The budget calls for spending $621,000 next year for design work. The actual construction is to be nearly $6.3 million. They plan to partly fund this by selling the existing Signal Point Road facility for nearly $900,000. However, from their budget it appears that most of this will be funded by borrowing.
The Signal Point Road Facility has the JIPSD administrative offices, including the Commissioner's meeting room. There are also parking and repair facilities for garbage trucks as well as the facilities for the storage and repair of waste water trucks and equipment.
At the meeting, Commissioner McMillan asked whether the zoning of the JIPSD's property on Dills Bluff Road is consistent with these uses. The current facility on Signal Point Road is in an area zoned for Industrial purposes. The Commissioners were told that while part of the parcel is zoned commercial, most of it is zoned residential. The representatives from Liollio said that one of the first steps if the Commissioners choose to go forward would be to approach the Town of James Island to discuss zoning. Commissioner Waring said that she was sure that getting a change in zoning would be easy.
Immediately behind the shopping center, lies a parcel belonging to the JIPSD that is a bit more than one acre. It is zoned Community Commercial. Government office buildings are allowed in Community Commercial districts. Further down Dills Bluff and adjacent to the back of the Whitehouse Plantation neighborhood is about five acres zoned residential. Nothing currently at Signal Point Road can be placed in that area without a rezoning. The James Island Planning Commission would make a recommendation regarding any rezoning. There would be a public hearing, and Town Council would have two readings (votes) on an ordinance changing the zoning of one or both parcels.
Another interesting element of the presentation is that the proposed facility on Dills Bluff might include 3,000 square feet of extra office space to lease out. Commissioner Waring asked about what type of businesses would be in this leased area. JIPSD Administrator Wise said that they were planning to lease it to "other government entities on James Island." I am not sure exactly what government entities they have in mind. While Commissioner Brown-Crouch has suggested to me in general terms that we should have a joint facility shared by the JIPSD and the Town, and I have said I am open to the idea, the Town has heard nothing specific from JIPSD Chairman David Engelman, Administrator Robert Wise, or Liollio. Perhaps they plan to lease the office space to the City of Charleston.
What do you think? Should the JIPSD spend nearly $7 million to move from Signal Point Road to Dills Bluff Road? Should the Town rezone the property on Dills Bluff Road from residential to industrial? Is a more modest project, moving only the administrative offices and meeting room more reasonable? If they do intend a shared facility with the Town, should the JIPSD discuss the matter with us? (We had a joint Town Council/JIPSD Commissioner meeting last month, but the Commissioners didn't bring this up.)
Please let the Commissioners know. They are having a public hearing on the budget on June 9th. Next year's budget includes over $600,000 for this project and then more than $6 million the next year.
Keep digging Mayor..
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