Parrot Point conflict underscores deeper issues

By: JASON HARDIN    Of The Post and Courier Staff
Originally Published on: 7/13/01
Page: B 1

    
    
     Subheadline: PSD files appeal against Charleston
     A legal objection to the development of James Island's Parrot Point property might be moot, but the dispute is highlighting broader issues in the cold war between the city of Charleston and the James Island Public Service District.
     The PSD argues that the city zoning board had no right to approve a development plan for the thickly forested area because City Council has not given final approval to the property's annexation.
     Council gave an annexation ordinance first reading several months ago, but has waited on the zoning process before completing the annexation.
     PSD attorney Trent Kernodle said the city has no right to make decisions about property not formally within city limits. In an appeal filed Thursday, the PSD asks a circuit court judge to declare the decision void.
     "This is the equivalent of the city making a zoning decision in Jedburg or Edisto or Red Top," he said. "It's purely a matter of their power."
     City Attorney Bill Regan disagreed, saying that giving the annexation first reading establishes jurisdiction and that a "dual track" process of handling zoning and annexation at the same time is commonplace among other municipalities in the area.
     However, he is recommending that the city defuse the issue by doing what Kernodle asks, which is to complete the annexation, then return to the zoning board.
     "I think that we could easily uphold it," Regan said. "But I always recommend the cautious approach. Why spend taxpayers' money on litigation if this is the only issue?"
     He said the dual track process allows developers to understand the ramifications of annexing into the city before committing to doing so.
     "The landowner doesn't want to annex unless he knows he can get the zoning," Regan said.
     Kernodle offered a different perspective.
     "If people want to annex, let them come on in. But don't dance around and say, `Well, if they zone the way I want zoned, we'll come on in.'"
     Kernodle said the PSD will drop the appeal if the city follows Regan's advice. But he promised similar challenges in the future if the city continues the practice.
     PSD commissioner Eugene Platt has been a staunch foe of the proposed development at Parrot Point. He said the plan is to pursue all options in fighting the development, which calls for 28 houses on 48 acres of high ground.
     "In the context of a slowing national economy, there are some of us who feel that the developer is getting tired of this and perhaps sees diminishing returns as this drags on," he said.
     But Paul Feldman, the selling agent for the property, said that won't happen.
     "We are on this 100 percent. We stuck this out for 16 months," he said. "Everybody is on the same side but a handful of dissidents."
     Feldman accused the PSD of engaging in legal harassment.
     "It's basically a frivolous complaint that they're making, but because of the controversy, everyone feels that to get this handful of fanatics to rest on this, this is the best way," he said.
     Kernodle said the appeal is far from frivolous, adding that the PSD has won legal victories over the city in the past.
     Even apart from the annexation/zoning questions, the PSD, because it has received federal loans, has a duty to protect its service area so that it has a customer base from which to repay the loans, he said.
     The Parrot Point annexation will be before City Council next week for final approval. After that, it would return to the zoning process.
    

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

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