Reproduced from The Post and Courier, Charleston, SC (used with permission)
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Judge denies request to stop road work

By: ARLIE PORTER    
Originally Published on: 10/06/98
Page: B3

       
    A federal judge on Monday rejected the arguments of Adams Run resident Lee Pye that a Charleston County road project will damage nearby historic proper ty.
    Judge C. Weston Houck said Charleston County can proceed with improving a 50-foot strip of a dirt road to its 750-acre Shepperd Tract property off U.S. Highway 17. The county can begin on Oct. 13, Houck said.
    Charleston County wants to build a culvert under the road in wetlands to keep the road from flooding. The road improvement is needed to maintain access to its property from U.S. 17, county officials say.
    The county bought the property in southern Charleston County six years ago as a future site for disposing ash from the incine- rator in the Charleston Neck area. The county has no current plans for the proper- ty.
    Pye appealed the Army Corps of Engineers permit granted to the county to build the culvert, arguing that the road will lead to development of the property and threaten nearby historic sites.
    They include what may be a Revolutionary War encampment, a black cemetery, and the former Hayne family plantation. Robert Young Hayne was appointed governor in 1832 and became mayor of Charleston in 1834.
    Charleston County Deputy Attorney Christine Companion said she was pleased with Houck's ruling.
    As Houck said, the culvert will not harm wetlands but improve the flow of water. Besides, neighboring property owners support the improvement, she said.
    ``There is no harm being done to the surrounding properties,'' Companion said.
    Pye's attorney, Cotton Harness of Charleston, said the Army Corps failed to study the broader impact of the project on historic and cultural resources.
    Harness also said he hopes the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will stop the county from proceeding.
    Houck said Pye failed to show how improving the county road will harm her property. Charleston County would be harmed more by not getting access to its land, he said.
    ``It's in the public interest that this (request) not be granted,'' Houck said of Pye's request to stop work. Houck added that he doubts Pye and her husband, Russ, will win in the appeals court.

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

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