City planners present mixed uses for Johns Island land

A neighborhood. A school. Retail shops and a nursing home. When the city of Charleston rezoned a nearly 900-acre property on Johns Island last year, it blocked the owners' plans to build 800 or 900 homes. The city vowed to help the owners find another valuable use for the land. Christopher Morgan, director of Charleston’s Planning Division, discusses the varied zonings of land surrounding an 890-acre property that was the subject of three days of public meetings last week. The property owners have sued the city for down-zoning the property. After holding three meetings last week at the Berkeley Electric Cooperative Office on Johns Island to garner the public's ideas, the city is recommending not one use but many. "It's a big improvement over what the city downsized it to last year," said property owner David Simmons. The potential uses bring the property's value closer to what it was before the rezoning, and could prove beneficial to Johns Island residents by creating jobs and bringing amenities closer, thus keeping cars off roads, he said. Property owner Bruce Rawl was less enthusiastic. "We have no individual property rights," he said. "I shouldn't have to tell you what I'm doing with my land." A lawsuit in which the owners sued the city for any loss in property value remains unsettled. The design firm hired by the city presented multiple plans for the property, near the intersection of River and Plowground roads, at the third and final meeting last Thursday. The plans, based on input from the public, the city and the property owners, included a variety of uses, including residential, civic or institutional, small-scale retail and economic development. About half of the property would be open space. The city's goal is to preserve as much land as possible while providing enough added value for the owners of the property, said Gary Collins, landscape architect with Design Works. Up to 40 people showed up at each of the public meetings, and opinions varied from wanting to keep the land rural to thinking the public shouldn't have a say in what the owners do with the property. "There's something radically wrong with this," said Margaret Kerr, a longtime resident of Johns Island. "As an American, I feel there's too many rules and regulations. While I think it's sensible to plan well, I still think the owners ought to have more say in the development than these people." Paul Martin, another Johns Island resident, said he would like the property to return to the agricultural zoning it had before it was annexed into the city about 20 years ago. He is concerned about the development's effects on the environment and the increased traffic it would bring to already crowded roads. In July, City Council rezoned the property after learning of the owners' development plan, because the land is outside the urban growth boundary, which defines the end of suburban development. The rezoning decreased the allowable number of homes from about 1,600 to about 200. City staff and property owners will discuss the options that came out of the public meetings in the coming weeks, said Christopher Morgan, director of Charleston's Planning Division. If the owners agree to the mix of uses, the property must be rezoned to a Planned Unit Development, or PUD. That process would give the public more opportunities for input.

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