The Post and Courier quoted statements from a City of Charleston spokesman as to why they will oppose giving residents of the unincorporated area of James Island an opportunity to vote to rejoin the Town.
He cited two principles Mayor Tecklenburg applies to annexations. The first was that annexation should not create donut holes.
House Bill 4076 would not create any new donut hole on James Island. There are already donut holes on James Island. Each area of unincorporated territory on James Island is surrounded by one or more municipalities.
If donut holes are defined as areas of unincorporated territory surrounded by a municipality, then if the voters of the unincorporated area choose to rejoin the Town, then there will be no donut holes on James Island. All territory on James Island would be in either the City of Charleston, the City of Folly Beach, or the Town of James Island.
Of course, the result will be almost exactly identical to 2011, and what exists on much of James Island today--a very complicated boundary between the City of Charleston and the Town of James Island with some neighborhoods in the City of Charleston while others are mostly in the Town but include some homes in the City of Charleston.
This patchwork of jurisdiction does create problems. But from the City's point of view, the patchwork would not change. It is just that the breaks in City jurisdiction would be areas where the Town has jurisdiction rather than sometimes areas where the Town has jurisdiction and sometimes unincorporated areas solely under County and JIPSD jurisdiction.
And whose fault is this patchwork of jurisdictions? It is entirely the fault of the City of Charleston. Rather than annex in a systematic way, so that new areas were entirely in the City of Charleston, they ran down rivers and streets to pick up properties here and there. When that was forbidden, they began to annex long strings of properties running into unincorporated areas, leaving behind areas that were unincorporated and mostly now make up the Town of James Island. This approach to annexation created donut holes and odd shaped areas of City jurisdiction that remain difficult to service.
If the City of Charleston finds it too difficult to provide services to individual houses in mostly Town neighborhoods or else some neighborhood that is down a creek stuck in the middle of the Town, there is a simple solution. City Council can pass an ordinance to adjust the boundary. I am confident that Town Council will do the same and take these areas off the City's hands. Oddly enough, such a boundary adjustment cannot be made with the County. While it is simple for municipalities to adjust boundaries, it is almost impossible to remove an area from municipal jurisdiction back to unincorporated status.
The City of Charleston has an obvious benefit from the legal status quo. Annexations that create donut holes surrounded by the City of Charleston create an area where only the City of Charleston can annex. HB 4076 would create an exception so that the Town of James Island can annex areas surrounded by the City of Charleston that are in the James Island Public Service District. That includes all the unincorporated area on James Island and all the areas that were in the Town in 2011.
So, what the City of Charleston gives up is their hope that one day the unincorporated areas on James Island will annex to the City of Charleston and their crazy quilt annexations on James Island will no longer create difficulties in providing services in those parts of James Island. If, instead, the voters of those areas choose to return to the Town, then the City will never be able to annex those areas. Rather than a status quo where the City of Charleston has blocked everyone else from annexing in those areas, it will not be able to annex any part of any area on James Island.
I should mention that this does not absolutely prevent the City of Charleston from expanding on James Island. I don't want to hold out any false hope, but a merger of the Town of James Island into the City of Charleston is possible under existing South Carolina law. It would require ordinances by both City Council and Town Council, though I cannot imagine that any future James Island Town Council would support such action without overwhelming support in a referendum in the Town. I know I wouldn't.
Of course, the City could solve all of its James Island problems by agreement with the Town of James Island to adjust the boundaries between the City and Town. I would suggest Charleston Harbor, the Wappoo Cut, and the Stono River. I can well imagine that the City would never consider such an adjustment without overwhelming support in a referendum in the City portions of James Island. More modest rationalizations of borders between the City and Town are possible, though I imagine any such adjustments would be politically difficult on both sides. Again, adjustments are legally possible between municipalities but nearly impossible between a municipality and an unincorporated area.
More realistically, I think that the way to solve the problems created by the City's past annexation practices on James Island is continued cooperation between the City and the Town. Because we are both municipalities, such cooperation can work better than what is possible between the City and unincorporated areas. Rather than hold out for a few, gradual annexations by people in unincorporated areas, just letting them join the Town and working together to avoid waste and duplication is the best way to move forward.
Mayor Tecklenburg's second principle is that all annexations should be voluntary by individual property owners. I have sympathy with this view, however, that is exactly what creates patterns of piecemeal annexations and inefficiencies in the provision of services. Perhaps because South Carolina law requires that new municipalities be formed by majority vote, I believe it is entirely appropriate for annexation to occur by election. There is nothing that prevents the City of Charleston from organizing annexation elections in the unincorporated areas of James Island. All that the Town is requesting is that those voters have a chance to vote to return to the Town too.
In 2011, all parts of James Island that were not in the City of Charleston or the City of Folly Beach became unincorporated. The Town was gone. In 2012, most of the voters in the unincorporated area of James Island had an opportunity to vote to form a new Town. The result was 85% in favor. About 1/3 of the voters in that unincorporated area, nearly all of whom had been in the Town the year before, were not allowed to vote and could not join. All we are asking is to correct that injustice and give them a chance to vote as well.
Let us have this chance to vote, and if the voters want to stay unincorporated, then we can just move forward the best we can. I think any effort by the City to block a vote is a mistake. James Islanders are very persistent.
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