People speak, developers listen

Well-informed citizens with a mission, and hundreds of flyers, can make a difference. And they did this week when their protests led a developer to defer his application to build a 400,000-square-foot shopping center in Mount Pleasant.

Henrich Properties put its plans on hold until it could review them in light of neighbors' concerns about traffic, drainage, noise and air and light pollution.

It isn't the first time the people spoke and developers listened. In 2004, Snee Farm residents opposed plans for a Walmart Supercenter at the same location, just across the highway from Towne Centre.

Ben Henrich, president of the company, said his project is not dead: "Our intention is to reapply." But residents can hope that -- and work to ensure that -- if he does, his proposal will honor their reasonable requests to respect the environment and the area's livability.

There is a reason the 40-acre Gregg Tract is presently zoned for multi-family use. It is next to Wando East, Wando Lakes, The Reserve, Montclair and Snee Farm -- all residential areas. And it is across the street from a large shopping center and not far from two Walmarts.

But the traffic wouldn't affect just the neighbors who spoke out in large numbers. It could slow the heavy traffic on Highway 17 for commuters.

An increased number of service vehicles could mean increased air pollution, dirty runoff from a 1,600-car parking lot, bright light and noise late into the night.

Pat Sullivan, a community activist who lives in Snee Farm, is also concerned that big box stores believed to be in line for the space could hurt local businesses when the community is trying to "buy local, be local."

She suggests it would be much better to reuse buildings that have been abandoned than to destroy woods and wetlands for still more commercial space.

The message delivered by Mount Pleassant residents should resonate in other Lowcountry locations where development plans are at odds with what residents want and what the roadways can reasonably sustain. In many cases, those proposals might be better characterized as "overdevelopment" plans. Two of the city of Charleston's so-called "gathering places" come to mind.

Mr. Henrich says he contacted adjacent property owners and neighborhood associations, but Ms. Sullivan says the word didn't trickle down to residents, and most weren't aware of his plans until a story appeared in the newspaper on Jan. 30. She says some neighborhood representatives gave a nod to the development because they were promised improvements to aging stormwater infrastructure. However, she says, the developer would have been required to make those improvements. It wouldn't have been a gift.

Hundreds of residents made plans to attend the Mount Pleasant Planning Commission today when the plan was to be submitted. Unless town officials grant a waiver, the developer will have to wait a year before submitting a new application.

Citizens in Mount Pleasant and elsewhere would be wise to keep up with developers' plans for their neighborhoods -- and to speak up. It can work.