About 300 attend project workshops
About 300 people concerned about the development of Johns Island
participated in workshops this past week with Charleston's planning
officials, and the comments they left behind made clear what they believe is
at stake.
"Please keep our live oak canopy," said one of the comments on a yellow
sticky note, stuck to a map showing the tree-shaded roads of Johns Island.
"Where will the wildlife live when the forest habitats have been destroyed?"
another note said.
"Do we have the infrastructure, especially the schools, to support this
growth?" said another.
There were dozens of comments denouncing the planned extension of Interstate
526 across Johns Island from West Ashley to James Island, and a scattering
of notes that welcomed more development.
"More urban sprawl please," said one comment. "Increase my values."
With rural Johns Island now the focus of suburban development, and hundreds
of homes already under construction, the city is working on a new zoning
plan for the sea island.
The workshops concluded with a presentation Saturday. The focus of city
planning is the land within the "urban growth boundary," a limit on
suburban-style growth recognized by both the city and Charleston County.
The wedge-shaped area approximately runs along Maybank Highway from the
Stono River to Bohicket Road, bounded on the north by Brownswood Road and on
the south by a line between Plow Ground and Cane Slash roads. The growth
area comprises about 15 percent of the land on Johns Island, but is larger
than the Charleston peninsula.
City planners say growth within the boundary is inevitable, but that with
good planning, Johns Island can maintain its rural character and manage
increasing traffic. Proposals call for developing more street connections,
rather than massively widening existing roads and intersections, and
creating a series of three "gathering place" town centers along Maybank
Highway.
One challenge has been finding a way to preserve the oak-canopied two-lane
roads that are emblematic of Johns Island, while preparing for six lanes'
worth of traffic on major arteries like Maybank Highway, as it approaches
River Road from James Island.
"We have all this land, and very few roads," said Jacob Lindsey of Keane and
Co., a consultant to the city. "That's what we think is causing all the
traffic problems." He said a solution for Maybank Highway could involve
creating two new roads leading to River Road from James Island and the
planned connection with I-526. That way, road-widening projects that would
remove the tree canopy could be avoided, Lindsey said.
The I-526 extension is "an incredibly divisive issue," said city of
Charleston Planning Division Director Christopher Morgan, but I-526 has been
in the city's long-range road plans and there are no plans to revisit that
decision. City staff and consultants believe growth is coming, with or
without I-526, so the focus has been planning for that growth, he said.
One comment received by the city during the workshops called the I-526 plan
"the alligator in the bathtub" that no one wants to discuss. A wall map
showing the proposed highway route attracted more than twice the comments of
any other. "I-526 hurts more people than it helps," read a typical comment.
Josh Martin, director of Charleston's Department of Planning, Preservation
and Economic Innovation, said his hope is to create a zoning plan specific
to Johns Island, a "commonsense zoning" that would replace the combination
of 44 zoning classifications currently used by the city.
The next step is for the city's planning staff to craft proposed zoning and
development regulations. Morgan said a public presentation of the result
will likely be held in April.
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