Mark Anthony Pratt
Comedy Club
Microphone on stage.
More than one member of the Sullivan’s Island Town Council has agreed to “hit the pause button” on a request to rezone a historic property on the island so developers can create a private club.
At its regularly scheduled meeting Aug. 15, the Council heard from 28 speakers – most of them island residents – on the pros and cons of rezoning the Sand Dunes Club property to allow Sullivan’s Island Bathing Company to spend more than $30 million to renovate the 90-yearold facility and turn it into the Ocean Club, which will cost $60,000 to join.
They also listened to a lengthy statement from Council Member Scott Millimet, who pointed out that “We should not be guided by the developer’s sense of urgency or a goal to have the club open by any specific date. Haste causes errors – and we may get only one shot to get this right.”
Millimet suggested that the town hire an expert to study traffic issues that might occur if the club is permitted to open at 1735 Atlantic Ave., and he questioned whether the presence of the club would require the town to increase the size of its Fire and Police Departments.
“If added staffing is required, it may cost the town taxpayers hundreds of thousands a year,” he said. “It is hard to ask the town to pay higher taxes to cover the safety needs of a private club to which many or most islanders may not be members.”
The following day, Millimet said the next move should be made by the developers.
“The ball’s in their court,” he commented. “They need to show us something different. Their proposal creates two communities; I’m looking for one. The Council has hit the pause button. It’s up to the developers to reach out with some ideas that are more equitable to all island residents. They need to go down a different track.”
“I don’t think that’s their last proposal, but we’ll find out,” he added.
On Aug. 16, the manager of Sullivan’s Island Bathing Company said he was “very encouraged” by the support the developers received at the Council meeting.
“The overwhelming majority expressed strong support for the Ocean Club. I think the people who spoke and the letters that were submitted on both sides were articulate. I heard one Town Council member ask to push the pause button, but I don’t think we heard the Council render any kind of decision.”
“We’re eager to work with the town. We haven’t heard anyone raise any issues we had not discussed among ourselves. We’re eager to work with them on things that are important to them and important to us,” he added.
Other Council members agreed at the Aug. 15 meeting that the town should be in no hurry to grant the developers the zoning changes they seek.
Gary Visser said he “wasn’t convinced of the legality of zoning applied to a single property within a residential district, with no adjoining properties of like use.”
“I have several concerns on the desire to move this forward so quickly,” Jody Latham pointed out. “I don’t see a need to be in a rush. I don’t think we have enough information yet to make an informed, intelligent and complete decision. We need to slow down.”
Mayor Pat O’Neil added that “I agree with the need to make sure we proceed as deliberately as we can. This is a giant decision one way or the other. We need to make that decision very thoughtfully and carefully.”
“I don’t know that we need a Taj Mahal on this island, Millimet concluded. “We need a community center, and I’m all for that. But the current proposal, in my mind, is really a nonstarter.”
