Johns Island acreage reverts to rural zoning

Charleston County Council has changed 2,500 urban acres on Johns Island back to their original rural zoning by a 5-4 vote. Last year, the council moved the urban growth boundary, changing the land from rural to urban zoning, to the dismay of many island residents. More than 100 people petitioned the council to revert back to the land's rural zoning. Rural zoning is less dense; urban zoning permits more development. Representatives for two large undeveloped tracts in the area are seeking zoning with urban standards for developing the land. County staff has said landowner Chuck Bennett and developer Charles Huff of Special Properties are considering a 300-acre tract off Fickling Hill Road. Huff said higher density won't be a bad thing for the largely rural Johns Island area. "I feel that we're all part of the Charleston market," Huff said, adding that the rural zoning designation "just doesn't work." Those supporting the change back to rural zoning say the council continued to do the best thing for the area. "I think that this is a great example of County Council listening to the property owners in the affected area and doing their best to accommodate those property owners' wishes," said Megan Terebus of the Coastal Conservation League. Chairman Barrett Lawrimore favors an urban zoning on the land. He said Tuesday that just because the land is categorized as urban doesn't mean affected properties are automatically rezoned. "There's been no rezoning," he said, adding that council would have to consider each application for a zoning change although the boundary has been moved. Councilman Charles Wallace said the boundary initially was moved so as to not divide properties and that placing the acres in a higher zoning area was never the intent. He supported moving the boundary back. Council members Curtis Bostic, Carolyn Conlon, A.D. Jordan, Leon Stavrinakis and Wallace supported changing the 2,500 acres back to rural zoning, while Lawrimore, Ed Fava, Tim Scott and Fran Roberts wanted it to remain urban. In other news, the council voted 7-2 to approve a controversial 55-home planned development on Peters Point Road on Edisto Island. The current zoning would allow up to 64 units on the property, so the rezoning would lower the density. But it also would give the owners -- some 33 heirs of George and Julia Mikell -- more flexibility in locating the homes on the property, which sits on the southwestern side of the island. It would require lots to be at least one acre in size, and lots on the creek would have to have at least 150 feet of frontage along the water. Still, it has pitted family members and islanders against each other, dividing those who favor the development and those who say it will be a detriment to the largely untouched island.

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