Johns Island toll panel rejected

A Charleston County Council committee Thursday voted against forming a citizen group to study a proposed toll road and other traffic concerns on Johns Island.

Councilman Curtis Inabinett, whose district includes Johns Island, suggested earlier this month that council create the group after it voted against building the toll road, known as the Sea Islands Parkway. The plan failed with just four of the eight council members who attended the meeting supporting it.

Inabinett's plan called for council to seek applications and then appoint five committee members from Johns and Wadmalaw islands, while the municipalities of Charleston, Kiawah, Seabrook and Rockville would each appoint one member.

Inabinett, Curtis Bostic, Colleen Condon and Teddie Pryor voted in favor of forming the committee. Councilman Tim Scott did not attend.

Supporters of the parkway say it would reduce the traffic problems on Johns Island's network of scenic two-lane roads, and would not contribute to the development of the island.

Opponents say building the four-lane road would harm the island's rural character and encourage more development.

Some council members who voted against forming the committee Thursday said they were influenced, at least in part, by a late afternoon e-mail from Charleston Mayor Joe Riley.

Riley wrote to ask council to defer voting on the motion to create a panel until "leaders of the county government" can sit down with him and the mayors of Kiawah and Seabrook islands to "devise a process in which we all agree to participate in to help us reach a consensus solution that we all support."

After the meeting, Inabinett said, "It bothers me that the mayor would propose a group to discuss the same issues but leave the residents out."

Riley later said by phone he simply wants county and municipal leaders to work together to develop a process for determining how best to handle Johns Island traffic. "The toll road doesn't have community support," Riley said. But most people think Johns Island needs another road. "We need to find an option that has community support," he said. He also said the process would include community input and public hearings.

Councilman Paul Thurmond, who represents Kiawah and Seabrook islands, and strongly supports building the toll road, said he likes Riley's idea.

The proposed toll road has stirred strong reactions, especially from people who are opposed to the parkway, Thurmond said. Bringing those residents together likely would not result in a solution, he said. "Do you have any idea how contentious that would be?" he asked.

He said he thinks it's a good idea that elected leaders get together and look for a solution.

Councilman Curtis Bostic said he thinks that if the residents of Johns Island are not included in the planning, "the perception will be that they've been shut out of the picture."

County Council didn't take make any formal decisions on how it would proceed. But Thurmond said he plans to talk with Riley and meet with him as soon as possible. A representative from the S.C. Department of Transportation told him that the toll road likely couldn't move forward without Riley's support, Thurmond said.

Riley's proposal also piqued the interest of other supporters and opponents of the road.

Paul Roberts, chairman of the Kiawah Island Community Association, who supports building the toll road, called Riley's proposal "reasonable." Roberts, who is also the founding director of the Center for Transportation Studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology said it's "a way to start forward."

Megan Derosiers, director of conservation programs for the Coastal Conservation League, a group that supports repairing and improving the island's existing roads before building new ones, said she liked Inabinett's plan. But it didn't guarantee that leaders responsible for making decisions would be involved. Riley's proposal requires municipalities to sit down together, commit to a process and come up with a solution, she said.

Reach Diane Knich at dknich@postandcourier.com.