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Letter ot the editor

Published Thursday, September 02, 2010 2:13 PM

Summerville Journal Scene ®

Dear Editor,

On August 16th I attended a Planning Board Meeting where homeowners living

on or near Harvest Way off of Central Avenue stood in opposition to a

rezoning of a Harvest Way parcel from R-1 to B-3 General Business.

Most feel it's a lost cause to oppose the "Good Old Boy" system but some,

myself included, feel that you fight for just yet lost causes even harder.

If you follow the bottom left margin's "Town Comprehensive Plan" link on the

Town's website at www.Summerville.sc.us, it leads to a link entitled "Future

Land Use Map #2." The map shows the area between Butternut Road and Old

Orangeburg as a "Medium Residential Neighborhood District," which the

"Future Land Use Element" page defines as a district that "promotes single

family neighborhoods of medium density."

Most Central Avenue frontage parcels between Butternut and Orangeburg were

historically farm lands transitioning to residential. Then in October 2007,

without any zoning hearing, published notice or onsite notice, Town Council

voted to violate the Town's comprehensive plan and destroy the area's

residential character by secretly spot zoning 8 parcels from County R-4 to

Town B-3 at the time of annexation.

Now, I sat and listened at a Summerville Planning Board rezoning hearing as

developers sought to use those secret B3 re-zonings as justification for

encroaching even deeper into residential areas. I know a bit about that

myself.

Why was I there? I live across the street in Senrab Farms where on October

14, 2009, without any zoning hearing or published or onsite notice, Town

Council annexed and re-zoned a parcel from County residential to Town AC,

allowing a recreational business to operate inside our subdivision.

While I've filed suit challenging the Town's secret re-zoning practices, it

seems that important evidence which was in the Town's possession is either

missing or has been destroyed, including tape recordings of the two Town

Council annexation/re-zoning meetings and also a written request I filed

with Town Clerk Lisa Wallace on February 27, 2009, asking that the Town

"please place my name on the mailing list for notification of all requests

for zoning changes in my neighborhood."

Town Council is playing fast and loose with our homes and lives. Why did

taxpayers pay for a master development plan if Council is free to engage in

spot zoning that ignores it?

S.C. Code of Laws Section 6-29-760 states, "Before . amending any zoning .

maps, the governing authority or the planning commission, if authorized by

the governing authority, shall hold a public hearing on it, which must be

advertised and conducted according to lawfully prescribed procedures. If no

established procedures exist, then at least fifteen days' notice of the time

and place of the public hearing must be given in a newspaper of general

circulation in the municipality or county. In cases involving rezoning,

conspicuous notice shall be posted on or adjacent to the property affected."

In that they write and pass laws themselves, (ordinances) it's frightening

that a majority of Town Council members read the above State law as implying

that a public hearing and published notice need not occur if the Town's

zoning map is amended at the time of annexation. And how do they avoid the

final sentence's requirement of conspicuous notice when rezoning? They

fictitiously pretend that County zoning simply does not exist and thus there

was never any zoning change.

I urge Summerville Planning Board members to write or appear before Town

Council and as our planning experts, alert Council that failure to hold

public zoning hearings and follow South Carolina zoning law is both

destroying the Comprehensive Plan and the residential character of existing

neighborhoods.

Additionally, I urge Town Council to close the "Blueblood Farmland Rezoning

Loophole," which allows lifelong friends having old family farmlands just

outside the Town limits to annex and secretly rezone them to General

Business (B-3).

I warn all living near the Town limits to keep an eagle's eye on the zoning

classifications of the properties around you. You simply cannot trust Town

Council to alert you . Also, if you need to resort to the Courts for

protection, keep your other eye on the evidence needed to prove your case.

Sincerely,

Larry E. Kinard

Saddle Trail

Summerville

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104 East Doty Avenue | Summerville, SC 29483 | 843-873-9424 office | 843-873-9432 fax