Council could revisit Harmony Hall tract

Some members want more information

Some Charleston County Council members want another look at the controversial Harmony Hall tract, saying they weren't given enough information when council approved a $10 million deal to buy the land.

Council last week voted 5-2, with two members abstaining, to let the Park and Recreation Commission buy 420 acres in Meggett and create a new county park.

Councilwoman Colleen Condon abstained from that July 24 vote because she said she didn't have adequate information to make a decision.

Condon on Wednesday said she didn't think some questions were fully answered. Specifically, she said the council received a unclear answer when someone asked when the developers originally bought the property.

Also, while council members saw a presentation about the buy, Condon said they did not receive any information prior to their decision or get any handouts during the meeting.

"Nothing. Not a single piece of paper," she said.

Councilman Joe McKeown, who opposed buying Harmony Hall, said he also thinks council should review the issue again before the park commission locks into the deal. His main concern is that there is a greater need to create county parks elsewhere, not in Meggett, he said.

Chairman Tim Scott said he would entertain any requests to reconsider but that no one has approached him asking to revisit the issue at council's meeting Tuesday.

The Harmony Hall deal was supposed to close Friday. "Since the closing has been pushed back," Scott said, "I'm pretty comfortable with the fact that anyone can ask for anything to be put back on the agenda whether there's enough votes to support it or not."

The developers of Harmony Hall Plantation bought nearly 600 acres at the end of February for $9.6 million and plan to flip about two-thirds of the land to the park commission for $10 million. The landowners will keep the residual land for themselves.

The deal has been criticized for its high price and the level of secrecy, but some have defended the purchase as a good way to preserve land in the area.

Reach Tenisha Waldo at 937-5744 or twaldo@postandcourier.com.