JENKINSVILLE – The recent placement of a tiny house in the middle of a double lot on the shoreline of the Lake Monticello Reservoir in Jenkinsville in Fairfield County was described in the headlines of a media outlet as an ‘escalating crisis’ threatening public safety access to homes as well as to a water main that, it stated, serves hundreds of homes.
A Fairfield County public safety official has stated in writing that there is no access problem, and other officials have stated that the water main in question serves only a couple of homes up the line and also has no access issues.
The owner of the double lot – one lot in Jenkinsville and an adjoining lot in Fairfield County – Todd Jacobs, says that ‘crisis’ is hyperbole that grew out of Jenkinsville Mayor Gregg Ginyard’s angst over Jacob’s desire to annex the Fairfield County lot he owns into the Town of Jenkinsville.
Either Jacobs, who lives in nearby Chapin, or an immediate family member, has owned the Jenkinsville lot for almost 20 years. It was originally a 1.49-acre lot with a couple of dilapidated homes on it. Jacobs renovated one of the homes and sold the portion of the lot with the renovated home, keeping 0.62-acres for himself. According to a 2008 amendment to the Jenkinsville zoning regulations, new homes along the shore line can only be built on lots that are one-acre or larger.
Annexation Goal
To circumvent that restriction so that he could build on his Jenkinsville lot, Jacobs purchased an adjoining 1.38-acre lot – not on the water – that gave him a total of two acres. But the adjoining lot is in Fairfield County, and would have to be annexed into Jenkinsville in order for Jacobs to have enough acreage under the Jenkinsville zoning ordinance to build a home on his Jenkinsville lot, which is near the reservoir.
Jacobs says he wants to annex the Fairfield County lot into Jenkinsville, but that Jenkinsville Mayor Gregg Ginyard has told him [Jacobs] that he [Ginyard] will never allow Jacobs to annex, making it impossible for Jacobs to build a home on his combined two-acre property.
While any annexation petition must go before the Jenkinsville town council for approval, Jacobs says he has not been able to obtain an annexation petition form. He says usually no one answers when he calls Jenkinsville town hall, and if they do answer they tell him he will have to discuss an annexation petition with Ginyard.
“It’s a cycle, and I can’t get past Ginyard,” Jacobs said. Ginyard chairs the town’s council, and is chairman of the board of the Jenkinsville Water Company.
Asked by The Voice on Monday if Jacobs would be allowed to petition council for annexation into the Town, Ginyard answered, “No, ma’am. He can’t. No, ma’am. He has to come to the council and ask.”
“I believe part of the problem is that Mr. Ginyard doesn’t like me being there,” Jacobs said. “Mr. Ginyard lives on the property two lots down from mine and almost all the properties along the shoreline in that area are owned by his relatives.”
A Tiny House
“I have a very nice piece of property in Jenkinsville with a beautiful view of the water,” Jacobs said in an interview with The Voice on April 27. “That’s the problem. For me, to get out of this nightmare, this lot is the absolute best spot [on the Fairfield lot] for my building that I can make a compromise on,” he said. “That’s why the building is tiny. It fits well in this spot. Of course, I would rather build a larger one on the lot near the water.”
To that end, in February, 2025, Jacobs applied for and received a permit from Fairfield County to place a pre-constructed tiny house on the Fairfield County side of his property. A dated email shows that he submitted a site plan, permit application, and other required documentation to Fairfield County on Feb. 2, 2025, showing the building sitting practically on the county line that runs down the middle of the two combined lots. A building permit was approved by the county on Feb. 25, 2025.
When the tiny house was delivered, it was dropped on the Jenkinsville side of the county line. A press release issued by Fairfield County states that ‘officials’ notified the county that the tiny house had been placed in an inappropriate location. It did not say if those were Jenkinsville officials or county officials.
Jacobs told The Voice that his intent was to build a foundation on the Fairfield side of the county line as permitted, and then move the building onto the foundation. He said that if the building had been dropped on the site, he couldn’t build the foundation.
Stop-Work Order
The county issued a stop-work order even though Jacobs said he had not yet begun work on the foundation or any other aspect of the project. In response to the stop-work order, Jacobs said he scooted his tiny house over the county line fairly squarely over an unmaintained dirt driveway and within feet of the spot designated by his approved site plan.
The unmaintained driveway runs about 250 feet or so beyond the tiny house, past two other properties – the one Jacobs sold with the renovated house and an unoccupied lot Ginyard purchased after his squabble began with Jacobs – and ends at a property where a mobile home sits on a peninsula in the Lake Monticello Reservoir. Only two of the three properties are occupied.
Summons Issued
On April 10, the county issued a summons for Jacobs to appear in Magistrate Court because county officials said the relocation site was still not on the original site plan approved for the structure.
On April 11, Jacobs received via email a site plan from the county planning director, that Jacobs said he had not previously been aware of.
“It was not the site plan I submitted for approval on Feb. 2, 2025 and that was approved and permitted on Feb. 25,” he said.
The site plan Jacobs received from the planning director on April 11 requires a 25’ sideyard setback from the county line even though the county zoning ordinance requires only a 7.5 sideyard setback for dwellings in R-1 zoning.
When The Voice contacted the Fairfield County administrator about the difference in side setbacks in the two site plans, the county administrator wrote: “Minimum side setbacks in the R-1 zoning for residential uses is 7.5ft. This is only the minimum, but property owners can reflect on the site plan distances greater than this as the site plan reflects the intended placement of structures from property lines, not just the minimum setback requirements. The building permit was issued for the site plan which reflects the structure was to be placed 25 ft. and 35 ft. from the property lines. At this time, no other site plans have been approved for this permit.”
Where’s the County Line?
Exacerbating the situation, Jacobs said county officials say they are not sure exactly where the county’s boundary line is between the county and the Town of Jenkinsville.
On April 28, Ginyard appeared before a Fairfield County Council meeting beseeching council’s help in making Jacobs move his building off the dirt driveway that he said blocks his relative’s access to their homes. He also said a water main sits beneath the driveway where the tiny house sits, and that the tiny house is obstructing emergency vehicles if there should be an emergency regarding the water main.
“We have a gentleman who don’t live in Fairfield County to come in and block a road – Lakeview Drive – that has been serving over 100 years in Fairfield County. It goes to where my grandfather (my father’s father) and grandmother lived. Now, he comes in from Saluda County – no ties to Fairfield County – buys a piece of land …he bought it from my first cousin,” Ginyard continued. “Are we setting a precedent where I can come in to town, buy a piece of property and block a road that’s 100 years old?”
Ginyard chastised county officials, asking, “And you can’t do nothing about it?”
Not a Road
An email that Jacobs received from the Fairfield County Public Works department states that, “472 Lakeview Drive is not found in the Fairfield County Transportation Committee Road List, and is not subject to maintenance by Fairfield County.”
“It is not a road; it is not an easement; it is an old private driveway that extends off Lakeview Drive onto my property. This driveway is not the only access for the other three properties,” Jacobs said. “There’s another driveway that runs along the outside edge of my Fairfield County lot that provides access to the other three properties. They are not without access,” he said. “They don’t even seem to be very upset over this. It’s Mr. Ginyard who is upset about the driveway.”
Emergency Access
Jacobs shared with The Voice a document in which a Fairfield County Sheriff’s Deputy stated that he and another deputy walked the other driveway.
“Any emergency vehicle can gain access with ease as well as homeowners can still gain access to their properties,” the deputy stated.
In response to Ginyard’s address to county council on April 28, Fairfield County Administrator Vic Carpenter assured Ginyard that the county’s emergency vehicles could still access the properties up the driveway from the tiny house.
“In the event of an emergency, county staff will be there. Nothing will stop us from getting help to our citizens,” Carpenter said.
Where’s the Water Main?
In addition to not knowing exactly where the Fairfield County line is located, county officials also want to know where the Jenkinsville water main is located on Jacobs’ Jenkinsville lot.
“At this time, the property owner [Jacobs] has been notified that he needs to have the property surveyed to delineate the jurisdiction boundary lines for the Town of Jenkinsville for the location of the utility easement and submit an updated site plan reflecting minimum setback requirements per County Ordinance No. 599. Until this is determined and submitted, Fairfield County cannot provide any further details. Any related questions pertaining to the matter at this time should be addressed to the Mayor of Jenkinsville.”
In an interview with The Voice, Ginyard insisted that a water main sits underneath the driveway the tiny house sits on.
“The main water line that goes up that road to feed five houses, he’s got his tiny house sitting there,” Ginyard said. “If that line breaks in that area, we can’t get it repaired because he’s got that stuff there.”
Jacobs says Ginyard has presented no proof that Jacobs’ tiny house is sitting atop a water main.
“I’ve called 811 to find out where the water main is, and was told that only the Jenkinsville Water Company can provide that information,” Jacobs said. “It’s a private water company and is not regulated by the Public Service Commission.”
Ginyard, who is head of the water company board, has not, at press time, marked where the main is buried.
Jacobs’ court date for a judge to hear the details of his alleged violation of a stop-work order is tentatively scheduled for May 28, in the Fairfield Magistrate’s Court in Winnsboro. Jacobs has requested a trial by jury.
