City Council's actions cloud plans for developing land near Angel Oak

In a move that some compared to high-stakes poker, Charleston City Council on Tuesday rebuffed a development plan for 52 acres of land surrounding Angel Oak Park on Johns Island, the sale of which is central to the bankruptcy reorganization plan of a nonprofit rural health care provider. Developers agreed last year to buy the land for $3.5 million from Sea Island Comprehensive Health Care, and a deadline to complete the sale is days away. If they walk away now because of the city's tough zoning rules, then Charleston intends to borrow that amount and buy the land itself, under a plan by Mayor Joe Riley. Lawyers for the developer warned Riley and City Council members that a bankruptcy court judge could order Sea Island shut down and its assets liquidated if the sale to River Birch Development is not completed. They said bankruptcy laws don't allow the city to simply take the developer's place. "I have to tell you, you're gambling with the future of Sea Island," said Truett Nettles II, a lawyer for River Birch. Riley's proposal to buy the land, and City Council's agreement to approve further restrictions on development there, followed Monday night's approval by the city Planning Commission of development requirements that River Birch had agreed to follow. "Obviously, Mr. Nettles represents developers who want to buy this property and do damage to Angel Oak, in my opinion," said the mayor. The land runs from Maybank Highway to Bohicket Road, near a key intersection on fast-developing Johns Island. The small city park that is home to the famed Angel Oak, said to be the oldest tree east of the Mississippi, is surrounded on three sides by the land that's up for sale. The parcel also abuts a nursing home and offices owned by Sea Island, an organization founded during the Civil Rights era that provides home health care, child care, programs for the elderly and other services on Edisto, James, Johns and Wadmalaw islands, and in Hollywood.repay creditors, including the Internal Revenue Service and employees who are owed back wages. It has continued to operate under bankruptcy protection. River Birch's attorneys insisted the developers' plan for a grocery store, shops and 285 housing units would provide protection for the tree. The plan included 7 acres of conservation land, buffers of 75 feet or more around the park, and an agreement to consult with a city-approved tree expert and hydrologist. The city's planning staff, and Riley, wanted more. The mayor said that if the staff recommendations were not approved, future visitors to the Angel Oak could find a "desecrated space" where the back of a grocery store or a townhouse development would be visible through the trees. City Council agreed, on a 6-3 vote, to require at least 150 feet of undeveloped land around Angel Oak Park, larger undeveloped areas along Angel Oak Road, and required that the detailed plans be approved by the Commercial Corridor Design Review Board, even for buildings that aren't on the main roads. "I'm trying to weigh some zoning changes against a total disaster," said Councilman Henry Fishburne, who, along with councilmen Robert George and James Lewis, voted against the restrictions, saying they feared the action could result in Sea Island being shut down by the bankruptcy court. Council members who approved the zoning restrictions generally agreed with Riley's logic, that Sea Island's bankruptcy case would be protected by the city's backup offer to buy the land. Councilman Wendell Gilliard reasoned that two offers would surely be better than one. Councilmen Larry Shirley, Paul Tinkler and Jimmy Gallant were not present for the vote. Dozens of Sea Island residents filled City Council chambers, urging officials to make sure its actions would not jeopardize Sea Island Comprehensive Health Care's existence. Susan Smythe, another lawyer for River Birch, suggested it was unfair of the city to play hardball with the development rules -- making them stricter than a previous city-approved plan in some ways -- so close to the deal's closing and consummation of Sea Island's bankruptcy plan. "A number of years have gone by where the city could have condemned as much land as they wanted around the tree," she said. Riley called the city's quick decision to potentially spend $3.5 million "something very extraordinary." He expressed confidence that if the developers back away, a judge would accept the city's cash offer for the property, but Riley conceded at one point that "perhaps there is a greater risk there than I perceive."

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