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Zoning change could bring high-rise condos to Folly Beach
By Shannon Cavanaugh
Contributing Writer
Roof tops, now tree high, will grow taller as luxury condos reach skyward. There is no limit. The Folly Beach City Council approved last month a C-4 zoning with no height restrictions, allowing developers to build as high as their money will go.
“What dollars will do around here . . . money talks,” said Wes Lybrand, who leases the Tollbooth house for his surf shop on the newly C-4 zoned property. “You know, some of us don’t want to see condos.”
For months, concerned citizens have asked the Folly Beach City Council not to zone the property as C-4. But the council in less than 10 minutes, approved the zoning change.
The council even went against the recommendations of its planning commission to not zone the property C-4 with no height restrictions. Councilman Eddie Ellis was the sole vote against C-4 zoning.
More than 20 residents from Sol Legare turned out to protest the zoning change. Sol Legare is a predominantly black community settled after the Civil War. It is under Charleston County jurisdiction but borders the marsh and Barber/Tollbooth property that is now zoned C-4.
The mayor refused them and others an opportunity to speak, saying state law does not require him to do so on a final reading. However, some thought courtesy might.
“The neighbors wanted to talk, and city council walked out. Notice of this change was supposed to have been posted. We didn’t know anything about it until two days ago. We never got a letter or anything, and the law requires that. I don’t like this one bit,” said Cubby Wilder, who was born and raised on Sol Legare and is a former James Island councilman.
“Here, this community is old and historical. At one time, it was wasteland that no one wanted but the black man. Our families have lived here for six generations. This has got to be about money. Why would they rezone it commercial?”
Of the seven tracts recently annexed, the Folly Beach City Council followed only three of the planning commission’s zoning recommendations: C-3 on the Clam Farm, C-2 on the Piggly Wiggly property and R-3 on Peas Island.
Other properties, such as the Barber/Tollbooth tract, were rezoned from C-2 to C-4 with no height limitations, opening the way for high-rise condos. The planning commission had encouraged the council to zone the marsh as N-1, a nature conservancy.
“It all started with the Piggly Wiggly. I wanted the Piggly Wiggly,” said Folly Beach Mayor Vernon Knox.
“I knew there would be some opposition to it, but I was not worried because we were gaining a lot of land and tax base, and if the state keeps doing away with property taxes, it’s in our best interest to increase our population,” Knox said.
“C-4 zoning on the Barber/Tollbooth property, I knew it was a problem, but I had made promises to people. If mistakes were made, it was unintentionally.”
Robert Barber Sr. owns the Tollbooth tract and Bowens Island, but his son, Robert Barber Jr., handled the transaction. The city annexed the properties on Aug. 9, with the city council rezoning Bowens Island from R-1 to C-2 and the Tollbooth tract from C-2 to C-4 at the request of the Barbers.
The mayor said his only obligation to voters “is to never not petition the council if someone wants to annex into Folly Beach. All I did was bring the request to them. The council passed it.”
However, the mayor voted to approve the zoning change, as did Councilman Wallace Benson, a decision he now regrets. Benson is running for mayor in the April election, a seat that Knox will vacate.
“I can honestly say the council should have changed it and put restrictions on the property. But the mayor did all the negotiations with the Barbers and brought this to city council as an agreement that Folly Beach will follow. I agreed with the public; we were moving too fast and needed to slow things down, but that didn’t happen,” said Benson. “If we had voted against the agreement and put restrictions on the land, the Barbers would not have come into the city.”
Councilman Bob Linville agrees it all started with Folly Beach wanting to annex in the Piggly Wiggly to receive the tax base, and the only way to do that was to annex the Barber property on their terms.
“We were caught in this whole mess when the Piggly Wiggly came to the mayor and wanted to be annexed into Folly Beach. Mr. Barber’s property lies between Folly Beach and the Pig, and when the city went to Mr. Barber about annexing his land into Folly Beach, he said, ‘Yes, you can annex my land on the condition that I lose nothing. I do not want less zoning restrictions than I presently have in Charleston County,’” said Linville.
Charleston County had no height restrictions but did have a marsh setback of 25 feet. Under Folly Beach’s zoning laws there is no marsh setback.
“The mayor said, ‘OK, that’s a deal,’ and gave us, city council, the same scenario,” Linville said.
“A promise was made, and ethically and morally, we had to keep the mayor’s promise. If we had voted against it, we would have lost the Pig and the dollars and tax base that came with it.”
Councilman Tim Goodwin says at the time he voted on “no height restrictions” C-4 zoning, he was not aware of any development plans for the Tollbooth House property.
“At the time we voted on C-4, I tried to put a 25-foot marsh setback on the property, but council voted it down,” said Goodwin. “The reason we voted for C-4 on the Tollbooth properties was to get to the tax base at Piggly Wiggly. We also got two properties on the other side that are zoned C-2. These tax bases will maintain and help pay for services we enjoy today on Folly Beach and to keep us from raising taxes. The developers were willing to work with the city on decreasing covered land and pavement.”
According to Sue Breslin, she and three others are filing a lawsuit against the city of Folly Beach to challenge the C-4 zoning for incompatible land use and not matching the comprehensive plan of Folly Beach.
The lawsuit will also cite the city for not following legal procedures for zoning changes, which city council has now corrected. They had to go back through the process of voting for C-4 a second time. The final reading came on Dec. 20 when the mayor called for a special council meeting.
Meanwhile, a developer from Edisto that had proposed building 76 luxury condos on the Barber/Tollbooth property and possibly “building a high-rise like Folly’s never seen before” has withdrawn its bid to buy the property.
“After seeing all that opposition, we just backed away from it. It’s just a mess out there on Folly Beach,” said Chris Bird, a real estate agent with RE/MAX by the Sea. “It was not worth risking the dollars.”
For others on city council, it is not worth risking a vote come election time.
At the next city council meeting, Councilman Ellis plans to propose an amendment to C-4 zoning that would set a height limit of 35 feet above base flood elevation. That would limit developers to a skyline of three stories.
Benson says he will now vote in favor of a height restriction. Linville on the other hand said “no way.”
“Morally, I can’t do it, vote against something I’ve promised and approved three times. It’s like stabbing somebody in the back,” Linville said.
“Now, unless Mr. Barber wants to stand in front of council and tell us he’ll accept a height limit, I would consider it, but if he’s not there to say it, there’s absolutely no way I’ll vote for a height restriction.”
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