Watchdog update: Details emerge for Kiawah development hearing

The hearing is at 10 a.m. on Sept. 10 in room Longworth 1334 before the Fisheries, Oceans & Wildlife Subcommittee of the Natural Resources Committee in Washington, D.C. First District Rep. Henry Brown's bill to help Kiawah developers on a federal flood insurance issue has prompted a small tempest of interest in a public hearing in Washington, D.C. Brown recently introduced a bill that would remove undeveloped beachfront land on a spit next to the county's Beachwalker Park from the Coastal Barrier Resources System, better known in government circles as COBRA. Land inside the COBRA zone is ineligible for flood insurance. Kiawah's developers want to build up to 50 homes on the mile-long spit and say that future homeowners should qualify for federal flood insurance, just as other homeowners on Kiawah. Critics say the land is in a high-risk zone, and that the federal government shouldn't subsidize building on barrier islands. Brown said last week he introduced the bill at the request of the Town of Kiawah, and that a public hearing would enable all sides to air their views. Many Watchdog readers grumbled in e-mails and phone calls that a hearing in Washington, D.C., isn't the most convenient place to testify. Two witnesses scheduled to testify in favor of the bill include Kiawah Mayor William Wert and Donna Windham, executive director of Kiawah Natural Habitat Conservancy. The chairwoman of the subcommittee is Madeleine Z. Bordallo, a Democrat Congressional delegate from Guam. People interested in testifying may call 202-226-0200. Brown, R-SC, is the ranking Republican member of the subcommittee.

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