INDIAN LAND --With time winding down before the Pleasant Valley Fire Department has to find a new home, fire district officials hope negotiations for property on Possum Hollow Road will be successful.

Three acres on Possum Hollow Road, near the Fox Ridge community, are being considered for the new fire station. Property owner Ron Olsen has asked the Lancaster County Council for approval to rezone seven of his acres on Possum Hollow Road for office condos, and he offered three adjacent acres to the Pleasant Valley Fire Department for a new fire station.

Pleasant Valley Fire Department Captain Stephen Blackwelder had concerns that if the council denied Olsen's rezoning request, Olsen may withdraw his offer to the fire department.

But this week, Olsen said his offer to the fire department is not contingent on the rest of the property being rezoned.

"Those discussions will go on regardless of the rezoning," he said.

Despite strong opposition from Fox Ridge neighbors, the rezoning request has passed two readings and will come before the council July 28 for its final approval.

The Pleasant Valley Fire Department has been searching for property for a new fire station since January 2007. Right now, the Pleasant Valley fire station sits on leased land on Hwy. 160, a few miles from Hwy. 521. When the second phase of the Hwy. 160 widening project is complete, the land will be overtaken by the road and the fire station will have to be moved.

The first phase of the Hwy. 160 widening project is complete, except for a mast-arm signal that will be installed at the corner of Hwy. 521 and Hwy. 160.

S.C. Department of Transportation officials said the second phase, from Possum Hollow Road to the county line, will begin in October when DOT will begin acquiring right-of-way.