Supporters want real version of 'Our Town'

Rev. Charles Glover gazes at the dense forest along the intersection of Parkers Ferry and Old Jacksonboro roads and sees a park for neighborhood people. In the woods across the street, he sees a new fire station.

And for more than a mile along Parkers Ferry Road he sees a sidewalk where people can stroll safely instead of in the dangerous street or the snaky weeds between the pavement and the drainage ditch.

Making a sweeping gesture across the landscape, he envisions water and sewer service, improved storm drainage, better police protection — and most important, local control.

Glover, pastor at Nazarene Baptist Church on Savannah Highway, is leading an effort to create a new town out of the forests, farms and hamlets of southwestern Charleston County.

The town, near the site of a famous Revolutionary War battle won by General Francis Marion, would start with just a few thousand people. But

Glover hopes it will some day rival the cities of Charleston and North Charleston in area, covering much of southwestern Charleston County.

For now, Glover and his supporters want to carve out a far smaller town of about seven or eight square miles that would meander along U.S. Highway 17, and up and down country roads coming off it, from the Edisto River bridge east to the community of Osborn.

They want a town of about 2,900 people, and hope to include only those people who want in.

Over the past several weeks, town supporters have hit up church meetings and walked long country roads to gather some 200 signatures, about half of what they need to prepare town incorporation papers for the S.C. Secretary of State.

The goal, Glover said, is to improve the quality of life for people who have been neglected by the county government through local control and development. "I'd like to see a Wal-Mart out here," he said.

Residents want control

As it is, the area sits outside of the county's urban growth boundary, meaning the county intends to keep the area rural by strictly limiting development.

But Glover said that if the town wins approval it will try to take in almost half of the massive East Edisto project where MeadWestvaco envisions creating new communities out of the 72,000 acre timber reserve that straddles the Charleston and Dorchester county line.

The paper company's preliminary plans call for leaving three quarters of the land natural and developing the rest. Just how many dwellings and businesses would go in remains undecided. The company hopes to have a more formal plan completed early next year.

Ken Seeger, head of MeadWestvaco's community development and land management, said he knows nothing about efforts to create a town of Parkers Ferry, and has no interest in joining it.

He said the company has worked with Charleston and Dorchester counties for two years and believes in the need for regional planning. It would be a "breach of faith" for the company not to continue working with the counties, he said. "We're happy where we are."

Glover likes the sound of development and would like to see more farther out toward the current crossroads of Parkers Ferry. He said that if the town is formed, it would try to work with East Edisto and other developers to bring the kind of growth residents of Parkers Ferry want.

Such a town could ignore Charleston County's urban growth boundary and change the picture of how much development would go into the pristine area that borders the Edisto River and the internationally recognized ACE Basin natural environmental area.

Not to worry, Glover said. Residents of the area want growth and more shopping and opportunities, but they don't want to totally change the character of the place where many of them, if not most, grew up, he said.

One of the things that bothers him, and others in the area, is the county's zoning restrictions that limit the amount of houses that can go on certain amounts of land. People should be able the build more houses on their land if they want, he said.

What residents of the area want most, Glover said, is control over their lives and property. "Every time we turn around we have to beg. ... We don't get services or support from Charleston County."

People in the area don't want all that much, but can't even get that, he said, and ticks off a list of slights: They were promised the sidewalk a couple years ago, but still don't have it. They have 20 acres for a park, but the county hasn't done anything to help make it a reality. Drainage problems remain notorious. And it can take 45 minutes for a deputy to respond to a call.

It's bad enough to be ignored by the county, but what's really prodded the effort to create a town is fear that some other town or city will move in and take control.

"We're not going to accept what people shove in our faces. ... I don't want anyone from Hollywood or Ravenel telling me what to do."

More fearsome, Glover said, are noises coming from the direction of annexation-hungry North Charleston, which is trying to cross the Ashley River and spur massive housing development in the Plantation District.

"We don't know what Keith Summey is going to do," he said of the mayor of North Charleston. "Why let another whole city come in through the back door."

'Huge mistake'

Dana Beach, head of the Coastal Conservation League, expressed concern that creation of a new town could throw a monkey wrench into the league's efforts with the city of Charleston and Charleston and Dorchester counties to create a line limiting the spread of growth into the rural areas where the counties meet along the Edisto River.

"I think it would be a huge mistake," he said of the town, although he expressed doubt that the town supporters would be able to overcome difficult hurdles the state has placed in the way of town creation.

William Runyon Jr., a Charleston attorney who volunteered his time to help Glover and his supporters prepare the town incorporation papers, said the initial obstacle is getting 15 percent of the voters to sign a petition in favor of creating the town.

A parallel obstacle is drawing the town's boundary lines. He said town supporters want to include only those who want to be included in order to avoid legal difficulties.

The town also needs the Town of James Island to succeed in its Supreme Court battle with Charleston, which wants James Island's town status voided.

Parkers Ferry and James Island face similar legal requirements, he said.

"The James Island lawsuit could turn our crystal coach into a pumpkin," Runyon said.

Runyon said he volunteered his time because many people in the area feel underrepresented.

Besides, he said, it's good for business because it creates good will and puts his name out there. He's also hoping to nail down the town attorney job.

If the petition drive succeeds, he, Glover and other town supporters will then draw the town's boundaries along the lines of where the support lies. He hopes to get the incorporation papers filed early next year.

Then, he said, he'll sit back and watch the residents vote on whether they want to leave the county in charge or take control and have a say in how the community will develop for decades to come.

Out on Spring Grove Road near where the county owns land for a possible future landfill, Susan Markham was taking a break during a bike ride.

She's not certain if a new town is the answer, but she'll consider it. "We need some representation out here, because we haven't been getting any now."

Reach Doug Pardue at 937-5558 or dpardue@postandcourier.com. Reach Diane Knich at 937-5491 or dknich@postandcourier.com

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