No right of way, high court rules

A developer's hope of building a bridge from Peas Island to Long Island appears dashed following a S.C. Supreme Court ruling that said the state no longer owns right of way on Peas Island.

K&A Acquisition Group purchased Long Island in 2005 for $7.5 million and hoped to profit by developing homes on the property, which consists of a series of islands with 140 acres of highland stretching over 2.5 miles between James, Peas, Oak, Morris and Folly islands.

Folly Beach attorney Ben Peeples said the ruling "means if you're going to get to Long Island, you can do it by parachute or by a helicopter or by a boat or you can swim."

The developer sued Island Pointe LLC, which owns Peas Island, the state Department of Transportation and the city of Folly Beach claiming that the state still owned a road on Peas --a road that could be used to access a new bridge proposed to Long Island.

K&A lost before Master in Equity Mikell Scarborough and appealed to the Supreme Court, which ultimately upheld Scarborough's decision though it disagreed with parts of his analysis.

The Supreme Court said the state did not abandon the right of way decades ago, when the route from James Island to Folly Beach was shifted to its current location, but the court's unanimous ruling found that the state did properly dispose of the right of way through a 2002 quitclaim deed.

Even had the city lost, Peeples said, new regulations limiting bridges to marsh islands and the city's opposition almost certainly would have scuttled any bridge proposal.

Folly Beach Mayor Carl Beckmann said he also was pleased with the ruling. He has had a few conversations about development options with K&A but said no development plan is pending.

"If any kind of development goes over there at all, they're going to have to fight public opinion," he said. "It's going to be hot and heavy. If you think Walmart was a biggie, wait until someone tries to do something with Long Island."

K&A Chief Development Officer Brad Galbraith said the Supreme Court's decision won't change the company's intent to move ahead with plans to use Long Island while protecting and maintaining its history and biology.

"There is much work to be done," Galbraith said. "We look forward to the process and the eventual outcome that we are confident will lead to the approval and applause of many in the local community."

The site is dotted with wetlands, contains an earthen fortification that Union troops built during the Civil War and is a major stopping point for migrating birds.

The Trust for Public Land has been interested in buying the property for conservation over the years, but no deal has been struck. Beckmann said the souring economy has largely tabled such efforts, but the ruling likely could lower the price for any future deal, given the island's inaccessibility.

Reach Robert Behre at rbehre@postandcourier.com or 937-5771.