Facing up to growth

The series on Lowcountry growth that begins in our newspaper today will provide a comprehensive look at what has become an increasingly difficult problem. Solutions offered in the series say that it needn't be intractable.

As today's article makes clear, the issue can't be avoided. Nine thousand new residents move into the tri-county area each year. That means new subdivisions are being built, consuming farmland and forests. There are more cars on the road, and greater pressures to build additional highways and schools.

Dorchester County is among the fastest growing counties in the nation, and today's article notes that an astounding 70 percent of its working residents travel outside the county to work. That says traffic will continue to get worse between Summerville and Charleston, particularly along I-26. Meanwhile, despite an aggressive building program by Dorchester School District 2, more classrooms are needed before new schools are even open.

In the course of some 200 interviews, researchers for The Citistates Group found a number of common concerns: the lack of public involvement in the planning process, absence of coordination among jurisdictions, no statutory authority to impose impact fees by schools or municipalities.

"Rather than act in concert, the region's politicos have often championed their individual jurisdictions alone, engaging in annexation wars, complete with fiery rhetoric and lawsuits, to seize tax-productive territory," the report states. "A recent example: the fight over the Watson Hill development ..."

Despite Dorchester County Council's action to limit development in the historic area along Ashley River Road, including Watson Hill, the willing annexation by the city of North Charleston would accommodate the developers' plans for the site. (The annexation is being challenged in court.)

Yet there are hopeful signs cited in the article. The public is awakening to the dangers of rampant growth, and citizens are making their voices heard. In some instances, elected representatives are responding.

As the series will make clear, a unified response to the growth problem is essential or solutions will fall short. Not only will local officials have to get on board, so will state agencies and legislators.

Over the next month, the findings of the privately funded study will be published on Sundays in this newspaper. They will help define the issues facing the community, and offer solid suggestions on how to deal with growth and development, now and over the long haul. The challenge is already here, and there's no option but to meet it.