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First District congressional challenger Linda Ketner criticized a bill by
U.S. Rep. Henry Brown that would help future homeowners on an undeveloped
area of Kiawah Island qualify for federal flood insurance.
Calling Brown's bill "an abuse of power" at the expense of taxpayers, Ketner
urged area residents to fight the bill's passage. A Democrat, Ketner said
she might attend a congressional hearing on the bill Sept. 10, in
Washington, D.C., "not only as a candidate, but as a citizen. I think it's
incumbent that we stand up against this."
Brown, R-S.C., recently introduced a bill that would remove land at the
southwestern end of Kiawah Island from what's known as the Coastal Barrier
Resources System. Created in 1982 to discourage development on barrier
islands, land inside this zone is ineligible for federally subsidized flood
insurance. Kiawah Development Partners, owner of the land, wants to build
about 50 homes on the spit south of the county's Beachwalker Park.
Last week, Brown defended the bill, saying he did it at the request of the
Town of Kiawah. In exchange for the beachfront land around Capt. Sam's
Inlet, the bill would add 25 acres of high ground further inland and 153
acres of marsh, a net gain that would benefit the environment, Brown said.
Ketner said removing the land on Capt. Sam's Inlet would not enhance the
ecological value of the area required by federal law and would instead
encourage the area's development by making future homes eligible for federal
flood insurance, which is much cheaper than private coverage.
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