Planned Kiawah development would affect county parkBy Tony Bartelme (Contact)
The Post and Courier
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Roughly 30 years ago, Charleston County landed a 100-year lease on about 2 acres of beachfront property on Kiawah Island and created Beachwalker Park. At the time, 100 years seemed like forever. Watchdog
Are you ticked off by people who illegally use handicap placards? Want to know which restaurants are making you sick or which gas stations have bad pumps? Now, with Kiawah's developers planning to build 50 homes next to Beachwalker Park, county park officials hope someday to make that public access permanent. "That's my goal," said Thomas O'Rourke, executive director of the Charleston County Parks and Recreation Commission, adding that his agency has held informal talks with Kiawah Development Partners about the issue for five years. While the county still has about 70 years to go on its lease, its Beachwalker Park will be affected by Kiawah Development Partners' plans to build homes on a 120-acre spit on the island's southwestern tip. To access that land, developers would have to build a road through the park's parking area, O'Rourke said, adding that the developers have an easement allowing them to do so. Asked if the county was considering buying the undeveloped spit, O'Rouke said, "That would be very expensive, and it's certainly not for sale." He added that Kiawah's developers have been "amazing to work with." Leonard Long of Kiawah Development Partners said the company plans to develop 50 homes on 20 acres and put much of the rest of the land in a conservation easement to protect it from further development. He said the company has firm plans to go forward. To further the development, Kiawah Development Partners recently asked U.S. Rep. Henry Brown to introduce a bill to make it possible for future home- owners to qualify for federally subsidized flood insurance. The land is in a barrier island protection zone that prohibits the federal government from spending money on flood insurance and beach renourishment projects. Conservation groups call the bill a break for the wealthy at the expense of taxpayers and the environment. The company also is seeking permits to build a half-mile concrete revetment on the Kiawah River not far from the county park's parking area. That project would stop the river from eating into the banks and eventually cutting through to the beach, essentially turning the spit into an island. Leslie Sautter, a College of Charleston geology professor, said that Kiawah steadily accumulates sand on the island's southwestern tip but that major storms have cut through the spit to the Kiawah River numerous times in the last two centuries. "It is a terribly fragile area, similar to the spit on Pawleys (Island) that was truncated by Hugo," she said. Reach Tony Bartelme at 937-5554 or tbartelme@postandcourier.com. |
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Comments
This article has 11 comment(s)
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Posted by eatmorecollards on August 14, 2008 at 4:52 a.m. (Suggest removal)
A whole lot of people deserve the stupid award here. As for Henry Brown, we know who you are working for now.
Posted by jk_newhard on August 14, 2008 at 8:01 a.m. (Suggest removal)
So, not only would my money be going to subsidize insurance on million dollar homes built on an unstable sand bar but the access road would cut through the park's parking lot? This "deal" smells worse and worse all the time.
Posted by mkris on August 14, 2008 at 8:18 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Developers dump a load in the backyard for the rest of us to clean up.
HOW MUCH WAS HENRY BROWN PAID FOR HIS CONGRESSIONAL INFLUENCE AND THIS BILL? Isn't this the same guy that burned down part of the national forest adn introduced a bill to get a free pass?
Posted by Edwin435 on August 14, 2008 at 8:48 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I am not paying for the wealthy to have a break on insurance so that they can build a home on a barrier island all the while setting up for the closing of a state park which will deny us common folk access to the beach there. If you want to build it pay for it....thanks for sticking it to the little guy....AGAIN !
Posted by LocalHero on August 14, 2008 at 9:21 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Henry Brown is in the developer's pocket. I can't tell from this article if Tom O'Rourke (County parks chief) is on board with this scam or not. He should be fighting this just based on the impact it will have on the park. He states The spit would be too expensive to buy and that it's not up for sale...but that's only because the developer is waiting to see if he can buy enough influence to have the taxpayers pay for the insurance on his 50 houses. Without that the spit of sand would be worth a lot less and would probably be up for sale in short order.
I think O'Rourke must be in on this too or he'd be screaming bloody murder like the rest of the honest people.
Building houses on this "terribly fragile area" would be incredibly irresponsible.
Posted by amylrod on August 14, 2008 at 9:22 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Henry Brown needs to go.
If people want to build their homes near the beach to have a view of the ocean, they obviously can afford it since it is their choice. However, they can also afford to rebuild if they lose their homes to the sea. Don't expect us to pay for the troubles you may face down the road because of your choices.
Posted by bigwhip on August 14, 2008 at 10:48 a.m. (Suggest removal)
This "spit" of land looks like a poster picture for a beach renourishment program; another IOP.
Posted by guidedbystewart on August 14, 2008 at 1 p.m. (Suggest removal)
To me, Brown is your typical republican. No surprise here.
Posted by rollnwflo on August 14, 2008 at 5:25 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Guidedby...if you think only Republicans are involved, then I suggest you do some homework into the development group. I say if they are convinced, as was mentioned in the previous article, that the area will be developed, then do it on their own dime, not the taxpayers that they will gate out. That would be Republican doctrane, smaller government, free enterprise sort of thinking. Having the taxpayer pay for it would lend itself to more of the Democratic party type effort.
Posted by mkris on August 15, 2008 at 10:01 a.m. (Suggest removal)
HOW MUCH WAS THIS REPUBLCIAN CONGRESSMAN PAID TO INTRODUCE THIS BILL>
Posted by jbgooch on August 22, 2008 at 12:40 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I have fished this inlet for 40+ years, long before Kiawah and Seabrook Islands were developed. This inlet shifts more than a politician during an election cycle.
Not only will this change in the Coastal Barrier Resources Act allow development to destroy a part of Beachwalker County Park, it will lead to further degradation of the Kiawah River, it will damage the estuarine ecosystem behind the islands that our fisheries depends upon, but it will ultimately be destroyed by the inevitable hurricane, costing the taxpayers even more money.
Congressman Brown is wrong on this. Every citizen should contact him and tell him he is wrong. Congressman Brown can be reached in Washington at (202) 225-3176. His fax number is (202) 225-3407. He can be reached by email by logging on to his website at http://brown.house.gov/Contact/index.htm....