Even though there was no action taken on the proposed annexation of the Andell property, next to Bohicket Marina, into the Town of Seabrook Island, the Seabrook Island Town Council meeting on August 22 was still quite eventful.
Without Town Council Member Pat Fox, who recently resigned from her position, there would have only been only four members of Council to vote on the proposal anyway. But just moments before the Town Council meeting took place, the applicant formally withdrew their request for annexation.
Although there seemed to be a collective sigh of relief among the packed room of Seabrook Island residents who had come to share public comments in response to the proposed annexation, there were still many who shared their feelings of skepticism.
The letter that was submitted by Bohicket Creek Investors LLC of Charleston came just before the meeting was to start, and therefore there was no time to even update the agenda. That was the reason that the announcement of the withdrawal of the application by Mayor John Gregg came as such a surprise.
Two ordinances were to be voted on at the meeting in relation to the Andell annexation into Seabrook Island. The first one, Ordinance 2023-06, read as, “An ordinance annexing Charleston County Tax Map Number 204-00-00- 010 containing approximately 17.75 +/- acres at 4484 Betsy Kerrison Parkway.” The other ordinance, Ordinance 2023- 07, read as “An ordinance adopting a Mixed-Use Concept Plan and Development Conditions for the Andell Mixed Use project.”
A resident on Betsy Kerrison Parkway, Rich Thomas, spoke during the public comment session in opposition to the annexation. He said, “This withdrawal is a typical developer strategy. They will try again later. We’ll see him again. This development is half a mile from where I live. It affects my neighbors and me much more than it affects Seabrook Island residents because it is in our neighborhood. No one has reached out to any of us. The developer hasn’t, the town of Seabrook hasn’t, and that is disrespectful. That isn’t how I would treat my neighbors. I don’t trust this developer. He said back in February that he spoke to the community and he hasn’t. He said he would set up meetings and he never did. He is also the one who has held the MUSC development hostage by not allowing them to have an egress from the development onto Andell Bluff Road. That isn’t a person you should trust.”
After a few comments from other Seabrook Island residents in opposition of the annexation into Seabrook Island, the action taken by Seabrook Island Town Council was to “postpone indefinitely” the ordinances that are now a moot point.
Residents, however, did question the language of “postponing indefinitely” since, to them, it seemed to imply that “postponing” could potentially bring them back at a later date.
Town Administrator Joe Cronin commented that he wanted to go on record stating that if Bohicket Creek Investors wanted to resubmit, they would have to fill out a new application and the Town would have to create new ordinances.
“This is just disposing of it off the agenda,” he said. “The only way it could come back is if a member of council motioned to bring it back, but the application is gone. We’re removing these ordinances from any further consideration. If they decided to submit a new application, it would be a new application and then new ordinances would have to be created.”
The 18-acre property, referred to as Andell, would be home to a private yacht club with a boat dock and private clubhouse, boathouse and pool house.
There are also plans for other outdoor amenities and 10 rental cottages for members and the public. The entire developed portion would take up about four acres of the total 18 acres. The rest of the property would be open space with some vegetation buffers, pathways and a community crabbing dock.
The actual address of 4484 Betsy Kerrison Parkway is located across the street from the Kiawah Island Town Hall and next door to Bohicket Marina.
This property would be connected to Bohicket Marina by a pedestrian boardwalk and road.
Currently, the property is zoned in unincorporated Charleston County for agricultural and residential use.
According to Seabrook Island’s planning staff, this designation would actually allow for a variety of agricultural and light industrial uses, which they say would have a greater impact on the existing natural assets than the proposed development from Bohicket Creek Investors. The planning staff for Seabrook Island supported the planning commission recommending Andell for annexation into Seabrook Island.