Councilman: Vocal minority outshouting the proponents
JAMES ISLAND -- A silent majority supports completing Interstate 526 over
James and Johns islands, but a vocal minority opposed to the project has
hijacked the public hearing process, a James Island councilman said
Wednesday.
About 50 protesters dominated a council meeting Tuesday night when a
resolution concerning I-526 was on the table.
Opponents and proponents of the Interstate 526 project turned out Tuesday to
give input at Charleston County Council’s meeting.
"We're only hearing from the vocal minority. I'm hearing from a lot of
people who want this (highway)," Councilman Carter McMillan said.
The town of James Island has 19,000 residents, he noted.
McMillan said he will go door-to-door today through Sunday asking island
residents their opinion on completing I-526.
"I want to go out there and find out," he said.
If built as planned by the S.C. Department of Transportation, the completion
of I-526 would be seven miles of four-lane road across the islands from
Savannah Highway to Folly Road.
Town Council on Tuesday rejected a resolution offered by Mayor Bill Woolsey
that in part reflected McMillan's idea of surveying more people about their
opinion of completing the highway.
"The town supports a public process to properly and thoroughly gauge public
sentiment regarding alternatives for the Mark Clark Expressway project," it
said.
McMillan seconded Woolsey's motion. Leonard Blank, Robin Welch and Karen
Wilder-Smalls voted no. The opposition saw the resolution as an abandonment
of the previous Town Council's resolution rejecting the I-526 completion.
Before the vote, mostly opponents spoke for two hours. Johns Island resident
Marjorie Woodruff, an I-526 opponent, said the project's supporters should
realize that its future is being decided in a democracy.
"If you are silent, you have no vote," Woodruff said.
Amy Fabri of James Island said the opposition represents the feelings of
most people.
"This is a vocal, passionate majority of James and Johns islands residents
who say no to this project," she said.
People who support the road should speak up, Woolsey said.
"I do think that people who want 526 completed across the James Island town
limits need to directly contact members of the James Island Town Council,"
he said in an e-mail.
Charleston County Council considered a scientific poll to see if county
residents favor finishing I-526. Council Chairman Teddie Pryor suggested
that a $22,000 poll of 1,000 county residents would help council members
decide what to do next.
Council has yet to vote on the idea. He could not be reached for comment
Wednesday.
Charleston Mayor Joe Riley has said that a "silent majority" supports
completing I-526. "When people really study it, they see the advantage of
it," he said Wednesday.
The opposition outnumbered supporters at state-sponsored public hearings on
the highway in the fall. Of 1,657 who spoke, 1,033 were against the
extension.
"It's not a large amount of people when you are talking about the entire
Lowcountry," McMillan said.
County Council voted this spring not to build the $489 million project, but
members backtracked on that decision last month after the S.C.
Transportation Infrastructure Bank board declared the county in default and
ordered it to repay $11.6 million.
That May 17 decision satisfied the bank, which sent the county a letter
recently saying it was no longer in default. However, that still leaves the
question of what to do next regarding the project.
Supporters cite better traffic flow, safety and hurricane evacuation.
Opponents worry about environmental damage and irreparable harm to the
character of the islands. Some opponents fear losing their homes or
livelihoods because of the highway.
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