Reproduced from The Post and Courier, Charleston, SC (used with permission)

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Annexation vote complicates James Is. incorporation

By: JASON HARDIN    Of The Post and Courier Staff
Originally Published on: 6/18/01
Page: A 1

    
    
     Subheadline: Town supporters claim Charleston tossing monkey wrench into process
    
     The last time a town of James Island popped up on the map, it touched off a bitter legal battle between the city and the fledgling municipality that ended only when the state Supreme Court dissolved the town in 1996.
     Backers of a new incorporation attempt have braced for a similar fight this time around.
     But they weren't expecting an aggressive city annexation push that could remove nearly 1,000 residents from the prospective town - just as they are nearing the end of the five-year effort to resurrect it.
     Incorporators claim the city is trying to throw a last-minute monkey wrench into the complicated process of creating a new municipality.
     The city knew that the town would include the neighborhoods, which are grouped around Grimball Road near the southern end of the island, and is trying to snatch the land before it's too late, they say.
     "It is a deliberate attempt to frustrate the will of the people of James Island," said Trent Kernodle, a lawyer who represents the James Island Public Service District and who is assisting the incorporation effort. Kernodle and other town backers recently were stunned to learn that the city plans to use a state law that allows cities to annex large blocks of properties if a majority of residents agree.
     On Aug. 7, voters in three James Island neighborhoods will decide whether to join the city. If they vote to annex, it won't kill the new town, but it shows that the city is ready to play hardball, town backers say.
     "This came out of left field," said Mary Clark, a backer who has worn a red shirt in protest ever since the town was dissolved. "All of a sudden, the city comes up with this. Now we've got another fight."
     The annexation could complicate the incorporation for two reasons. First, all property included in the new town must be carefully mapped and listed. The changes would add more work for town backers, who are worried that minor clerical errors could create larger problems if legal hostilities are renewed.
     Second, it raises the possibility of dropping the proposed town's population below 15,000, the minimum needed under one method of incorporation. Although other methods are open to the town, having an option eliminated could undermine the town's chances.
     Town backers say the annexation would still leave the town well above the 15,000 limit, although further annexations could call the issue into question. The first town had about 18,000 residents.
     City officials deny the annexation has anything to do with the incorporation attempt. They say the neighborhoods contacted them in an effort to find out what services the city could provide and that, ultimately, it's up to residents to choose between the city and the town.
     "It's really, completely, just a neighborhood that felt that coming into the city of Charleston would be good for them," Charleston Mayor Joseph P. Riley Jr. said. "There really, honestly, is no strategic purpose."
     Ernest Andrade, who handles annexations for the city, said that annexing property in large chunks helps the city fill in "doughnut holes" and creates a more rational city boundary.
     He said it is no secret that the city has always pursued adding territory on James Island, which helps spread the costs of providing services more evenly.
     But the city also provides benefits to areas it annexes, he said, and in this case can provide an immediate benefit to a community unlike much of the rest of suburban James Island.
     "The city's obvious willingness to understand the uniqueness of this fairly rural, minority community ... is what has led them to inquire into the possibility of joining the city," he said.
     Pat Williams is a longtime resident of the area, which consists of more than a square mile and includes several hundred properties in the Grimball Shores, Carver and Barnhill neighborhoods. She recently helped organize meetings where residents heard pitches from city officials.
     Among other things, residents are interested in receiving city police services, pursing the possibility of adding traffic lights on Folly Road and getting out from the county's Unified Development Ordinance, Williams said.
     "We have really serious needs that we want to address, and the city is willing to help us," she said.
     Many residents did not feel as if the first town provided many benefits to them and knew little about the new incorporation attempt, Williams said.
     "The people did not get a feeling that they were wanted," she said.
     Clark disagreed, saying she felt a sense of disappointment and betrayal that the neighborhoods would turn to the city. She remembers fighting City Hall on the town issue with many of the area's residents.
     "We all stood together. Now, somebody has gotten to them," she said.
     Kernodle said the annexation is just the most recent of a long line of slights to the unincorporated areas of the island. He said the city has not been complying with the spirit of a requirement to give the PSD notice of annexations. The matter was set to go before a judge last week but was postponed.
     Clark said that apart from the annexation, the incorporation movement is faring well. A petition drive - a mandatory requirement for creating the town - has collected thousands of signatures, she said.
     The next step will be to apply to the S.C. secretary of state's office. If all the paperwork is in order, a referendum on incorporation will be held.
     If a majority of voters agrees, the new town will come into being.
     The dueling interests set up the possibility of a race to see which issue - annexation or the incorporation - can be put before the voters first. But Kernodle said it is unlikely that the incorporation vote can be held before the scheduled date of the annexation election.

     Jason Hardin covers the city of Charleston. Contact him at jhardin@postandcourier.com or at (843) 937-5549.
    

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