3-1 on April 1 to approve the sale of the 119-acre pond, also known as Wildlife Lake, and the five acres of land near the pond that the town owns. 

SCE&G also plans to sell 11 acres, according to a report in The State. 

Find out what's happening in Lexingtonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Members of the Lexington Wildlife Chapter boat and fish on the pond and use the area to take children and seniors on educational tours. They also have a clubhouse on the property where they've held benefits for the children's home, Riverbanks Zoo and other organizations. 

"We value that pond for what we can contribute to the community through that pond," member Ben Knight said at the April 1 town council meeting.

Find out what's happening in Lexingtonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

More than 20 members showed up at the meeting to express their concerns about selling the property. 

SCE&G promised the group access to the pond in a contract signed between the Town of Lexington, the Lexington Wildlife Chapter and SCE&G in 1997. 

"Anybody who purchases this property will have to abide by the rules that were already in place before we obtained it," Mayor Randy Halfacre said. 

Although the group would retain their access to the pond, they would have no way to reach it if both the town and SCE&G sell their pieces of property, according to a report in The State. The group may be forced to find another home.

Members of the group are also worried that the proposed 500-lot housing development around the pond would damage the lake, according to a post on the group's Facebook page.

The town plans to sell the lake and the parcel of land adjacent to the lake for $60,000. Council members will vote on the second and final reading of the sale of the property at its May 6 meeting. 

SCE&G's portion of land will be up for public bid since it's valued at more than $50,000, according to the Lexington County Chronicle. Lexington Wildlife Chapter leaders say that makes raising money to buy the land a challenge.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from Lexington