IMPORTANT!
- Attend and speak at the County Council meeting on June 18th @ 6:30 pm. The meeting will include a public hearing for a $5.4 billion Transportation Sales Tax Referendum for the November election.
- Attend and speak at the County Board of Zoning Appeals meeting on July 1 @ 4:00 pm. The agenda includes a dirt/sand pit on lower River Road across from the County Park.
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At their June 4th meeting, County Council voted to approve first reading of a $5.4 billion, 25-year Sales Tax Referendum, which they refer to as TST3. The vote was 6 to 3 for approval, with Councilmembers Darby, Kobrovsky and Wehrman voting against the ordinance. You can read the wording of the referendum ordinance here.
Unfortunately, there has been only limited discussions at the County Council meetings regarding some fundamental underlying issues with the proposed tax. These issues include:
- The list of "Other Projects" is underfunded by over $370 million. The stated "plan" is to make up this shortfall with hoped-for state or federal funding. Is "hope" a responsible approach for using taxpayer money?
- What happens to other needed projects the municipalities requested? Will they have to wait 25 years before they are worked on?
- In the next 25 years other much-needed projects will arise. How much contingency funding has been set aside to address these projects?
- Why is there no funding allocated for transportation resilience? Surely the County has looked at the significant costs to raise roads and bridges throughout the county due to the rising waters we are even now experiencing, let alone over the next 25 years.
- The projected funding for the Mark Clark Extension (aka 526) from just this referendum alone would be almost $2.5B*. Is this the best use of 46% of all referendum tax funds or should these funds be used to make significant impacts across the entire County? [* $2,475,623,724: $1,877,324,000 for the project and $648,299,724 for financing costs.]
- Why is the Greenbelt Program being underfunded? Land is only getting more expensive, yet the percentage of funding continues to decrease with each successive TST. From 17%, to 10%, and now 8%.
- Why is CARTA being underfunded? At the very least, a second bus rapid transit system should be included.
You have an opportunity to express your concerns tomorrow, June 18th, at 6:30 pm when County Council holds a public hearing for the referendum . Sign up to speak. Your voice is needed! Note that an unlimited number of speakers are allowed during public hearings.
The meeting will be held at 4045 Bridge View Drive, North Charleston. The meeting will also be live streamed here.
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City Resilience: The City of Charleston is currently developing their Comprehensive, Integrated Water Plan (CWIP). They are also updating their zoning ordinances to reflect their latest Comprehensive Plan. Both of these are key to implement the elevation-based-zoning objectives of the Dutch Dialogues. A driving force behind much of this effort has been Johns Island resident Dale Morris, the City's Chief Resilience Officer. Thus it was disheartening to learn that the City and Mr. Morris are parting ways. Does this mean the needed changes to the CWIP and the zoning ordinances will be watered down to satisfy special interests? Time will tell.
County Comprehensive Plan: The County's revised comp plan, including the removal of density bonuses in certain rural areas, is now online here. It is instructive to read the County's vision statement in this document:
"Charleston County will promote and protect the quality of life for all residents by preserving and protecting our natural, cultural, and historical resources, prioritizing resilience and sustainability, ensuring that existing and future development is coordinated with transportation and other community facilities on the local and regional level, addressing housing affordability issues, and maintaining the location of the Urban Growth Boundary (UGB)."
Residential Building Moratorium: A building moratorium in historic preservation districts came before County Council for first reading on June 4. This moratorium would strengthen these historic communities by relieving development pressures on them while additional protections are put in place. County Council voted 5 to 3 for a two year moratorium. A ten year moratorium had originally been proposed. Councilmembers Boykin, Moody and Sass voted against the moratorium. Councilmember Honeycutt was absent. Boykin said he first wanted to hear from the Beefield Community on James Island. Second reading will be on June 18th.
Strengthening the Urban Growth Boundary (UGB): At the urging of Councilmember Boykin, County Council at their June 4th meeting directed staff to look into ways to strengthen the UGB. Anything that can be done to strengthen the UGB and the rural zoning outside it are welcome and needed changes.
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Bohicket Road: June 14th was the last day to supply inputs to the County on the Main Road Corridor Segment C (Bohicket Road) project. There has been a lot of concern from the community regarding the amount of land under conservation easement that would be needed (including about 8% of the Angel Oak Preserve), the impact to the businesses at the Maybank-Main-Bohicket intersection, and the lack of location information for the trees proposed to be cut down. The next step will be for the County to tabulate and publish the responses. They said they will then hold another public meeting.
Riverland Drive: While it's not on Johns Island, may of us use Riverland Drive on James Island. At the June 13th County Council Meeting, staff gave an update on the plans to improve the Riverland Drive-Central Park Road intersection and to add sidewalks along Riverland Drive. You can view the presentation here and watch the proceedings here. The process to develop the latest plans has parallels to what is now occurring on Bohicket Road. Specifically, after significant community protests against the large amount of property that would be taken and the large number of trees that would be cut down, the County went back and developed a more community sensitive plan. Councilmembers Darby and Pryor were still opposed to the revised plan due to the continued impact on property owners.
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The following are developments that are coming before or have recently come before City or County boards, commissions and committees.
Lower River Road Dirt/Sand Pit: The July 1st agenda for the County Board of Zoning Appeals includes a special exception request for a resource extraction/mining operation (aka a dirt pit or sand pit) at 3621 Bonche Road (TMS # 2150000190). The location is just off lower River Road across from the County Park. Written comments are due by noon on Jun 28. Details can be found here.
Car Storage Facility on Fickling Hill Road: Charleston Toy Box plans to build a facility with 83 car storage units for "a wide variety of toys from luxury and exotic cars to classic motorcycles and boats". You can read more about it here. The location is on an outparcel (TMS # 2820000332) of the Saint John's Lakes development. It is located next to the Island Equine Clinic. Since this is likely an allowable use under the Saint John's Lakes Planned Development, the development would not need approval from the Planning Commission or County Council.
School Bus Parking Area: On June 6, the City Technical Review Committee held a review of a parking area for the new Elementary School located on upper River Road (TMS # 3120000050). The site would have 32 parking spots for buses, an office, training building, and 40 car parking spots. You can view the site plan here. The latest update on the overall school project can be found here.
Bees Ferry Road: It's not on Johns Island, but the traffic from the large amount of development occurring here will certainly impact us at the Main and 17 intersection. It only took ten years from the widening of Bees Ferry for a large number of apartments, townhomes and fast food restaurants to line that road. This is yet another example of large roads equals large developments, which causes more traffic congestion, which requires the need for larger roads. Rinse and repeat.
Note: Go here for the County GIS and input the TMS number to see the location of the above developments.
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Please put these events on your calendar.
Jun 18 @ 6:30pm: The agenda for this County Council meeting includes second readings for both a building moratorium in historic preservation districts and a transportation sales tax referendum. It also includes a public hearing for the transportation sales tax referendum. The meeting will be held at 4045 Bridge View Drive, North Charleston. The meeting will also be live streamed here.
Jun 19 to 21: Early voting from 8:30 am to 5:00 pm for the runoff election for the Charleston County Sheriff Republican Primary. You can vote at Essex Village Church of Christ located at 736 Savage Road, West Ashley.
Jun 25: Election day voting from 7:00 am to 7:00 pm for the runoff election for the Charleston County Sheriff Republican Primary.
Jul 1 @ 4:00 pm: The agenda for the County Board of Zoning Appeals includes a special exception request for a resource extraction/mining operation (aka a dirt/sand pit) on River Road. Written comments are due by noon on Jun 28. Details can be found here.
Jul 26: Last day to summit applications for the summer cycle of the County Greenbelt program.
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Development Trends
Infrastructure
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Published on: Jun 17, 2024
Subject: Tax Referendum Public Hearing | City Zoning Rewrite | Lower River Road Dirt/Sand Pit | Car Storage Facility on Fickling Hill Road
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Publisher: John Zlogar
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