Council votes against Washington tripBy Tony Bartelme (Contact)
The Post and Courier
Thursday, August 28, 2008
KIAWAH island — In a split vote Wednesday, Town Council nixed a plan by the mayor to travel to Washington next month to testify in favor of a bill that helps Kiawah's developers on a federal flood insurance issue. Mayor William Wert called a special meeting amid concerns over a bill introduced recently by 1st District Rep. Henry Brown. Brown's bill would remove the mile-long sand spit by the county's Beachwalker Park from the Coastal Barrier Resources System. Kiawah Development Partners wants to build 50 homes on this spit, but land inside this federal zone doesn't qualify for federal flood insurance or money for beach renourishment projects. Wert sent a letter in May to Brown saying the town fully supported the legislation. After a Post and Courier Watchdog report on the issue, some council members said they weren't aware of the letter. During Wednesday's meeting, Wert apologized for not sending copies to council members. "It was an act of omission, not commission," he said. He explained that he thought a 2005 agreement with Kiawah Development Partners required the town to help with permits and other government matters, and that the letter to Brown was an effort to fulfill that obligation. Wert reiterated his support for the bill. Future homeowners on the spit should be eligible for government-backed flood insurance just like other homeowners on Kiawah, he said. "It's a matter of fairness." Two councilmen, Steve Orban and Charles Lipuma, questioned why the town should send the mayor to Washington to support the bill. They said the mayor's letter should be sufficient. When Wert made a motion to authorize the trip, council leaders voted 2-2, killing the trip. Several people attending the meeting called the vote a small victory against plans by developers to build homes on a spit next to the county's Beachwalker Park. "They ought to give it to the county," Sidi Limehouse, a farmer near Kiawah, said. "It's idiotic to build on that sand spit. I wouldn't build a doghouse there." Congress created the Coastal Barrier Resources System in 1982 to discourage building on undeveloped hurricane-prone coastal barrier land. It takes an act of Congress to remove land from this zone, and Brown introduced a bill doing so in June. Wert and officials with Kiawah Development Partners said the development will go forward whether or not Congress passes the bill. In recent interviews, Leonard Long, executive vice president of the company, said that Brown's bill would enlarge the Coastal Barrier Resource System by 116 acres, trading land on the beach for more acreage inland, and that the company has agreed with the town to build 50 homes on the spit, fewer than the town allows. Because of this, Long said, Brown's bill will enhance the ecological value of the area. The company also hired scientists to do extensive studies of wildlife around Capt. Sam's Inlet to ensure the development does no harm, he said. Reach Tony Bartelme at 937-5554 or tbartelme@post andcourier.com. Note to readers: Earlier versions of this story gave the wrong spelling for Mayor William Wert's name. The Post and Courier regrets the error. |
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Comments
This article has 8 comment(s)
Posted by eatmorecollards on August 28, 2008 at 5:58 a.m. (Suggest removal)
This is one of most blatant violations of public trust, by elected officials, in support of big business, in the name of profit, I have ever seen reported.
Posted by lou9 on August 28, 2008 at 7:18 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Why is the town of Kiawah entering into "agreements" with a private development company? The mayor trying to act on his own without council approval? Things that make you go hmmmmm........
Posted by DoaMM on August 28, 2008 at 7:31 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I'm glad the council caught him in the act. How on Earth can a shaky area known as a "spit" get clearance for Federal assistance for insurance anyway? I hope it never makes it through. If you have the money to build there, then you've got the $10,000 or so a year for flood insurance...And if it does go through, I'll laugh my arse off when your "glorious" homes are destroyed by the first storm that rolls in.
Posted by tc1 on August 28, 2008 at 9:37 a.m. (Suggest removal)
And they will laugh theirs off while we pay for it, with everyone knowing all along it was going to happen.
Posted by bigwhip on August 28, 2008 at 9:42 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Mayor Wirt, Henry Brown, and Leonard Long all have egg on their faces and are hereby awarded a PHD in spinning. In this Clintonesque move they are supposedly doing something for the betterment of local ecology in their minds and have tried to do an end run on the public. It is called greed and at the expense of tax payers. Shame, shame, shame! Sham, sham, sham. Kudos to Mr. Orban & Mr. Lipuma for representing the majority and the tax payer.
Posted by Bones on August 28, 2008 at 10:58 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Early,
Unfortunately, Government thinks that OUR wallets ARE an open checkbook that they can raid to provide favors to their "friends", who return that favor with cash back to them via campaign contributions. Vote ALL of the crooks out, send CITIZENS (not republicrats or democans) up there for 2 terms them back home to live under the laws they enact.
Posted by wjhamilton3 on August 28, 2008 at 11:31 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I can't tell if the Town of Kiawah Island has endorsed this plan or not? Shouldn't they hold a public hearing, take down the testimony and collect the exhibits and then vote on it and send the resolution to the Feds?
What will the town's responsibilty be for taking care of this area after a storm. Who will have to haul the sand in to rebuild the spit, if it washes out? I understand the island has a large Hurricane/Capital fund but can it take on that much exposure?
We sold our family's beach front condo. Living on edge four months out of the year just wasn't worth it. We got out right before the market tanked. I'm as close to the ocean as I want to be.
I like the Atlantic Ocean when I visit it, but I don't like it when it tries to visit me.
Posted by mkris on August 28, 2008 at 11:32 a.m. (Suggest removal)
What is this "special" and "secret" agreement that Kiawah and the Developers? Why was it taken to executive session?
Has anyone seen it? Is this the same company that is developing all of Kiawah or is it just a subsidary? Why did they put someone on the Kiawah natural habitat Conservenacy board that has an interest in this project and then testify in favor?