James Island Planning

Work on Island-wide Planning continues.

Charleston County did not adopt a moratorium.   They won't.    James Island is mostly in Councilman Qualey's district but a portion is in Councilwoman Johnson's district.   While Councilman Qualey supports the moratorium, Councilwoman Johnson opposes it.   The majority of County Council is not going to make such a drastic change in a member of Council's district when that member opposes it.

The largest commercial parcel in the unincorporated portion of James Island that allows for apartments is the site of the Lively.   A townhouse development has been proposed for the site.   Even if a moratorium were passed at this point, that project will likely go through.   Under County zoning rules, the project is a "use of right."

At this point, it is not clear how a moratorium by the County would do much good.

The James Island Intergovernmental Council voted to have representatives of the planning departments of the Town of James Island, the City of Charleston, Charleston County and the City of Folly Beach meet and make a proposal for Joint James Island Planning Committee.

Before any meeting was held, the City of Charleston proposed that the Committee be made up of one elected official and one planning staff member from each jurisdiction.

I agreed.

However, Charleston County rejected the proposal and instead proposed that the Rethink Folly Road Steering Committee be tasked with planning and zoning issues for James Island.

I agreed.

However, the Berkeley-Charleston-Dorchester Council of governments, which funded the Rethink Folly Road study and still plays a coordinating role for the steering committee rejected this expansion of mission.

Charleston County proposed that the Folly Road Overlay Committee be tasked with this effort.  That committee had been made up of representatives of the planning staff of Charleston County, the City of Charleston, and the City of Folly Beach and two members of the Planning Commission of the Town of James Island.   The two members of the James Island Planning Commission that were on Folly Road Overlay Committee are no longer on the Planning Commission.

 I disagreed.

I think that the Town should be treated like the other jurisdictions and be represented by our planning staff.   When the Folly Road Overlay Committee was set up, we had not hired a planning director yet, and Charleston County's Planning staff acted as the Town's planning staff.   Now we have a planning director, so I thought that we should be treated like the other jurisdictions.

So, it appears that the Joint James Island Planning Committee is made up of representatives of the planning staff of the four jurisdictions.

They had one meeting so far.

They are starting with the Folly Road Overlay.

It is very likely that the City of Charleston will adopt the Folly Road Overlay, but they will be insisting on some modifications.   The most positive news is that they are interested in a substantial reduction in the density allowed for residential development in commercial zones.

There appears little interest on the part of the County to make any changes in their zoning in the Folly Road area.  However, they continue to participate in the meetings and are generally willing to cooperate with the other jurisdictions.

Any proposals from the Joint James Island Planning Committee will come before the Town's Planning Commission for a recommendation and then go to Town Council for a final decision--at least as it applies in the Town's jurisdiction.