Items of Interest

from the April 21, 2009, Post & Courier, by Tony Bartelme

Spat over Kiawah spit

Development opponent ordered to take down signs

For years, Sidi Limehouse put up hand-painted signs near Rosebank Farms on Johns Island touting everything from tomatoes to Easter egg hunts. When the area's real estate sales wilted, he had one made saying: "Wanted: real estate agents to pick beans! See Sidi."

Sidi Limehouse stands near a sign Monday at his Johns Island Rosebank Farms roadside stand.

Then last month, he put up another: "Develop Cap'n Sam's Spit? No way." The sign included a phone number for Friends of the Kiawah River, a group he founded to oppose the development of Kiawah's southern tip. After Limehouse put up that sign, the county received several e-mails from what one official described as "real estate agents and developers who work at that end of the county." The county declined a request under the South Carolina Freedom of Information Act to provide copies of the e-mails.

A few weeks later, the county sent notices to Limehouse's landlord: Take down the signs by April 6 or face fines. Limehouse said the county's actions are a form of selective prosecution. "I had those signs up for years, but they didn't have any problem until I put up the Captain Sam's Spit sign." Limehouse contends the zoning ordinance allows him to have at least one per parcel. "So I left the Captain Sam's Spit one up," he said with a laugh. The rest are strewn in the brush, as if knocked down by a heavy wind.

The sign fracas represents the latest wrinkle in the high-stakes debate over the future of Kiawah Island's undeveloped southern tip, a line of dunes that may be the most beautiful development battleground in the Lowcountry.

Set next to the county's Beachwalker Park, the spit curls south, growing wider as it nears the inlet and Seabrook Island. Bottlenose dolphins sometimes drive fish ashore here, temporarily beaching themselves while they feed, something known to happen in only one other place in the world.

Kiawah Development Partners, the island's master developer, owns the 150-acre sand spit and wants to build up to 50 homes there. The company's plans came to light last summer after a Post and Courier Watchdog report showed how U.S. Rep. Henry Brown wanted to change a federal law so future homeowners on the spit could get an insurance break. Brown withdrew his bill after a storm of criticism, but Kiawah Development Partners said they would develop the dunes anyway.

Late last year, the project hit another hurdle. Kiawah Development Partners wanted a state permit to build a half-mile concrete revetment on the back side of the spit along the Kiawah River. But the state instead granted the company a permit to build a 270-foot revetment next to the Beachwalker Park parking lot, one-tenth the size the developers requested. Kiawah Development Partners then hired two prominent lawyers, Trenholm Walker and Gedney Howe, to take the state to court.

Walker and Howe argue in court papers and other documents that the Department of Health and Environmental Control should have granted the permit because the erosion represents an emergency. The river is eating into the bank, particularly around the county park. They said the bulkhead their clients hope to build would be an environmentally sensitive structure that would slope into the water and have holes that would allow plant growth.

The Coastal Conservation League also went to court, challenging DHEC's decision to grant the smaller revetment. A trial date has yet to be set, and it could be months or years before the issue is settled.

Outside the courtroom, the debate has only gotten more vigorous. Local environmentalists recently produced a video, "50 Houses on Kiawah Sand," featuring geologists who question the wisdom of building on barrier island spits. The case is drawing national interested from scientists who study diamondback terrapins, which make their homes along the bank where the developers want to put the revetment.

And then there's Limehouse, a scrappy Johns Island character with a thick gray beard. He said his Friends of Kiawah River group is adding new members every week. Noting that the county only leases the land for Beachwalker Park, he worries that the developers will try to move the park to another place on Kiawah. The parking lot now blocks access to Captain Sam's Spit. "There's a lot of money at stake, and I think my next sign will be something that says, 'Save Beachwalker Park,' " he said, adding that "I don't mind a good fair fight, but I think getting the county to go after my signs was going below the belt, but that's all right."

Walker said he was unaware of the Limehouse sign issue, and Leonard Long, Kiawah Development Partners' executive vice president, declined to comment.

In declining to release the identities of those who complained about the signs, Charleston County issued a statement saying it's allowed to release this information under the Freedom of Information Act, but that it also has the authority to keep such information secret.

Bill Rogers, executive director of the S.C. Press Association, said he knew of no exemption in the law that allows the county to withhold the e-mailed complaint to the county. He compared the e-mail complaint to an incident report made to police, which is public information. "They should release that information immediately," Rogers said.

County officials said they were just doing their jobs when they told Limehouse to get rid of his signs and that they recently identified other sign violations in the area.

from the March 12, 2009, Post & Courier, by David Slade

Institute offers its traffic solution

The Urban Land Institute has delivered to Charleston County its final recommendations for dealing with Maybank Highway traffic through road improvements, and the report calls for adding one lane between the Stono River and River Road on Johns Island. The ULI report was an attempt by the county to find middle ground between a proposal to widen Maybank Highway to four lanes on Johns Island, laid out by the county's RoadWise program, and the city of Charleston's proposal to instead create a network of new secondary roads to disperse traffic. If the middle ground between four lanes and two lanes is three, then middle ground is just what the report recommends.

The ULI report suggests adding one extra lane along Maybank Highway from the Stono River to River Road, which is a notorious traffic bottleneck, as well as widening the congested intersection of River Road and Maybank Highway. Then, ULI recommended adopting the city's secondary road approach beyond River Road. That would mean not widening Maybank Highway to four lanes between River and Bohicket roads.

The county and city will each review the report, and Charleston County Council could consider the next steps at a meeting in April. The ULI plan does not include cost estimates, and would also require engineering work and environmental studies if council wanted to pursue that approach, according to Kurt Taylor, head of the county's transportation sales tax programs.

from the February 7, 2009, Post & Courier, by Diane Knich

Panel offers Maybank idea

Making highway 3 lanes from Stono River to River Road would ease traffic, advisers say

Expanding Maybank Highway to three lanes from the Stono River to River Road would mainly solve traffic problems and preserve the rural character of Johns Island, a group of consultants from the Urban Land Institute says.

Charleston County last October called on the institute to help the county and the city of Charleston decide: widen the two-lane highway to four lanes; create instead a network of streets to disperse traffic; or use some combination of both plans. The institute brought a new option into the mix. Its plan calls for building a second lane for traffic coming onto Johns Island from James Island over the Stono River. The two incoming lanes would run to River Road, after which the highway would revert to a two-lane road. Only one lane is needed for traffic leaving the island, the team said.

The institute pulls together voluntary teams of professionals to offer an outsider's view and make recommendations on controversial construction projects. The team for Maybank Highway presented its plan to county and city officials on Friday. It also calls for a secondary road that runs from Maybank near the Stono River to River Road. That road would pull traffic off Maybank that's heading down River Road to the southern parts of the island. And, the plan included some smaller secondary roads intersecting Maybank.

Charleston Mayor Joe Riley said the team "made an excellent recommendation." He might want to add or change a few details, he said, but overall, "it makes better what we're all working on."

Improving the area around the intersection of Maybank Highway and River Road is essential, both city and county officials have said, because traffic backs up to the Stono River during rush hour.

Team member Stephen Navarro, president of the Furman Co., a commercial real estate firm in Greenville, said the plan submitted by the city which involved creating a network of streets resembling a "pitchfork," was very close to what the team came up with. But, he said, the city's plan would have required drivers on Maybank to make a decision to leave the highway to travel along the network of smaller streets. People just aren't likely to do that, Navarro said. ""This plan," he said, "handles all the traffic. Why would you over-engineer it" by building a four-lane highway all the way to Main Road.

"Bigger roads are not the answer," said County Councilman Dickie Schweers. He was apprehensive about the county widening the highway to four lanes as the city requested in 2002, he said. The institute's team "recommended a surgical, Johns Island-style approach."

Navarro said satisfying the people who live on Johns Island was the first priority, followed by those who travel to Kiawah and Seabrook and those from the rest of the region.

But County Councilman Paul Thurmond said he wishes the team also had been charged with looking at River and Bohicket roads. That would have brought into the discussion people traveling to Kiawah and Seabrook islands. But, he's not opposed to the team's plan, he said. "In my opinion, it works with a limited-access road" that runs from Maybank to the southern end of Johns Island. There aren't enough roads on Johns Island to handle traffic now or in the future, he said. And road improvements don't increase capacity.

from the February 6, 2009, Post & Courier, by Diane Knich

Keep us rural, residents say

Future of Maybank Highway debated

Johns Island residents sent a clear message Thursday to a team considering the future of Maybank Highway: Maintain the island's rural character. Johns Island residents and others told a team from the Urban Land Institute on Thursday that their main goal in any work done on Maybank Highway is to maintain the area's rural character, even as they expressed frustration over traffic in the region.

Charleston County previously asked the Urban Land Institute to help the county and the city of Charleston decide whether to widen the highway, create a network of streets to disperse traffic, or some combination of both plans. The institute pulls together voluntary teams of professionals to offer an outsider's view on controversial construction projects. Both competing plans for Maybank Highway aim to relieve traffic, which backs up on Maybank from River Road to the Stono River during rush hour.

Wadmalaw Island resident John Hope told the consultants that keeping the island rural was the most important thing to many area residents. "We don't want to lose the reason for why people are coming here," he said.

Johns Island business owner Barney Limehouse said, "I like the city's story about using the back roads and leaving Maybank alone."

One of the competing plans for the highway would widen the two-lane road to four lanes with a wide, planted median.

City officials last year began advocating a "pitchfork" plan that instead would create a network of new streets, near the intersection of Maybank and River, to disperse traffic.

Most residents who spoke at Thursday's meeting were from Johns Island, but residents of Wadmalaw, Kiawah and Seabrook islands also showed up at the Johns Island Regional Library. The team also has reviewed studies and previous public comments about the island's roads.

Blase Keegel, a Kiawah resident who also owns land on Johns Island, said something should be done to relieve traffic on Johns Island's "constipated" roads because more development is on the way. "They're going to build. It's going to grow," he said.

Sam Furr, who lives on Maybank Highway, said a four-lane road doesn't have to be an eyesore. "Think of a four-lane road that's designed right," that's pedestrian-friendly, he said. "We can preserve the character and still get places in a timely manner. It's possible to do it right," he said.

Seabrook Mayor Frank McNulty and Kiawah Mayor Pro Tem Alan Burnaford said they support building a new "cross island" road, which would run from Maybank Highway to the southern end of the island. Many Kiawah and Seabrook residents have said the cross-island road is necessary to reduce traffic and improve safety on the rural island. Burnaford said Kiawah also supports the city's plan for Maybank Highway.

Three major road-building projects are being debated for Johns Island: Maybank Highway improvements, a cross-island road and an extension of Interstate 526.

At 4 p.m. today the consulting team will make recommendations on Maybank's future to Charleston County Council and Charleston City Council.

from the January 26, 2009, Post & Courier, by Diane Knich

Proposal rules out extended highway on I-526

Conservation League plan would fix 5 problem areas

Extending Interstate 526 won't be necessary if the state simply improves roads and intersections at five different points in West Ashley and on James and Johns islands, Coastal Conservation League leaders say. The environmental group has submitted its 59-page proposal to the S.C. Department of Transportation, the agency responsible for the I-526 project. The league hopes its plan will be on a narrowed-down list of "reasonable alternatives" released this spring.

"Our plan will cost significantly less money, have less environmental impact and more economic development" than the $420 million proposal to extend the expressway across parts of James and Johns islands, said Megan Derosiers, the league's director of conservation programs. She said the league's plan will cost less than $220 million. The group soon will complete an in-depth cost estimate on the proposal, she said.

David Kinard, project manager for DOT, said the agency now is looking more closely at 22 options it presented to the public last fall, the Coastal Conservation League's proposal and a new plan that the city of Charleston recently submitted. The city's plan includes building a parkway, not an expressway, along the path originally proposed for the extension of I-526. The parkway would not be elevated, Charleston Mayor Joe Riley said, and would have speed limits of about 35 mph. Kinard said DOT likely will narrow the list of alternatives to between four and eight proposals, then hold another round of public meetings in the spring to get citizens' reactions.

The short list of proposals will include those that best reduce congestion and improve safety on existing roads, improve regional mobility, limit the number of people and businesses that must relocate and reduce the impact on the area's wetlands, Kinard said. The department will determine an estimated cost of only those projects it places on the list of reasonable alternatives.

Derosiers said the league and a team of consultants from the Glatting Jackson Kercher Anglin firm, looked at the traffic on Savannah Highway in West Ashley and on parts of James and Johns islands and located the five spots where it snarled the most. The group then developed ways to fix those particular areas. "Our alternative would solve more problems," Derosiers said. "It addresses the causes of the traffic snarls."

The plan includes improvements to two places on Savannah Highway, one near where it connects with I-526 and the other between Canterbury and Betsy roads. It would add a center median to improve turning, consolidate businesses' driveways to improve traffic flow, and build smaller streets just off the highway to give cars another route to travel. Some of those roads could be paid for by DOT and other would be financed privately.

Josh Martin, the league's program director, said the plan also calls for developing hubs of small businesses and some housing along the highway instead of large stores such as Kmart with huge open parking lots. That would make the area economically stronger, he said. The league's plan also calls for building networks of smaller roads at two intersections on James Island, one at Maybank Highway and the other at the James Island connector. The additional smaller roads would not only create more capacity for cars but also would divert traffic from some of the most congested intersections, Martin said. And instead of a giant mound of dirt where the Connector meets Folly Road, the plan calls for a boulevard, with a median and sidewalks.

On Johns Island, the plan includes a "pitchfork" for Maybank Highway, which roughly describes a proposed road network from the Stono River to River Road. Charleston city officials already have approved the plan and Charleston County officials are considering it instead of a plan to widen Maybank Highway. The plan lays the groundwork to develop village-like hubs along the highway that include homes and shops.

Riley said that he can't support the Coastal Conservation League's plan because he doesn't think it will do enough to reduce traffic pressure and increase safety. He also thinks the area needs another route for hurricane evacuations. But he supports "a hybrid" between the league's plan and a high-speed expressway. The area needs more roads that connect James and Johns islands to West Ashley and North Charleston, Riley said. "Think of it as another highway that better connects different areas," he said of the city's plan.

Charleston County Councilman Dickie Schweers, who hadn't heard yet of the mayor's proposal, said he thinks the Coastal Conservation League's plan "should be thoroughly studied." The county has changed direction recently in how it thinks about road building, he said. It's considering building a network of streets instead of widening Maybank Highway and although it's planning to widen Johnnie Dodds Boulevard in Mount Pleasant, that plan also includes sidewalks and bike paths. Interstates are built to go from state to state, Schweers said. "In town, they don't really do well." They've degraded the quality of life for some people, he said.

County Council Chairman Teddie Pryor, who also hadn't heard yet about Riley's plan, said he supports completing the Mark Clark Expressway. "Folks voted to have 526 completed," he said. "It's what the taxpayers want." He also said he hopes the project doesn't encounter any more delays. "The longer we wait, the more it's going to cost us," he said.

from the January 7, 2009, Post & Courier, by Tony Bartelme

Long bulkhead for Kiawah nixed

Kiawah Island's developers can build a 270-foot-long bulkhead next to the county's Beachwalker Park, but not the 2,783-foot erosion barrier the developers originally wanted, state regulators say. Environmentalists were pleased, saying a half-mile-long barrier would harm wildlife. But the developers plan Thursday to ask the state Department of Health and Environmental Control's board to reconsider its decision.

Earlier this year, Kiawah Development Partners sought a state permit to build a half-mile concrete revetment near an undeveloped spit of dunes at the island's southern tip. The company has said it hopes to build 50 homes there, though most of the spit's 150 acres would be put in a nature preserve. The bulkhead proposal outraged conservationists and some residents, who said it would interfere with the spit's process of erosion and accretion. Critics also said it could threaten endangered wildlife. Kiawah Development Partners said the revetment would have a sloping design and contain networks of holes for vegetation, which would give it a more natural appearance.

In December, DHEC's Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management said Kiawah Development Partners could build a 270-foot bulkhead next to the county's Beachwalker Park. But DHEC said the developers couldn't build the remaining 2,513 feet of the bulkhead toward Capt. Sam's Inlet. The agency said if allowed, the bulkhead would prevent "shoreline movement in an area that historically has seen inlet formation," and that it would "facilitate development in a pristine dune area," a federally protected habitat for the piping plover, a threatened species.

In a statement Tuesday, the company said, "We are disappointed in this decision and have filed an appeal. We have submitted evidence which proves that the entire revetment can be designed and built without injury to habitat, species or critical area." Kiawah Development Partners will ask DHEC's board Thursday to hear the company's appeal, said Thom Berry, director of DHEC media relations. The board may decide to hear the appeal at a later date or refer the matter to the courts.

Nancy Vinson, a program director for the Coastal Conservation League, said the state did the right thing to nix the long bulkhead but urged conservationists to monitor the appeals process to make sure DHEC's decision isn't reversed.

The area is in a specially designated zone where the federal government isn't allowed to spend money on flood insurance or beach renourishment. A Watchdog investigation revealed that Kiawah Development Partners and the town of Kiawah asked U.S. Rep. Henry Brown to introduce a bill to remove the area from the zone, making it possible for future homeowners to qualify for federally subsidized flood insurance. Constituents flooded Brown's office with protests, and Brown killed the bill.

from the January 5, 2009, Post & Courier Business Review

Kiawah plans overhaul of 3 key restaurants

Kiawah Island Golf Resort is getting set to mix up and make over its extensive dining operations. The tony vacation getaway said it plans to introduce new restaurant concepts in three of its dining destinations next month, and that it would "more clearly define established concepts in each of the other outlets."

"These changes are designed so that each of the resort's 12 dining outlets will have unique menu choices and price points," the resort said in a statement.

The overhaul includes a name alteration for the signature Ocean Room restaurant in the seaside hotel, The Sanctuary, to Ocean Room Prime. The new steakhouse will offer hand-selected cuts of beef and chops as well as other signature dishes. Also, Tomasso will be the new Italian-inspired incarnation of the Turtle Point Clubhouse. And the Atlantic Room at the Ocean Course Clubhouse will home in on seafood fare featuring "modern American twists" on seasonal selections.

The other restaurants will tweak their menus "to support their original dining concepts," according to Roger Warren, resort president. The revamp was the result of what Warren described as an extensive industry research and a guest survey conducted in 2008. "Five years after the opening of The Sanctuary, we felt that it was time to do a wide-ranging review of our entire food and beverage philosophy," he said in a statement.

The resort analyzed its pricing and menu diversity for the past five years and also looked at the F&B operations of eight comparable properties from across the country. "What we learned was that our dining choices, over the years, had melded into similar menus and similar options," Warren said. "What guests were looking for was variety." The resort also plans to more clearly define the difference in pricing at the dozen dining outlets to give guests a better idea of what the tab will be in advance.