Volume 1 Issue 8

August 10, 2007

Reg“gotta” get to Rockville
By Kristin Hackler

Seabrook Town Council meeting – July 24, 2007*

Public hearing
A public hearing was held at 2:25pm, a few minutes before the 2:30pm Council meeting, to discuss the proposed ordinances for repair to non-conforming buildings (Ordinance 2007-06) and for the rezoning of seven properties to agricultural conservation (Ordinance 2007-07). There were no citizens’ comments, however, the Council had a few questions concerning the wording of Ordinance 2007-06 for Town attorney Steve Brown. Two changes were made: one provided a narrower definition of “destroyed building” in section 3.30.20 and the other changed the wording “increase its current appraised value” to “then current” in section 3.30.40. Both Ordinances were passed unanimously for their second reading. Copies of these ordinances are available at Seabrook Town Hall.

Many thanks
Mayor McNulty presented a check for $10,000 to assistant chief Eddie Booth of the Charleston Fire Department. Chief Rusty Thomas was unable to make it to the meeting, but assistant chief Booth expressed the department’s profound thanks for the Town’s donation. “Thank you,” he said, “and our firefighters’ family members thank you. We’re going to get through this, by the grace of God.” He shook the Mayor’s hand and assured the room, “If you ever need help, we’ll come and get you.”

Fabulous financials
Mayor McNulty announced that the town is $90,000 over what they expected to come in to the Town budget at this point, six months into the year, due mainly to business licenses. “This is $10,000 better than last year,” said the Mayor. “We’re doing fine for six months into the year.”

Tails wagging for a new dog park
Marcia Hider’s presentation of a new dog park for the island probably explains the mysterious appearance of a life-sized black lab stuffed animal that was sitting happily in the Mayor’s chair when he arrived for the meeting that day. As a representative of the Seabrook Island Property Owners Association Special Projects Committee, Mrs. Hider feels that a new, in-land dog park would be a great addition to the Seabrook Island community. “There has been quite a bit of interest in a proper dog park,” said Mrs. Hider. “The beach seems to be more for big dogs and water-oriented dogs. The smaller, older and water-timid dogs also need a place to go.” Her proposal involves requisitioning an area of roughly ¾ acre behind Town Hall. The area would be fenced in, with a traditional double gate that would prevent loose dogs from slipping out, and would be landscaped with grass and several trees for shade.

“These dogs need a place where they can run around, have fun and have time to play,” added Mrs. Hider. She pointed out that there are six dog parks in the Charleston County area, but the closest one is on James Island, a half hour drive away. “We don’t want any fancy equipment,” she said, “just a comfortable and usable park.” She went on to describe how a proper dog park would promote responsible dog ownership and allow older residents to let their dogs get more exercise than they normally would during a short walk. “Plus, people get a kick out of watching their dogs play together,” she said.

The area behind Town Hall appears to be a perfect place to put the park, since the land allocated for Seabrook’s Town Hall is a little over six acres in size and is zoned as public property. Plus, parking is already in place.

As for cost, Marcia Hider passed out a packet with the complete proposal for the park, along with a breakdown of the necessary costs. Including clearing and grading, fencing with two fences in chain link, landscaping, three benches, water, two aggregate concrete slabs, a gravel drainage ditch, four trash cans, signage for posted rules, two disposable bag dispensers, water dishes and a hose, the total for the project comes to just under $32,000. If the options of installing electricity so owners could bring their dogs out after dark (which might become necessary as the daylight hours get shorter in the winter), adding a sprinkler system, a fan and a bug zapper are included, the cost comes to $39,165.

The Seabrook Island Property Owners Association (SIPOA) has already agreed to maintain and police the park if the Town is willing to pay for its construction and, if needed, help pay for the project itself. As for interest, Mrs. Hider stated that a sign-up sheet passed around during a SIDOG meeting produced over 120 signatures from interested parties.

Mayor McNulty stated his concerns, mainly over the number of dogs that might be in the park at one time, the policing and maintenance of the area, and the fact that Seabrook already has an off-leash section of the beach for dogs to play in. “My real argument is that I don’t think we need both,” said the Mayor, referring to the island potentially having both a beach dog park and an in-land dog park. “I don’t know of a town with a beach provision and a dog park, do you?”

Mrs. Hider guaranteed that she would get back with him about that and meanwhile, the Mayor stated that he and Council would take the idea under consideration. “We have three or four different projects of the table for the Town to consider after the bike path is finished,” he stated. “I think that once we can, we should look at these projects all at once and see we what we can afford.”

Defibrillators available from Beach Patrol
The Mayor received word that the sheriff’s deputies working the island’s Beach Patrol were all certified to use defibrillators and asked the Council to approve the purchase of two new defibrillators at a cost not to exceed $2,500. The motion was passed unanimously.

Bike Path update
Council stated that they had just received their OCRM permit that day for the bike path. With this permit, Council can now advertise for bids and, after giving companies about a month to respond, could select the lowest bidder and begin construction. The project itself, once it gets underway, should only take between 10 and 12 weeks to finish and should be completed by late December of this year.

The only glitch in the project is that the permit is for the path designed by Charleston County. This plan contains no bridges, so there are currently two to three areas that come close to the road. However, the Mayor assured Council that these close areas would only be in place until they received approval for the small bridges.

Mayor’s report
“Recently, more and more people have been leaving the frameworks of their tents up on the beach and taking the canvas home,” said Mayor McNulty. “In some cases, they’re even leaving their chairs out. Now one, that doesn’t look good and two, it increases the chance of danger. If a storm comes up, even a small one, those items could be picked up and blown into someone’s home.”

The Mayor stated that he has informed Beach Patrol to leave notices on any tents left out after 6:00pm that their structures must be removed in 24 hours or they will be ticketed.

In response, Linda Katlin, a resident of the island for the past eleven years, stated that the beach has “become a mess”. “Kids’ toys, anchored chains … I’ve seen Beach Patrol go by and warn them, but it really isn’t effective,” she said. “I’ve toured the coast of Florida and I couldn’t find one town that let anything stay on the beach overnight. We need an ordinance that forbids this.”

Mayor McNulty agreed and stated that the problem could be dealt with under the public nuisance ordinance, “but we need to make sure Beach Patrol gets these items off the beach.”

Jerry Cane, a SIPOA member in the audience, reminded the Mayor that the public nuisance ordinance is limited to watercraft and tents and lawn chairs were not listed under it. “We need more coverage in the ordinance,” he said.

New traffic study for John’s Island
At a regular meeting of County Council held on July 24, 2007, Council approved $75,000 in a non- competitive procurement from the remaining FY 2007 Intersection Allocation budget to establish the Cross Island Parkway Study Update Project with Transystems, and with the understanding that subject to legal review, Staff shall prepare all necessary contract documents in accordance with the standard County Procurement policies.

New piping in place
The 24 inch water pipes to the island are finally going in! The Utility Commission announced that the project, which consists of 11 miles of pipeline, has been divided into four sections and distributed among two contractors in order to expedite the completion of the pipeline. I section, which runs under the Stono River, has been given to Anson Contractors, while the other three sections have gone to R.H. Moore out of Greenville. The total cost of the project comes to $11 million and after the costs of engineering, easements and legal costs have been factored in, the cost will be closer to $12 million.

$2.4 million has been donated by Seabrook Island Utility, with the remaining $9.6 million to be paid by the Department of Agriculture. Now that everyone is set to go, the pipeline is projected to be completed within nine months and the island will have a new pipeline by May or June of next year. This new pipeline will provide all the water needs of the island through build out and can take care of all waste water as well.

Sprinkler system offer
The Seabrook Club is offering sprinkler service for residents at $100/yr. For more information, drop by the Club at 3772 Seabrook Island Road or call 768-2529.

Change requests for buffers and setbacks Ordinance (Ordinance 2007-08)
The Council had the first reading of Ordinance 2007-08 which amends a certain provision of the Town’s DSO (development standards ordinance) relating to buffers, setbacks and parking. The Ordinance states that, in the event a development permit is sought for any parcel of land that is part of a twenty-five (25) acres or more contiguous, commonly owned highland property, the applicant may request that the Planning Commission apply setback or buffer requirements other than those set forth in DSO 5.50.40.10 through 5.50.40.30 for setbacks and DSO 10.30, 10.30.10 and 10.30.20 for buffers. In determining whether to allow the proposed setbacks, the Planning Commission shall consider whether the proposed setbacks or buffers:

• Minimize potential detrimental impacts to the site and surrounding areas.
• Allow for the safe location and orderly arrangement of buildings and structures on the property.
• Allow the economic, orderly and efficient use of the Town’s design standards so as to promote the most efficient and practical use of the property for the Town and its citizens.
• Whether the size, scope, scale and extent of the buffers or setbacks requested by the applicant are appropriate in comparison to any then existing buffers or setback(s) on the property.

Provided, however, that when application of the above referenced formula requires that the applicant has in excess of 250 parking spaces, the Planning Commission may allow for a number less than that required by the formula set forth above based upon the consistent historical parking requirements of the property in issue and whether the proposed number of spaces would be sufficient and appropriate in comparison to the current use of the property and the number of spaces already found on the property.

Mayor McNulty stated that there would be ample opportunity for full discussion on this issue. “I’m not trying to ‘put something over’ on anyone,” he said. “If this is approved there will be a public hearing in one month.” The ordinance passed unanimously.

*Please note that these are not the approved minutes of the Seabrook Island Town Council meeting. The approved minutes from this meeting will be available at the next Seabrook Island Council.