Proposed Pineville Substation Getting Negative Feedback

PINEVILLE – Livid residents of Pineville are pleading with city planners to hear them out at a meeting Thursday night in regards to a new substation plan.

Town Manager Ryan Spitzer and Electric Systems Manager David Lucore stood in front of angry residents and broke down everything, from how substations work to why a new one is needed. Lucore says if a new one is not built, the two other substations in the area will overload and the equipment will fail. They both tell residents they have looked at ten different properties in Pineville. Both say eight of those options wouldn’t work, either because they’re not close enough to existing Duke Energy transmission lines, or they’re in flood risk areas.

Based off the maps provided by the City of Pineville, the two that are left available are lot eight and lot ten. Both are owned by Steve Miller, the owner of the flea market on the state line. According to Miller, lot eight is opened for sale, but lot 10, where his flea market parking lot is located, is not. Spitzer says they did approach miller about buying site eight and miller denied it. According to Miller’s attorney, they “didn’t say yes or no to that, we still offered that property for sale.”

Residents also say they are concerned about the impact it will have on their property value as well as their health. Elizabeth Thomas lives on the Fort Mill side of the McCullough neighborhood and says the substation will back up to her property.

“I’m very concerned about my family,” she says. “I have an eighteen month old daughter and her health and safety is top of mind for me and also my property value.”

The next meeting will be on February 13th. This will be the opportunity for everyone in the area to come out and voice their concerns with those members of town council.