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Watson Hill development proposal still in tug-of-war
By Rachel Pleasant
Staff Writer
The latest legal step in the story of the Watson Hill development and the pivotal piece of land dubbed the Barry Tract was made last month when the town of Summerville responded to a lawsuit filed by the city of North Charleston.
In the filing, Summerville reasserts its claim on the Barry Tract and takes issue with several points made in the North Charleston suit, specifically its handling of annexation proceedings.
North Charleston annexed the Barry Tract, a slice of land in Mateeba Gardens, and land off Ashley River Road on June 7.
Summerville had already annexed the Barry Tract June 4.
The Barry Tract plays a vital role in the future of Watson Hill because without it, the Watson Hill land is not contiguous to North Charleston’s boundaries. As required by law, land must be contiguous to a municipality’s boundaries in order to be annexed. North Charleston wants to annex Watson Hill and allow developer S.C. Property Holdings to build as many as 4,500 homes.
In its lawsuit, North Charleston questions the legitimacy of Summerville’s annexation of the Barry Tract.
Among the city’s claims:
• That North Charleston was already in the process of annexing the Barry property when Summerville announced its intentions.
• That Summerville ran an advertisement in The Post and Courier announcing a public hearing regarding the annexation on April 28, prior to actually receiving the needed annexation petition.
• That Summerville only gave 29 days notice of the public hearing rather than the legally required 30 days. Furthermore, North Charleston claims Summerville did not provide an adequate description of the properties to be annexed and that an accompanying map was inaccurate.
In its response, Summerville denies those allegations.
While the Barry Tract issue is tied up in court, developer Richard Lam is continuing to plan Watson Hill. Should the subdivision be annexed into Dorchester County, Watson Hill would be reduced to 1,200 condos and homes to abide by density restrictions imposed by that county. Should the project be annexed into North Charleston, he would increase that number.
“We’re going ahead with our planning,” he said. “We’re moving ahead with phase one, which Dorchester indicated it would be willing to consider.”
In other Watson Hill news, a motion to dismiss the lawsuit filed by Lam’s company, Riverbroze, against Mo and Mickey Barry was to be conducted Sept. 8 but will be rescheduled because Judge Diane Goodstein has recused herself from the matter.
After the Barrys learned North Charleston wanted to annex Watson Hill, they canceled an agreement to sell their property, and Riverbroze filed suit.
No one from Goodstein’s office returned phone messages.
Rachel Pleasant is a staff writer for the Business Journal. E-mail her at rpleasant@charlestonbusiness.com.
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