House Bill 3661 will come up before a subcommittee of the South Carolina House of Representatives Judicial Committee today, Wednesday, March 20. This bill will give the former residents of the Town of James Island an opportunity to return. Approximately 45% of those who were in the Town in 2011 are currently in the unincorporated area of James Island. Ever since the Town was reincorporated in 2012 for the fourth and final time, we have worked to give all of our former residents an opportunity to return.
Judiciary Committee Chair Peter McCoy is shepherding this bill through the South Carolina House. Representative McCoy lives in the Town and represents nearly all Town residents in the South Carolina House. He also represents many of those who live in the unincorporated area of James Island. Please thank him if you get a chance.
In other news, Senator Chip Campsen has filed companion legislation, Senate Bill 669. Senator Campsen represents the area of James Island south of Fort Johnson Road in the South Carolina Senate. That includes Secessionville, the Grimball Road Community, the Battery Island Community, the Sol Legare Community and Oak Island. Please thank him for helping give residents of those neighborhoods an opportunity to rejoin the Town.
If the bill becomes law, then the Town will be able to annex properties that would be contiguous (next) to the Town if it wasn't for an area of James Island that the City of Charleston has annexed. Entire neighborhoods can annex if the neighborhood would be contiguous to the Town if it weren't for areas annexed by the City of Charleston. For example, Laurel Park, Azalea Park, the Grimball Road Community, or Secessionville are separated from areas in the Town by areas annexed by the City of Charleston. To return to the Town, 25% of the registered voters in the neighborhood would have to sign an annexation petition. That would trigger an annexation election. If the majority of those voting chose to rejoin the Town, then the neighborhood would be returned. Step by step, this process would allow the Town to be reunited.
The Town has made progress in this legislative session because the James Island Public Service District (JIPSD) Commission voted for a resolution in favor of HB 3661. The view in Columbia was that the JIPSD Commission was opposed to the effort to give the former residents of the Town an opportunity to return. They considered that relevant because the bill allows the Town to annex properties that are in the JIPSD. But after the change in the JIPSD Commission last November, we have been able to make progress in Columbia.
The City of Charleston's lobbyist in Columbia reported to Representative McCoy that Mayor Tecklenburg plans to attend the judiciary subcommittee meeting to oppose the bill. The Coastal Conservation League is also working against the bill.
The Coastal Conservation League has claimed that the bill would allow the City of North Charleston to annex areas in West Ashley by jumping over a narrow strip of area annexed by the City of Charleston near Highway 61. They say that this is because the City of North Charleston and the parcels in West Ashley are in the Charleston County Parks and Recreation Commission and the Charleston County Airport Authority. As has been pointed out to representatives of the Coastal Conservation League (repeatedly,) this is not correct because the bill only applies to municipalities that are entirely within a special purpose district, and the City of North Charleston extends into Dorchester County and is not entirely within either of those special purpose districts. Further, the bill only applies to special purpose districts with elected governing bodies. Both of those special purpose districts have boards appointed by the Charleston County Legislative Delegation. Finally, the bill only provides for annexation across breaks in the contiguity of a special purpose district, and there are no breaks in the contiguity of those special purpose districts.
The City of Charleston's effort to prevent the City of North Charleston from annexing areas in West Ashley failed in circuit court because the judge ruled that the City of Charleston lacked standing to challenge the annexations. The City of Charleston plans to appeal that decision. Regardless of how that turns out, the situation on James Island is very different. The Town is entirely included in the James Island Public Service District (JIPSD) and the JIPSD has an elected governing body. Areas that the City of Charleston has annexed on James Island have been removed from the JIPSD. The City has created breaks in the contiguity of the JIPSD. The bill would allow the Town to annex properties across those breaks.
The bottom line is that the City of Charleston has surrounded areas of James Island and under current law, it has the exclusive right to annex in the areas that have been surrounded. If it does not choose to annex the areas, then they will remain unincorporated. However, every legislative session bills have been filed that will allow a municipality that has fully surrounded an area to annex it regardless of the wishes of the voters or property owners of the area. I have asked Representative McCoy to block that legislation multiple times since I have been Mayor. If passed, that legislation would allow the City to force those who were in the Town to become part of the City of Charleston.
Since people in all of those areas can annex to the City of Charleston already, HB 3661 and SB 479 also gives people in those areas the option to annex to the Town of James Island. Of course, they can also remain unincorporated. I think it is a fair and reasonable approach.
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