Growth plan draws fire

Control of Summerville-area development prompts most debate

SUMMERVILLE — Dorchester County's proposed growth plan stirred up some contention in its first appearance before council Tuesday.

Council gave the comprehensive plan unanimous initial approval, but not before a heated debate indicated some more fights are ahead before the final compromise is worked out.

The comprehensive plan guides what gets built and where. Many of the rural areas of the county west of Summerville aren't zoned at all, leaving thousands of acres of forests and farmland open to development.

The new comprehensive plan designates wide swaths of the county to remain rural. A half-dozen residents stood up and urged council not to allow interest groups to water down the language before final approval.

"We went through all this 10 years ago (the last time the county updated its growth plan)," Audubon South Carolina Director Norman Brunswig said. "Let's not let this be eroded at the last minute."

But it was the plan's language on controlling growth around Summerville that provoked the most debate. The plan includes a section that says the county can't approve a new development if roads and schools can't handle it.

Alec Brebner, interim planning director for the Berkeley-Charleston-Dorchester Council of Governments, wrote the document. Several councilmen have been giving input along the way.

Councilman Jamie Feltner said some people have accused him of inserting the language on growth curbs. Feltner says that's not the case.

"What is in that plan has come from COG, and it was not manipulated," Feltner told council.

Feltner got council to pass a motion to ask COG staff to be at the rest of the council meetings and public hearings on the comprehensive plan. Then, if people have questions, such as whether the document was changed, they can ask Brebner.

Council Chairman Larry Hargett, who is also the COG's vice chairman, objected to Feltner's motion.

"COG should not be involved in the politics of council," Hartnett said. "With all due respect, politics have been involved in this from the beginning, and you're one of them, and it's time to call a spade a spade."

Feltner's motion to invite somebody from COG to attend the rest of the meetings passed 4-3, with Richard Rosebrock, Kenny Waggoner and Willie Davis joining him. Hargett, Mike Murphree and Chris Murphy opposed the idea.

Council will hold two public hearings in St. George in October and two more in Summerville in November before giving the plan final approval, Hargett said.

Also Tuesday, enrollment passed 22,000 for the first time in schools around Summerville, giving school officials more cause for worry about how to handle overcrowding.

About 850 more students showed up the day after Labor Day than the same day last year, Dorchester District 2 Public Information Officer Pat Raynor said Tuesday.

That's about 250 more students than Superintendent Joe Pye was hoping for. District 2 has been gaining about 900 students a year the last couple years, and some schools are running out of room for more mobile classrooms. Officials were hoping the housing market downturn would reduce the gain to about 600 this year.

The school board is considering a $165 million referendum to build more schools. Officials acknowledge it will be a tough sell to residents hit by rising prices and falling home values.

The referendum calls for two more elementary schools and a middle school, as well as expansions to existing schools. The district opened two elementary schools and a middle school last year and a new high school this year.

Reach Dave Munday at 745-5862 or dmunday@postandcourier.com.