Planning and Zoning - Regular Meeting

🎵 🎵 Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Amen. . . Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. . . Thank you.

We'll get started.

Mr. Williams, will you please report us out of executive session?

Council went to executive session for the reasons stated in the motion. No action was taken.

Thank you. I'll entertain a motion to adjourn. So moved. Second. Please say aye. Aye. Opposed? We're adjourned.

Now. Good evening, I'd like to call the Committee on Community Services meeting to order and ask that Ms. Taylor James to provide the invocation for us and Councilman Philip Obey to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance to the United States of America.

Let us pray. Dear Lord, we thank you for the opportunity to gather and serve our community. We ask you to give us wisdom, patience, and guidance as we discuss these matters before us. In your name we pray, amen.

United States of America.

Ms. Clerk, has this meeting been properly noticed by the Freedom of Information Act?

Yes, sir, it has.

Thank you. First, we have consideration of a proclamation, a proclamation to recognize and honor Chris Wolfe for her exemplary leadership and service as chair of the Berkeley 250 Commission. Will Ms. Wolfe and Supervisor Cribb meet me at the podium?

This is a proclamation recognizing Berkeley 250, America's 250th anniversary commission.

Whereas in the year 2026, Berkeley County joins the nation in commemorating the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States of America, honoring the courage and vision of those who secured our independence and established the enduring principles of liberty and self-government. And whereas the Berkeley 250 Commission was established to guide the county's commemoration of this historic milestone, coordinating public programs, educational initiatives, and community celebrations worthy of so significant an occasion. And whereas Chris Volf, has served with distinction as chair of the Berkeley 250 Commission, providing steady and dedicated leadership in the planning and preparation of Berkeley County's 250th birthday celebrations. And whereas under her guidance, the commission has brought together county officials, historians, civic organizations, and volunteers in a shared spirit of purpose, ensuring that Berkeley County's rich history and role in the founding of our nation are properly honored and remembered. And whereas her tireless commitment, sound judgment, and generosity of time and talent have been instrumental in the commission's progress and have set a lasting standard for civic leadership in Berkeley County, now, therefore, Berkeley County Council does hereby recognize and extends their sincere gratitude to Chris Wolf for her exemplary leadership as chair of the Berkeley 250 Commission and extend to her the heartfelt thanks and best wishes of the citizens of Berkeley County. Adopted this 14th day of September, 2026, Berkeley County, South Carolina, Johnny P. Cribb, County Supervisor. Congratulations. Thank you.

Thank you all for this amazing honor. It's been my pleasure. And I've been a beneficiary in so many way of so many blessings. I just want to take a couple of minutes to describe them for you. I wrote them down so I wouldn't forget. I have had the honor of working with committed, skilled, and passionate board members, volunteers, and fellow Lowcountry 250 organizations. I've had the financial backing and ongoing emotional support of county council. I've had the 250 commission project funding to educate and preserve the rich assets of Berkeley County's revolutionary era. I've had the cooperation and promotion from Berkeley County Administration, the Tourism Department, Parks and Rec Department, the Library System, and more people than I can even tell you about today. I've had the benefit of Charles Baxley's and Keith Gerdine's early visions of revolutionary Berkeley's importance to the state and to our country. I've had exposure to the wealth and significance of Berkeley County's revolutionary assets. I've had partnerships with the Berkeley County Museum, Lord Berkeley Conservation Trust, Santee Cooper Old Santee Canal Park, Berkeley Historical Society, Daniel Island Historical Society, Berkeley North Historical Society, Metkin Abbey, Biggin Church Cemetery Association, Cypress Gardens, and many, many more. I've had extraordinary and willing lecturers, presenters, performers, reenactors, musicians, and their thousands of revolutionary Berkeley interested audience members. We've had cheerful collaborations with large and small municipalities, nonprofits, and communities throughout Berkeley County. And, of course, we all are beholden to the creation of a democratic republic by our revolutionary forebears. Huzzah! And thank you so much.

Please, Berkeley County Francis Marion Commission, join us up here, because without this extraordinary theme, this would never have worked.

Here we go.

Well, there is that. Is that it? Okay. Okay. One, two, three. Thank you all very much for your time and for everything.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Thank you, thank you. Appreciate you. Thank you.

So I'll entertain a motion from council. On that, move to approve. Any discussion? All in favor of the proclamation, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed?

This motion carries. Thank you.

Next is approval of minutes from the regular committee meeting held on July 13th, 2026, and the special committee meeting held on August 24th, 2026, which have been approved.

Second.

Are there any corrections to these minutes? Seeing none, all in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? The minutes stand as presented. Next, we have agenda items. First, regarding the Hanahan Senior Center, PCO-044. Ms. Brown, do you have anything you want to add?

No, sir.

OK. Any discussion? Seeing none, all in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries. Thank you. Next agenda item is PCO 10-R1. Move for approval. Teledata Conduit and 38 additional days at 41 Wilder. Ms. Williams, anything to add?

Just for counsel that this will not affect the current ribbon cutting date, nor will it affect the offer closeout date.

Okay, thank you. I have a motion and a second. Any discussion? All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries. I'd entertain a motion to adjourn. So moved. All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? We stand adjourned. Thank you, sir.

Good evening. I'd like to call the Committee on Justice and Public Safety meeting to order. Ms. Clerk, has this meeting been properly noticed via the Freedom of Information Act?

Yes, sir, it has.

Thank you. First, we have consideration of a proclamation. A proclamation to recognize and honor the members of the South Carolina State Guard and to declare September as National Preparedness Month in Berkeley County.

Move for approval, anyway.

I have a motion and a second. Is there discussion? All favor, please say aye. Aye. All opposed? That motion carries with First Lieutenant Angela Nasalek, Chief George Post, and Sergeant First Class Sharon Kincaid, Lieutenant Colonel Brantford, First Sergeant Taylor, and Supervisor Cribb, and our emergency management team, please meet me at the podium. Tonight, we have a proclamation to recognize and honor the members of the South Carolina State Guard and to declare September as National Preparedness Month in Berkeley County. Whereas South Carolina communities face a variety of natural and manmade hazards, including hurricanes and flooding, severe storms, ice storms, earthquakes, wildfires, and other emergencies that can threaten lives, property, and critical infrastructure. Whereas the South Carolina State Guard is a professional military organization and a component of the South Carolina Military Department. Established under the South Carolina Code of Laws as a state military force, separate and distinct from the National Guard, the South Carolina State Guard is composed of volunteer officers and enlisted personnel who stand ready to serve the residents of South Carolina when called upon to support their state and local authorities. Whereas, The South Carolina State Guard supports preparedness and emergency response efforts through a variety of capabilities, including disaster relief, search and rescue, medical support, logistics, engineering, legal services, chaplain and counseling services, communications, and other specialized support. Whereas the South Carolina State Guard works in coordination with the South Carolina Military Department, South Carolina Emergency Management Division, the National Guard, local emergency management agencies, law enforcement, first responders, and county and municipal governments to help communities prepare for, respond to, and recover from emergencies and disasters. Whereas the members of the South Carolina State Guard exemplify commitment to public service by volunteering their time, skills, and expertise to assist their fellow South Carolinians and strengthen the state's ability to respond when disasters strike. Now, therefore, be it resolved that Berkeley County Council hereby recognizes September 2026 as National Preparedness Month in Berkeley County and encourages all residences, businesses, organizations, and community partners to make meaningful steps to prepare for emergencies and disasters. Be it further resolved, Berkeley County Council recognizes and honors the members of the South Carolina State Guard for their dedicated volunteer service to the people of South Carolina. and commends their continued commitment to preparedness, public safety, disaster response, and the safety and resilience of communities throughout the state. Adopted this 28th day, September, 2026. Thank you.

So I'll be quick, and I probably don't need this. So a lot of people don't know who we are, but we've been around since Francis Marion, the only Francis Marion is. And a lot of your neighbors and your friends are in uniform. And they're serving in things like Killeen. Everybody remember Killeen? So we personally, I was sleeping on the ground for two weeks out there doing Killeen. And many people don't recognize the difference between the National Guard and the State Guard. We're significantly smaller. We have less resources. We get paid a lot less homework. So these are some of the most dedicated people that I've ever served with in my life, including the United States Navy, the National Guard, And these people are some of the best soldiers you will ever meet. And one of the things that you should remember in your heart about these people and why it makes them so good is because they're not here to be paid. They're here to protect you. They're here because they love South Carolina. And that makes a big difference. So when you see this, when you see this difference right here, right? And what you'll see on National Guard is they'll put pictures on there saying all the stuff we're doing, uh-uh, it's us. So make sure you pay attention because that little flag makes all the difference, right? We love South Carolina. South Carolina is what we serve, right? And we serve you. So thank you so much.

Thank you.

One, two, three. Thank you.

Next is the approval of minutes from the regular committee meeting held on August 10th, 2026. Move to approve. Second. I have a motion and a second. Any corrections to these minutes? All in favor, please say aye. Aye. All opposed? Those minutes stand approved as presented. Next, we have an agenda item. St. Stephen Town Hall Magistrate Library Change Order. Mr. Realt.

Good evening.

We are requesting the approval for the change order in the amount of $34,345.13 to provide fire shutters and additional fire rated door for the St. Stephen Town Hall Library and Magistrate Building.

Move to approve.

Mr. Newell. Why? So these were items that were required to meet code that were not included in the original plans due to the fire sprinkler system not being required for the whole building. So this is coming for the four fire shutters for the teller windows and the additional fire rated door that we had added in the hallway for owner request.

Motion and second.

Any discussion? All in favor, please say aye. Aye. All opposed? That motion carries. Thank you. I'll now entertain a motion to adjourn.

I'll move.

Second. All in favor, please say aye. Aye. All opposed? We're adjourned.

Good evening, I'd like to call the Committee on Operations meeting to order. Ms. Clerk, has this meeting been properly noticed by the Freedom of Information Act?

Yes, sir, it has.

First is the approval of minutes from the regular committee meeting held on August 10th, 2026, and the special committee meeting held on August 24th, 2026. Move to approve.

Second.

I have a motion and a second. Are there any corrections? All in favor, please say aye. Aye. All opposed, nay. Minutes stand approved as presented. Next, we have a presentation, Berkley County Conserved Lands presentation. Mr. Yoder.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Good evening, Council. I appreciate the opportunity to be here tonight to discuss the conservation legacy of Berkeley County. For me, this photo here of Foster Creek in the back river is a good reminder of what we're here to protect. And I think preserving these open green spaces like this is what a lot of voters had in mind in 2022 when they approved the referendum with a 74% vote. With the leadership of this council, and the creation of the Greenbelt program. We've done some good work to this point and we felt it was a good time to recap where we are. The conservation is a long game as a lot of you know. So I wanna highlight some of the work that's been done over the decades and where the county Greenbelt program fits into that puzzle. When I bring up this next slide, I think you'll see a number that I venture to say a lot of you would be hard pressed to guess if you had to do that. One second here. There we go. And so according to the South Carolina Conserved Lands Database, 45%, approximately 45% of the land in Berkeley County is already protected from development. And that really is a remarkable number if you think about it. That means that 317,000 of the 706,000 acres of land is already protected. This presentation aims to break down that number and to clarify the work that's been done to get here. So to start, first I wanna start with some of the natural resources that we're blessed with in this county, because in addition to those 317,000 acres of land, we also have 83,000 acres of lake and river as a natural resource in this county. So we're lucky to have those resources with the lakes and the Cooper River. And you'll see, as I go through the presentation, a lot of conservation work has been done over the years in the Cooper River corridor in particular. You can also see from the USGS, the geological survey land cover database here, that we have an extensive tree canopy in Berkeley County, and this is a huge public benefit in terms of ecosystem services like stormwater runoff control, flood mitigation, and groundwater recharge. According to the USGS, we have about a 60% tree canopy cover, and that is also an amazing number if you think about it. It looks even more so on the slide here. And with those baseline resources defined, let's look at the various agencies and organizations and mechanisms that are used to protect them. The cornerstone, let me back up one slide here. The cornerstone of conservation in Berkeley County came in 1936 when the federal government established the Francis Marion National Forest. And that's approximately 200,000 acres of land that is federally protected within the boundaries of the Francis Marion. And that represents about 28% of that total, 45% of land is protected. And that's seen here in tan. The impact of this designation gives the county an advantage in terms of overall conservation and retaining the rural character in that portion of the county in particular. There are also approximately 13,000 acres of state protected land that accounts for about 2% of the total and you can see that here in blue. Bono Ferry Wildlife Management Area is a big piece of that with about 10,000 acres of preserved land and that provides public access and recreational hunting opportunities. The Conserved Lands Database also lists a category of 28,000 acres of other managed land, which cannot be developed, and that represents 4% of the total, and that's seen in orange there. That includes the Moultrie Hunt Unit Wildlife Management Area, and also the Naval Weapons Station. And again, these federal lands, they provide a good foundation for us to build on, but when we talk about moving forward, efforts will need to come from local sources. And that's where I want to steer the remainder of this presentation. Future conservation will depend largely on the coordination efforts of land trusts, local government, and private landowners. So I want to outline the work that's been done by these players up to this point. Nearly 74,000 acres, and that's a big number, of county land is protected through private conservation. That primarily comes in the form of conservation easements with local land trusts and private landowners. And that's seen here in yellow, and it represents about 10% of the total. Like any sound investment, success lies in having a diverse portfolio, and conservation is no different. These conservation easements are contracts with landowners. They are bound to the land itself, wherein development rights are purchased for a portion of the land value. This effectively prevents development on these properties in perpetuity. And while much of the land remains private, they do provide extensive public benefit as well, especially when taken as a whole. They provide relief on infrastructure from pressure applied by development, they protect water quality, and they supply flood mitigation benefits as well. As it relates to the county... Move back on the slide one moment as it relates to the County Greenbelt program, public access is of course a leading goal. And I'll talk more about the relationship of conservation easements and public access in just a moment. But first I want to touch on the history of conservation easements in this County. Like I said at the beginning of the presentation, conservation is a long game, and our local land trusts have been putting in work for almost four decades, and you can see that on this timeline here. Organizations like Lower Berkeley Conservation Trust, Lowcountry Land Trust, Open Space Institute, Ducks Unlimited, and many more have made strategic moves in partnerships with landowners to protect some of the most important green space we have in the region. Along with the State Conservation Bank, which was created in 2002, they are critical partners when it comes to conservation work and funding coordination. This is a timeline of some notable conservation easements. It starts with Mulberry Plantation in 1988 with the Historic Charleston Foundation, which was among the first privately protected landscapes in the area. You can see it moves on down the years, Nucor Conservation Easement, the Bluff Plantation, a portion of the Blessing Property in 1998, Wadbu in 2003, and Waupula in 2005, a portion of Jippie in 2006, I believe, Mebkin Abbey and the Mead Mebkin pieces later in the 2000s, up to Point Hope in 2022, and finally, the last one on here, the other portion of the Blessing Property just last year. And these easements are prudent because they represent some of the largest contiguous spaces of land and they are located on and around the water as well. And towards the end of this timeline, you'll see the creation of the county greenbelt program. And that has started to propel us forward and will enable the county to build on this backbone of conservation. Our contribution of $58 million over seven years has injected some momentum into this timeline and it will keep injecting momentum into this timeline. and it comes at a critical time in the county's growth. These are the 11 Greenbelt projects approved by this council, which either have closed already or are likely to close in the next six months. And these projects are a combination of public parks and conservation easements and have protected a total of 5,531 acres. In the Greenbelt Master Plan, the Trust for Public Land identified about 80 local parks, which totaled around 1,000 acres. And so when you take these Greenbelt projects into consideration, it represents an approximate 500% increase in local land protection since 2023. Nine of these 11 projects will have full public access. Six of the projects, the ones listed in bold here, were under conservation easement or are going under conservation easement as part of the project. We've worked with the State Conservation Bank on four out of these 11 projects, and we're working with local land trusts on many of these projects as well. And I just want to highlight three of these projects in particular because of the partnerships and timelines of protection. Blessing Park, Mead Park, and the Mead-Wapula Parcels, which we are in the process of acquiring now, are all examples of how conservation easements can act as placeholders to ensure that large tracts of lands are protected from development. And then as circumstances change, as time goes by, they can later become public space. Let's be honest, when restrictions are placed on property, it becomes more difficult to sell that land to a traditional buyer, so trusts, government funding, and donations become potential outcomes further down the line. These parcels had easements placed on them decades ago, which helped preserve them, and now they will soon be accessible to the public. This won't always be the case with easements. Sometimes they will just go on providing those ancillary public benefits, but it is a possible outcome that we need to consider. In addition to conserving large tracts of land from development at pennies on the dollar, it's just another reason why conservation easements can be a valuable addition to our conservation portfolio.

Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Obey.

Um, Nick, if I might just expand on these two parks right here, just to show to the public, um, where that 10% of the green belt funds is going and how far we've been able to stretch it. So, um, I'll have to ask the supervisor to help me out with my numbers, but on blessing park, the sale price on that police was some around eight to $10 million. Is that right? No blessing part was 20 million.

Um, And the land trust took an option on it to protect it while they tried to come up with the money. Berkeley County committed 5.5 million out of the Greenbelt funds early on and challenged them to come up with the rest. The family reduced the price by five million. We went to the state conservation bank and got a little over seven million. We got a few million from the land trust, so. for the, I think the county put in another couple hundred thousand, so for about 5.7 million, we took entire ownership of the full parcel, the $20 million parcel.

Yeah, and that's the point I want to get at. We're partnering with the different land trusts and conservation banks to stretch that 10% of monies, which in the full build-out of the program would be around $50 to $55 million, to stretch that to $100, $150-plus million, and this is just one example. And with Blessing Park, we protected it from some development. Some of it was already under a conservation easement, and then there was another part of the development, several couple hundred acres, that was not under an easement, and there was a current developer looking to take that down and build houses on it. So that's why we put more pressure on the folks to come up with the money to do that. The same thing is similar story with the Mead Park and Mead Waupula sections. That property was to go to I'm not sure who. But once Miss Mead realized and found out that the county had set up a park system and set up a program where we are conserving land, she left that land to us in the will. So that's just one example of how, again, if you were to have to buy that on the market, I'm sure it would have been $10, $20, $30 million. That's another example of land we're putting inside our park system that cost us next to nothing. So again, an example of how we're taking those monies and stretching it far, far beyond what's been allocated to help bring parks and recreation to folks in Berkeley County. Yes, sir.

Yes, sir. Thank you. Thank you, sir. This map right here is the map that brings it all together. It shows how the percentages add up to 45% of the county land that's being protected. Also remember with the lakes and rivers, we talked about over 50% of the area within the county lines cannot be developed. And you can see here some small pieces in lime green that are starting to show up and that's the county green belt program and where we're starting to make an impact, not only with publicly accessible spaces in the future, but some large conservation projects. This map also will help us identify areas of the county where we need to look to do projects in the future. And just to note, the county is also looking at strategies through our planning department, which has outlined a new zoning classification, the transitional agricultural zoning that will cluster new homes in exchange for 50% of the overall acreage being put into permanent conservation. And that's perhaps just another piece, another valuable piece to our portfolio. And in closing, with all this county information, I think it's important to zoom out and see how we frame ourselves relative to the rest of the state. In May of this year, the General Assembly recognized 3.4 million acres of South Carolina's 19.4 million acres as currently protected. And that's 17% of the state land that's currently protected. And comparing that to Berkeley County's 45%, we can see that we are well ahead of the county average Our neighbors in Charleston County have done great work with their conservation efforts as well over the last two decades at 45% of their land protected, but we're not far behind and we're just getting started as a county and we have a lot of work left to do. We also recognize that our land in Berkeley County is at greater risk to development than a lot of these other counties in the state. So we have to meet those demands with intention. The governor set a goal of conserving 7 million acres total by 2050. And with the Greenbelt program, Berkeley County is poised to do its part. With the help of the State Conservation Bank, our local land trust partners, and private landowners who have a conservation ethic like the DeFrancs and the Meads who helped get Blessing Park and Mead Park where they are today protected and soon to be enjoyed by the public, we can build on this legacy of conservation and create a vision of Berkeley County that we're proud to leave for generations. Thank you.

Mr. Chair.

Mr. West.

Mr. Yoder, thank you for taking the lead on this, for taking the lead on securing what we hope will be a legacy for our children and their children's children and everybody else that wants to move to Berkeley County. Many years ago, we put all the things that we hold in conservation easement, and it has traditionally been a private tool that the private market secured that was something that had to be out of just the goodness of somebody's heart and wanting a tax donation or deduction. And it spurred a lot of area in Berkley County to be conserved. But you saw that map that Nick put up a minute ago. Most of that was east of 52 along the corridor of the river. And not a lot has been done on the west side. So if we can, over the next few weeks, months, years, put a little bit of pressure, enticement, excitement on the western portion of Berkeley County, which is probably under the greater threat of development. I would charge you with that because that seems to be something that we've been missing is everything on the other side of 52.

It is a clear area of opportunity for sure.

But Nick, will you look at this? And one of the things that you and I talk about on this is just the amount of the riverine miles that are currently protected in Berkeley County. It's almost all of it.

It is.

Do you have a statistic for that? I don't.

I don't. I can come up with it, but not right now.

But just at some point over the next few weeks? Because it's an amazing feature of Bergen County that kind of goes unnoticed when you drive down the Santee River or down the Cooper River, that it will look like that forever. Yes, sir. Thank you all.

Mr. Chairman. To add on a little bit to what Councilman Obie was getting at, When we put the Greenbelt program into 22 referendum, 10% of the funds go toward conservation, preservation, green space. And we were estimating we'd collect $587 million in seven years, so 58.7 million would go toward that. And we challenged the conservation folks, hey, don't go away just because we're in this game. And what it feels like happened on the roadside, when the more money Berkeley County put in toward roads, the more of that other money went away. It's been the opposite on the green space side from donations that we didn't even have to buy to a $20 million piece of property for 5.7. I would even point out the North Island property, 115 of the most valuable waterfront acre property in the county that had a contract for 8 million. It was sold to us on a bargain sale for 4 million. zero strings attached. We got two million, a million dollars from the bank, a million from the land trust. And then the community threw in another 250,000. So it went from eight million to 1.75 million to the county. And our initial hope was one to one. Like if we could leverage one dollar to a dollar, that would be really good. And right now we're significantly on the good side of that. And to Councilman West's point, We have had property owners up that corridor that you're talking about where significant contributions to protected land have been hinted at or suggested. Bono Ferry is actually 11,000 acres, I believe. And I'm talking about amounts of land bigger than that that we hope that we can announce at some point. in the near future, but again, that is the, that corridor is certainly at risk, but even in the Hugee area where a lot of effort has gone on with the forest and other stuff, property's being developed over there left and right as well, so it, those 500 acre pieces disappear on a map like that. They look really, really small, but you can build big neighborhoods with four or 500 acres, so. We would invite the public, if you have property, continue to reach out and we'll send it to the Greenbelt Committee to see if it's property worth protecting. But I think the effort so far has far exceeded what we, we didn't start collecting the money until May 1st of 23, the new penny. That's a lot of land that's been protected. And Charleston County has had their Greenbelt program in place for almost three decades. and I could see Berkeley County surpassing the acreage in five or six years that Charleston County has amassed in three decades. Nick, thank you for this. I think it's worthwhile for everyone to see and know. The last thing I'll say is there was a project in Cordsville. Miss Melanie, you'll probably remember. I went to a community meeting and everybody was really at each other. Conservation folks were going after land owners and it was contentious. And I went out to a community meeting and I brought this map with me. And I remember, and that's why I'm glad Nick does this tonight, because if we did a poll and said, guess how much land is protected in Berkeley County that can never be built on, the guess wouldn't have been 45%. Especially if you knew what the state average was. And that was the sentiment of that community. People were there thinking Every piece of land they knew was going to get developed along that corridor, and you throw a map up showing this can't, this can't, this can't, this can't, and we saw, at least in that corridor, that community, it was folks from the Mastonia area and Cordsville area and Hugee, all the way that area, they were thinking everything was going to go away, and they left educated on that map. So I would get with Chris at IT, get this populated on the website, really good. It's definitely worth... sharing, but with a caveat is this isn't a finished product. I mean, we're literally, we're just now becoming a partner in this game, but really good success so far.

Yes, sir. Nick, another thing that, great job, great presentation, is we constantly hear how we're just destroying everything in the county and that we're cutting down trees and we're doing all this other stuff. If you can get a map superimposed of what the development that we have on top of the properties that we've are protecting. I think that would look good also. Maybe a heat map of some sort because some folks don't understand how big this county really is and yet we do have a national forest and there's a lot of private lands, a lot of plantations and we got a big mud puddle right in the middle of it. Um, but you know, we have to start somewhere and that's what we're doing. And, uh, if you have something like that, same time that you get the miles that we have protected on the, the, um, the river, cause you also have to look at the headwaters of the Ashley river, which going to Wasma salt and see how much. What's that? They go all the way to the lake. Oh yeah. All the way. Um, so look, think about that too. Yes, sir. We'll make that happen. Thank you. Anything else? Thank you, Nick. Thank you. Thank you. Next, I have a 2024 one cent sales tax resurfacing package change order number one.

Good evening. This change order is for the 2026 one cent sales tax resurfacing package. This change order includes final milling and paving of turn lanes that are currently under construction along Sangaree Parkway in addition to resurfacing additional driveways on county roads. This change order would add about 30 additional days to its current contract. The change order is for $711,415.80. Pleasure of counsel. Move to approve.

Electrically. Second. Motion and a second. Mr. Obey.

No. What caused the change order? What was missed in the initial engineering of Sangaree Parkway?

So when we were pulling together the resurfacing package, we hadn't finished the design and gotten underway with the construction of 10 left turn lanes along Sangaree Parkway. So this change order is to go back and include that work in it. So I wouldn't say it was missed. It's just that we weren't as far along with the Sangaree Parkway turn lane project. as we were once we bid the project and awarded it.

Good, Mr. Newell? Oh, yeah.

Okay.

Mr. Chairman?

Thank you. We're self-performing those turn lanes, correct? Yes, we are. Roads and bridges. So significant savings on that.

Correct.

Lowly, for sure. It looked good. Hit a couple cones, but it looked good. Anything else? I have a motion and a second. Any further discussion? All in favor, please say aye. Aye. All opposed, nay. Motion carries.

Thank you.

Thank you. Next, we have a consideration prior to first reading, Bill number 2668, an ordinance to amend certain sections of Ordinance number 080630 as amended to provide for the adoption of state mandated building and safety codes. Everybody take a picture, because Mr. Hanks is in a coat, please.

I can at least say mandated, though.

I can't say it. I got all tongue twisted. I'm trying to say it.

Of course, this is the state adoption for the 2024 codes that are going to be hopefully adopted in January. The state has already pushed forward for us to do that. So that's pretty much where we're at with that.

Any significant changes that we should be aware of?

No, I've actually reviewed most of the book, and it's really not much of a difference in it.

Pleasure, council.

Mr. Newell. Second.

We've got a motion and a second.

Second. Discussion?

Mr. West.

Mr. Newell. In this, and then any further questions after this we can talk about later, but in the grand scheme of things, have there been any consideration given to reducing the square footage for tiny homes from the state?

The state actually adopted its appendices. It's in the code now. The state actually adopted that on the last code cycle, and it's 400 square feet. It was based at 400 square feet at the time, and it's still 400 square feet, but it's It's actually an amendment that was put in the code or put into the state adoption because we don't never adopt the appendices, but they did in this particular case.

Do you think or have you heard any pressure on the legislature to reduce that number?

I have not.

Okay. Mr. Chairman. Mr. Obey. Mr. Jackson, a.k.a. the hardest working man in Berkley County. You said these codes will go into effect in January? January 1st, yes, sir. So then every permit for any house being constructed then and on after will have to abide by these new updated codes?

That's correct.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. West, your question about the 400 square feet. My ex-wife is building or buying one of these, and 400 square feet is Pretty big if you're five foot tall. If you're six foot two, it ain't that big. But they're very nice. But to your point, maybe something smaller for these college kids or retirees and whatnot. But maybe we can all push the delegation to do something about that.

I agree.

Any further discussion? All in favor, please say aye. Aye. All opposed, nay. Motion carries. Next is bill number 2669, an ordinance to amend and remove section 3523 of ordinance number 080522.

In that particular chapter in the ordinance, there's a lot of redundant information where everything says the same thing in chapter 11 with the ordinance. We're just trying to amend some words to clean it up.

Pleasure, council.

Move for approval.

I got a motion and a second. Any discussion?

Mr. Chairman. Mr. Obey. To be more specific, that's in relations to movers coming in and getting mobile home permits and such?

Well, that's going to be coming up on the next reading. Okay, that's the next one. That is actually something where there's talking about different fees and different things and all this. That's the same thing in Chapter 11. Okay. But, I mean... The next thing is, if you're getting ready to bring up, it's what we can talk about there.

Anything more? No. Motion second. Any other discussion? All in favor, please say aye.

Aye.

All opposed, nay. Motion carries. Next is bill number 2670, an ordinance to amend section... 1169 of ordinance 080630 to increase the administrative fee from $25 to $50.

Most of the jurisdictions around have already raised their administrative fees. This is something where when you come in and apply for a permit, we've been charging $25 for 20 years, it seems like. And we're actually wanting to raise it to 50 when you apply for a permit, the actual cost to start with would be $50. And we've got, like I said, other jurisdictions like Charleston County is already doing that.

Pleasure, counsel.

I got some questions before I entertain it, Mr. Newell. Mr. Ove. So this would apply to, so example, I'm coming in to apply for a permit to build a house. Building a house requires me to get mechanical, plumbing, and all those permits. Is it $50 for each one of those permits or just $50 for all the permits I pull?

It's $50 for each one of those permits.

Mr. Chair, are we allowed to make modifications to this proposed ordinance? Let me at least say my thoughts out there. I can understand if you're saying the surrounding jurisdictions are at this level or above. It does sound a little steep to go up that much at once. If we do go for the full $50, I'd like to see it go up in tiers, maybe $10 every couple months over the next, whatever that ends up being, five or six months. But at the same time, too, Just thinking out loud for discussion, Mr. Chairman, if I'm coming in and pulling one permit and the permit fee's $50 and it's taking that person's time, $50 is fine. If I'm coming in and building a house and pulling all four or five permits at once, I would think that the permit fee should still be $50 for pulling all those permits at once would be my initial thought. Or if right now you're charging... $25 for each one of those. If somebody comes in and gets a group of permits all at once, just leave it at $25. But obviously that's open for discussion.

Basically, when you build a house, even if you have gas in the house, you've got five permits that's associated with the house. You only added $125 to the cost of the house. So, I mean, it's really not that steep. And if you go back and think about other jurisdictions, and I hate to say the word, but with business licenses and all that, our permit fees are way lower than most of the jurisdictions because of that. But anyway, we'll do it anyway. Mr. Chairman. Mr. Caldwell.

Mr. Jackson, what's the added benefit to increasing fees for doubling the fee? What should the homeowner expect to get in addition to what they're currently getting?

Well, we're still providing the same service. It's just we're trying to match other jurisdictions. I mean, that's pretty much where we're at.

My only concern here is that... You're talking about a 100% increase, if my math is correct. And I do have some concern with the fact that 100% increase, but then there's no additional benefits. And I'm trying to, you know, come to a conclusion on that. It's just a hard pill for me to swallow right now.

Mr. Chairman, on a joking matter, Mr. Pinckney's thing, maybe we should increase it 10,000 fold and it might slow down development around the county. That's the flip side of it. Maybe we need to increase it a whole lot more than just double. Mr.

Chair.

Mr. West.

Does this ordinance adoption require three readings?

I believe so. Yes.

I'll make a motion to approve, and let's talk about this a little bit more before second reading. All right.

With the idea of coming up with some other options.

Yeah, leave it the same, change it, scratch it.

I have a motion and a second. Any further discussion? All in favor, please say aye. Aye. All opposed, nay. Motion is approved. Entertain a motion to adjourn. All in favor, please say aye. Aye. All opposed, nay. We're done. Good evening. I'd like to call the Committee on Public Utilities meeting to order. Ms. Clerk, has this meeting been properly noticed via the Freedom of Information Act?

Yes, sir, it has.

First, these approval minutes from the regular committee meeting held on August 10th, 2026. Move for approval.

Second.

Are there any corrections to these minutes? All in favor, please say aye. Aye. All opposed, nay. The minutes stand approved as presented. Next is award a contract for chemicals for water and wastewater treatment operations, IFB. BCWS-032627. Mr. Jimmy. Good evening.

Treatment plants use large quantities of these chemicals, so we advertise for bids to get a good price on them. We received five bids, and it is our recommendation that we award the gaseous chlorine and sulfur dioxide contract to Citgo. and liquid caustic and calcium hypochlorite to Brintag.

Is Brintag right there on Azalea?

Yes, sir.

Yeah, I used to work there. What's the pleasure of counsel? Move for approval.

Second.

Any discussion? All in favor, please say aye. Aye. All opposed, nay. Motion carries. Next is Pump Station 60, change order. I hate change orders. Mr. Jimmy.

This pump station is being upgraded currently as part of another sewer project, Camp Hall sewer project. Private development growth in a region requires larger pumps now to go into the station as they're about to upgrade it. So we asked the contractor that's out there about to do the current upgrade to the station to provide us with the change order price. because the wet wells top basically has to be removed to accommodate the larger pumps that would be required to go in. And the price of the change order is $581,600. Mr. Chair. Hang on, Mr. West.

Where is this lift station located, Jimmy?

It's right there by Blanchard Machinery behind the EMS station on Farmington.

Okay, right there. All right, Mr. West.

Who's paying for this?

A developer is.

We're not?

No, no cost to the county. The developers agreed to cover these costs because their development's impacting these flows, which requires the larger pumps. Who's the developer? Yes, I knew you were going to ask me that.

It is. I don't know of any development in my district that needs a bigger pump station.

Council. HIC Land LLC.

Where's the development?

It's Sheep Island area.

That's the line, it goes to Lower Berkeley. It goes to that one. Yes, sir. Pleasure to counsel.

Move approval. Second.

Second. Any discussion? All in favor, please say aye. Aye. All opposed, nay. Motion carries. Next is to award a contract for compaction services for a convenience center, RFP-BCWS-02-2627. Ms. Melissa.

Yes, sir. Good evening. The RFP for compaction services for seven of our ten convenience centers closed on August 18th, and the service is in hopes to provide or aims to provide reducing the numbers of roll-off cans our drivers have to pull for the centers, therefore saving fuel, possible overtime. We received four proposals and would like to award the contract to Smash My Trash in the amount of $210,600.

Move for approval.

Second. Mr. Hovey. Ms. Palazzo. Yes, sir. Are these the trucks you see riding around with the rolling thing on the back that comes in? The compactor wheel on the back, yes, sir. Yeah, okay.

So.

This is gonna be new to the county, correct?

Very new, yes.

Mr. Brooks. Mr. Chairman. In the long term, does the county come out better buying one of these pieces of equipment ourselves and operating it rather than paying 200,000 in perpetuity?

We did a one-year contract for that purpose to see if it would benefit us after we collect all the data if we just buy a truck and do it ourselves.

All right. So this is a trial run? Yes, sir. Okay. Thank you. Mr.

Chair. Mr. West.

How much does one of those trucks cost?

Around $250,000.

Is there anybody in the U.S. that makes them?

That I'm not sure of. I'd have to look into that. I looked at the cost but didn't see who made it.

Gives us a year.

Yeah, I agree.

It'll be in next year's budget. Any further discussion?

Say more than 200 if it's in next year's budget.

Oh yeah. Thank you. All in favor, please say aye. Aye. All opposed, nay. Motion carries. Next, a consideration prior to third reading, bill number 2653, an ordinance authorizing an amendment to the- Move for approval.

Second.

Regarding the stone water utility rates, I got a motion and a second. Any discussion? All in favor, please say aye. Aye. All opposed, nay. Motion carries. Next, I entertain a motion to adjourn. So moved. All in favor, please say aye. Aye. All opposed, nay. We done.

Good evening, I'd like to call the committee on land use to order. Ms. Clerk, has this meeting been properly noticed via the Freedom of Information Act?

Yes, sir, it has.

Thank you. First, we have the approval of the meeting minutes from the regular committee meeting held on August 10th, 2026, and the special meeting held on August 24th, 2026, which have been distributed. Do you have a motion?

So moved. Second.

A motion by Councilman West, a second by Councilman Stern. Are there any corrections to these minutes? Not hearing any all in favor, please say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed? The minutes stand as presented. Next, we have an agenda item is award contract for development review and permitting process mapping phase one RFP 43107-01-2526. Ms. Curry.

Yes, sir. The county published a request for proposals seeking qualified consulting firms to assess and evaluate our multi-department coordinated review and development permitting process. It was posted on May 5th, 2026 and closed on June 18th, 2026. A selection committee came together, reviewed the proposals, did interviews, and the committee recommends that the award go to Matrix Consulting Group that scored the highest overall score. We received a total of eight proposals.

But this was also a council initiative to have a group come in and map out our processes to find out if we can find some improvements in what we're doing. Move to approve. Second. A motion by Councilwoman Stern, a second by Councilman Newell. Any other discussion? Mr. West.

There were eight applicants for this?

Yes, sir. Thank you.

Any other discussion? All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries. Next up we have considerations prior to first reading. First is an ordinance to modify the official zoning and development standards map of Berkeley County, South Carolina in regards to David D. and Kelly B. Fitzpatrick survivorship for TMS numbers 181-00-02-057 and 059, a plus or minus 16.96 total acres located on Oakley Road and Old Highway 52 in the vicinity of Monk's Corner for the Manufacturing Residential R2 District. Move for approval. To the Agriculture Flex 1 District and County Council 8. Down zoning. I have a motion by Councilman Newell, second by Councilman Stern. Any discussion? Not hearing any, all in favor, please say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed? That motion carries. Next up is Bill number 26-64, an ordinance to modify the official zoning and development standards map of Berkeley County, South Carolina. Move for approval.

Second.

I have a motion by Councilman Newell, a second by Councilman West. Any discussion? Again, this is another down zoning going from R2 to Flex 1. All in favor, please say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed? That motion carries. Next up is bill number 26-65, an ordinance to modify the official zoning and development standards map of Berkeley County, South Carolina. In regards to Fred Holzenberg for TMS numbers 222-13-06-046, plus or minus 4.4 acres located on North Main Street in the vicinity of Somerville from the single family residential R1 district and the general commercial GC district respectively to the general commercial GC district and county council district four. Ms. Simmons.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The applicant intends to combine this parcel with the adjacent tract and redevelop into a landscaping supply provider. Upon review, staff recommended approval. Planning Commission did as well in a unanimous vote. There was no opposition at the time of the Planning Commission meeting.

Mr. Chairman. Mr. Newell. My question is, would there be any allowed equipment being used on the property?

That I do not know. The use will have to comply with the GC district, including any outdoor storage as well as outdoor sales area. I defer to the applicant if he or she is present.

Is the applicant present?

The reason I ask is the R2s that you see directly beside it, I'm very familiar with those folks.

Can you state your name and address for the record, please?

Preston Busby, 501 Wando Park Boulevard. The proposed use would be landscape trees, maybe mulch, maybe some rock for any general landscape company. to come in and purchase and take to homes or other commercial properties. Regarding loud noises, no more than any loud noise that's going down the highway that I can imagine.

Do you know what happens when dump trucks dump their load?

The tailgate smacks. And I don't know what the specific mechanism of bringing that product in, but we can definitely look into that.

I'll vote to approve, but I want some more discussion before second reading. Okay. Understood.

Am I allowed to speak more other than the questions?

What's the question?

I was just going to mention that the properties are noncompliant right now. And so the rezoning does clear up some frontage and really the property is acting as one. The property owner owns both properties right now. And so really it does kind of clean up some of the non-conforming. We can get together. Thank you.

Move for approval.

Second.

Motion by Councilman Newell, second by Councilwoman Stern. Any other discussion? Not hearing any, all in favor, please say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed?

That motion carries.

Next up is bill number 26-66, an ordinance to modify the official zoning and development standards map of Berkey County. A motion by Councilman Newell, a second by Councilwoman Stern. Any discussion? Not hearing any, all in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? That motion carries. Next up is bill number 26-67, an ordinance to authorize the county supervisor to transfer a portion of TMS number 026-07-00-023 to Margaret McGill to combine with TMS number 026-07-00022. Ms. Simmons, can you give us a little background, or Mr. Williams?

I defer to our county attorney.

Smart.

Yeah, is there a map, or I can just describe it, but essentially this is an extremely small tract of land at the Turner Mill site location, and this Margaret McGill property, there is a mobile home on it that that is over the property line and onto the county's property. We're trying to clean up title on it. It's a small transfer and it's probably so minimal it's not even worth negotiating over to try to get her to acquire it because it's creating a cloud on the title by having her mobile home across the property line.

Move for approval.

Motion by Councilman Newell, second by Councilman Pinckney. Any other discussion? Not hearing any, all in favor please say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed? That motion carries. Next up, we have considerations prior to second reading. First up is bill number 26-52, an order to amend article two definitions, article six, rural zoning districts, article four, use tables, article 13, innovative site and subdivision design and other amendments related thereto of the Berkeley County Zoning and Development Standards Ordinance as amended to establish a transitional agricultural zoning district with a conservation subdivision option for the rural areas of the county. So we had some discussion. I have a motion by Councilman Newell.

I wanted to hear Allison talk.

So I'll start. So we had some discussions last time and got some input from the community on this, and a lot of the input they provided was shared with staff, and that input on buffers and stuff like that were already met inside this. They were looking for larger buffers on... Other tracks of land. So, you know, in part of our zoning updates, buffer yards and buffer distances are one of the initiatives were taken on. I think Mr. Newell was cheerleading that one. So we're going to address that concern and that one. Also, as we're going through our zoning. We're looking at different definitions of what different words are inside their update. They wanted to see a definition for agriculture. So we'll get with staff to work on that and see how other counties and such define the word agriculture. And then the last thing that the feedback we got was when these developments are being developed out there in the rural areas, they'd like to see other developments be developed around them or in the vicinity of them so they can make light of travel in terms of the, they described to me was to be able to have golf cart paths and stuff like that in between the neighborhoods and such. That's something that I think council more so have discretion over when it comes to us in terms of what rezonings we approve and it's also the discretion of what developers come to us with developments. We don't really have any control of a developer developing a portion of land right beside each other. But obviously when they do, it's advantageous for them to have shared walking paths and stuff like that that we can help advocate for. So those are the updates and such that came from us bringing this back to committee two weeks ago.

Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Pinckney.

Is this an initiative that's moving forward and this is not all conclusive on the vote tonight? I mean, will we be getting some additional update on it, or is this it?

So there's really not much of a change from what we initially approved. I think a lot of it came down to educating the folks, you know, what this was and just to reiterate what it is. So it's a lateral on zoning. So currently right now, you know, as we talk about a large portion of the county is zone flex one. Developers have by right rights to go out and develop those properties of flex one if you run the example that you've got a hundred acres And you can subdivide it down into thirty thousand square foot lots You can get some around you know a hundred homes But as a councilman west of I have talked about multiple times here at the pulpit on that that requires a developer to go in there and clear-cut all 100 acres to comply with their stormwater and everything else have to comply with. So you go from 100 acres to a clear cut field where they build houses. What this zoning is intended to do is to allow the developer, to do a lateral on zoning. So take it from flex one to this transitional zoning and build only the same number of houses they can build on flex one. So once all the engineering's done and stuff like that, if it comes back on that 100 acres and they can only build 50 houses, that's all they can build on this zoning. But what it's aimed to do is give them smaller lot sizes at 16,000 square feet lot sizes where they can maximize the green space and not have to go in to these rural areas and clear cut the entire piece of property to make their development. Council might remember, and for the audience's perspective, despite what maybe some folks think, we do turn down moratoriums that come to us. And I can think of one that comes to mind of a major moratorium turn down we had on Jedburgh Road. It was several hundred acres. The developer wanted to come in here and go from Flex 1 to R1. And we said, no, not at this time. It just doesn't fit in that area. If you want to develop it, develop it by right. Well, they called our bluff. If you drive down Jetburg Road, there on the left-hand side going towards the interstate and you see the massive clearing of trees, that's because they called our bluff and they're developing it by right. If we'd have had this zoning where they could have made a lateral to go to, you wouldn't see that. This zoning puts up the different standards in terms of setbacks from the roads, again, makes a lot of sizes smaller so they don't have to go in and clear cut the entire parcel, and works to save that rural culture and that characteristic that we have out in the rural communities where a lot of that zoning's at. In addition to this, and I'll look to Ms. Simmons to correct me, Moving to this zoning with the 50% being developed area set aside for you know protected area It still allows those folks to that live in that neighborhood to allow farming or some type of Animal use in terms of maybe you know cows or chicken or whatever the the neighborhood might acquire But what it does is it preserves the land and the trees from being cut down and again preserves that rule characteristic of the property That's all inclusive It's all inside this ordinance, yes. Is that what you're asking?

Not just for developers. I mean, we had a situation came up here before. 15, how much was it? 1,500 acres. You know, they can come in and do what they want to do with that. So that would assist in that process or make that null and void. The solar farm.

This would be a rezoning that somebody would have to apply for and, yeah, for residential use only. Only, okay. Yeah.

Do you have a second? I'm sorry. Are you doing it?

My concern here, you know, you're talking about the same thing. You're talking ruled area, but then as far as, you know, putting restraints on developers to save some green space and what have you. But then you're talking about a solar panel. They can come and do basically what they want to do in the same place, in the same place. in the same rural area. At least that's the way I'm reading it.

So this zoning does not allow solar as a conditional use. And if I understand all of our zoning districts correctly, it is not allowed in any of our zoning districts currently.

Correct. In order to support a solar farm, rezoning is required to a planned development currently.

Mr. Chairman.

Supervisor Cribb.

Thank you. And this is, I think there's a lot of positivity around this. So my suggestion is just a matter of the wording, the title. Agree. Right now, the property is on Flex 1. And if we do this, which creates buffers, and I mean, there's a lot of positives here. and we title it from Flex One to Transitional Agricultural Zoning. Agricultural, it makes you think something way beyond Flex One. And it's gonna put us in a position, probably staff and us, in a position to explain it again and again and again because of what the connotation that agricultural makes. So we're really trying to go from flex one to a conservation flex one zoning district. So if we were naming it conservation flex one zoning district versus regular flex one zoning district, it doesn't create any, false expectations or this is what's going to happen in reality, but the wording sounds very different. It doesn't scream ag, but it does scream conservation because the requirement is they develop, let's say it's 100 acres, they develop 50 of it. They have to protect the other 50. It's not somebody can change their mind later and do something with it or the HOA can say, hey, we want to build this or that. It'll have the conservation protections very similar to what Nick, or exactly what Nick put up here earlier. So I think we should call it keep Flex 1 in the title and put conservation in the title. That's not without changing any of the merits of it because it's largely been community driven coming up with this. So I would just recommend that title change and or else we're going to spend... I agree.

Every application is going to be explaining this away. I meant to mention that. So can we change the title of it without having to go back to Planning Commission?

I believe so.

Yes, you can. Yeah.

And here again, I hear that. I get that. But I cannot fathom how somebody like solar industry can come in and do just the exact opposite. Still in rural Berkeley County. That's hard for me to swallow. That's hard for me to understand. Because you're saying, on one hand, when it comes to the developers, this is what it is. But then you've got someone like the solar industry come in and they can do basically what they want to do with it. They don't have any restriction on them, at least. That's what I'm hearing. Where my... hearing something different.

Mr. Chair.

Mr. West.

Thank you. Do you have a second yet? Do we need to make a motion to amend the name of the head council?

Yes. Yes. That would be the preference. You had to make it on the record.

Mr. Newell. I'll have some discussion in a second. Can I make the motion to amend the name of TAS, Transitional Agricultural District 2, Flex 1, conservation.

So let me let me get my Robert's Rules straight. I don't think we have a second yet but if Mr. Newell will amend his original motion to approve with the renaming of the district from TAZ to Flex 1 conservation.

Can you text that to me so I can? I take back my initial motion. Okay, Mr. Newell.

All right, what do you want me to do? If you so willing would approve the motion with the renaming of it to Flex 1 Conservation.

But it will be said.

Why don't you just withdraw the motion and then make a new motion based on the new title?

I think he just did. Yeah. And he just made a new motion.

Okay.

Yeah, is there a second? I have a second. All right. Mr. West.

In response to Mr. Caldwell, who I voted with for the solar farm. I think there's just two different mechanisms. One is a PD, a planned development agreement, and that's where you would put the constraints for industrial or commercial, but this is a residential zoning designation, so they're distinct and separate because they're not accomplishing the same thing, but you could have the same buffers, the same buffer requirements, the same corridor protections to protect the rural and natural character of Berkeley County, and a PD, again, or... for industrial or commercial development, just like you could this. I think that it's just two separate mechanisms to accomplish two separate things, but similar.

But what I'm getting at is it's my understanding that they'll be able to come in and still do exactly what they want to do versus whereas with the developer, they're going to have some special restraints. Is that not the case?

Well, I think the special restraints would be taken care of in the PD, in the document.

For somebody here, again, what we're discussing, solar industry or something.

Industrial, commercial?

Ms. Simmons, maybe to clear the record or clear the air. So currently right now there is solar is not allowed on any of our zoning districts. If they want to come in and put a solar farm on here, they have to put it together in a PD and bring that back to council for three readings for it to be approved. Is that correct?

Correct. Mr. Chairman, it likely would be a moratorium lift and then Correct.

We've already had a moratorium left on one example, but again, it doesn't fit into any zoning district. So they have to come back here with a specific PD, which is its own individual zoning on that parcel of property. And it'd have to go through three readings of council for that to get approved.

And Mr. Chairman, we can make whatever demands we want in that PD. That is correct.

Any other discussion? I have a motion by Mr. Newell as amended and a second by Councilman West. All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed?

I do.

That motion carries. Next up, we have bill number 26-57. Please note Mr. Newell's recusal on this one. It's an ordinance to modify the official zoning and development standards map of Berkeley County, South Carolina. In regards to Joe T. Newell, for TMS numbers 242-02-00-001, plus or minus 1.43 acres located on Wisteria Street in the vicinity of Latson from the manufactured residential R2 district to the agricultural Flex 1 district and County Council District 4.

Move to approve.

Motion by Mr. Brooks. Second. Second by Councilman Stern. Sorry, Mr. Brooks. Went a little bit slow right there for a second. Any discussion? All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Opposed? That motion carries. Next up is bill number 26-58, an ordinance to modify the official zoning and development standards map of Berkeley County, South Carolina. In regards to Charles F. Kennington for TMS numbers 121- Approval. Second. A motion by Councilman Newell, second by Councilman West. Any discussion? Not hearing any, all in favor, please say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed? That motion carries. Next up, we have considerations prior to third reading. First up is bill number 26-37, an order to modify the official zoning and development standards map of Berkeley County, South Carolina, in regards to Tristan Simmons of Universal Towing on behalf of Robert Wickert for TMS numbers 161. Is there a second? Second. This is going from R2 to GC. A motion by Councilman Newell, a second by Councilman Brooks. Any discussion?

Mr. Obey. That's where the little car wash tow yard or tow thing is, right? Yes, sir.

That's the one on the corner of Black Tom Road and 17A.

Right beside the church across from Spinks.

Yes, sir. The place that's been there forever. Forever, yeah. Any other discussion? Not hearing any, all in favor, please say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed? That motion carries. Next up, we have bill number 26-38, an order to modify the official zoning and development standards map of Berkeley County, South Carolina, in regards to Bingramming on behalf of Cane Bay Lakes LLC for TMS numbers 180-00-03-025, 179-00-00-053-054, a plus or minus 57.44 acre portion of TMS numbers 179-00-00-036, and 180-00-03-088 and 089, a plus or minus 659.46 total acres located near Fairwinds Boulevard, Waupula Trace Lake, Marina Shores Court, Four Seasons Boulevard, Sunrunner Lakes, and Grunton Edge Lane in the vicinity of Monk's Corner from the planned development mixed use for Cane Bay Plantation PDMU District to the Lake Village Planned Development Mixed Use District PDMUV District and County Council District 6. Mr. Newell. Please note Mr. Newell's recusal on the next several items. To start us off on this, I know there's been a lot of questions and such online. I've made a bunch of notes and I'm going to hopefully answer a lot of these questions that have been inside those documents and such. So first off, we've talked about the traffic analysis. It has been reviewed by DOT and a third party. There's been lots of questions that the traffic analysis only contemplates 5,600 dwellings or 259,000 square foot of commercial space. That is the current traffic, TIA, that is current. The developer can build no more than the 5,006 homes or the 2,059,000 square foot of commercial space that is in that traffic development until he gets an updated traffic development. Despite the development agreement and this PD contemplating 5,500 homes or right at 400,000 square foot of commercial space. Again, it cannot be built to a full fruition unless he gets a traffic analysis update to do that. So put in a different way, on day one, if this is approved, the most he can build, again, is 5,006 dwellings or build out to 259,000 square foot of commercial space. There's also been some discussion that I've seen online and such on where the 650,000 square foot of commercial space came from. If we go back to two or three years ago when we were discussing the moratorium, that was the initial amount of commercial space that was contemplated at that time. At that time, council said that was way too much commercial space and dialed it down, so that's how we've gotten to the 400,000 square foot of commercial space in the development agreement. There's also been some conversations on the by-right development and where the county calculated the approximate 57 plus or minus homes that could be built there by-right. If you get down into the details and look at the zoning, There's an entire portion of property there that's zoned PD, but it's an empty PD. It doesn't have any zoning on it, and that's 300 plus acres. So if you include that number in there, the number of homes that we can build by right goes much higher than 5,700. But the calculation the county came up with was only based on those properties that had zoning. Again, keep in mind, there's 300 acres there that doesn't have any zoning. We've talked about this a long time, and we've also had some things come to us just in the past on trying to go around and correct these empty PDs. I'll look to my colleagues or my staff to correct me. When it comes to an empty PD and that person coming and getting an actual zoning, it will most likely go towards the zoning that is like the area around it. So most of the zoning in Cane Bay is zoned at a PD or probably an R1 standard. So if you were to rezone that 300 acres, it would most likely go to R1, which is where they can build thousands of houses on that. Second, infrastructure. We've talked about infrastructure. As they go into each development, the intersections and stuff like that would be built out on day one. as they're required. And the TIA, as described inside the development agreement, must be updated at least every five years or sooner as development grows and comes online. In addition to that, we've talked about the $10 million contributions to infrastructure. That goes for infrastructure in and around that area including improvements to Cane Bay Boulevard and Nexton Parkway. We know that a lot of folks coming into the Cane Bay area and Moncks Corner area use those parkways and boulevards to get to where they're going, and so those monies can be spent far outreaching in that area. It also reminded me, we haven't talked a lot about it, but in the presentation that Nick gave tonight, parks. Inside this development, there's lots of green space left for parks and passive areas for residents to be able to go and enjoy the natural area and parks there. Water and sewer, all water and sewer impact fees will have to be paid by the developer at that time when the development goes underway. Schools, the developer has set aside land for the school and has agreed to pay the voluntary impact fee of $1,850 per dwelling. The developer doesn't have to pay that and there is no law or rule or anything that says that we can collect this fund, but the developer has agreed to do that. In addition, the school district has provided a letter of agreement inside the packet and inside this development agreement that is an agreement with the school set aside land and the development. For those other questions looking on schools, you might look to the school district's master plan on how they build schools and accommodate all the children that would be coming from this area. We've talked a lot about it, and I've seen it out there online a lot on where the affordable housing is. If you want to blame anything on me, you can blame on this one. I like the word attainable. When you say affordable, it makes somebody seem like they're lower class. That's not the case with folks that cannot afford homes. They just might be down on their luck or not have a good enough job to be able to have a house like maybe some of the other folks have. So we've termed the word attainable. When we started these discussions with the developer, there were zero, zero attainable houses inside this development. We've gotten them to 250 units. 125 of them being at 80% AMI. So you have to meet those qualifications of 80% AMI in that area to buy those homes. And those are gonna be the small homes at right around 450 square feet, plus or minus from there. The other mechanism we put in there is perhaps you're a young family of one or two, or you've got a good job but you can't fully afford a 2,000, 2,500 square foot home inside that area. The other part of the attainability we put inside there is 125 homes built around 1,500 square feet. 1,500 square foot home could provide a good three bedroom house for a small family. or maybe a retired couple. That gives them the ability to afford a house inside this neighborhood without having to buy a 2,000 or larger square foot house at the price tag that those come after. So we've worked hard to get that in there, and so attainable is in there, it's just not under affordable, it's under attainable. Stormwater. Stormwater must be in compliance with all state and federal regulations at that time. If there's any state or federal regulation change, then they have to comply with that. In addition, the developer is constantly developing the original part of Cane Bay, so he's constantly having to update his stormwater calculations, and those calculations are still set today and comply with all stormwater regulations for this development. Again, we've talked about there's been some concerns from the Wynwood community on connectivity to Wynwood. When this first came to us two or three months ago, we had a massive petition from the folks in Wynwood and signatures that came that did not want any type of connectivity to this development. We have met those neighbors' wishes and the developer has not put any type of road connectivity into the Wynwood development. Also contemplated inside the DA is no short-term rentals. There will be no Airbnbs, or if there is, the longest Airbnb you have is going to have to be a minimum of 30 days. The developers also set aside land for the fire station, our EMS station, along with contributions of up to 3.25 million for building the building and supplying engines and other vehicles for the fire station. It also has a residential improvement district, which helps continue with road improvements far and beyond the starting of this development and goes on for, I believe, 25 or 30 years. Again, examples of what this residential improvement district can help with is help with any of the infrastructure around that area or on KMA Boulevard and Nexen Boulevard. Buffers, we've seen increase in buffers based on the by-right zoning that backs up to the current by-right zoning now. A lot of it being flex one, the maximum buffer would only have to be 15 feet. We've seen in many areas where he's increased the buffer to at least the 15 feet up to 25 feet or even more. In addition, we've been listening to folks for the last two or three months and their concerns. The developers worked with the residents in the Wynwood, including Mr. Rivers on his property, getting more buffers to his property, but also to the larger Wynwood development as a whole. And as we've seen come up here, he's also worked a lot with Ms. Yen and Mr. Lee and their families on Ruminous Lane, helping make improvements to that road and paving it at no cost to them, adding a 25-foot natural buffer around their properties to protect them, and also being conscientious of no construction going up and down that road and creating a bus stop and places for their mailboxes to be safely as development occurs. I think that covers most of my talking points, but I'll leave it up to my other colleagues to make any talking points as I review my notes and I come up with anything I'll mention more. Mr. Chairman.

Supervisor Critt. Thank you for that rundown. It seems like when anybody runs for office these days, they say, we know we're going to have growth. We want to have smart growth. This is literally the definition of that. I got a lot of emails over the weekend after them calming down a little bit and got some calls today. And whenever we did the moratorium process, we required the developer to have a public meeting. And most of what I heard today was those meetings have gone on and on and on, far beyond anything the moratorium process requires. It wasn't... It looks like I might have the votes now. We can quit having these meetings. So I do want to commend the development team. I don't know how many hours you got in this or what you're doing. And remember, I asked at the first reading, why not just build by right? You don't have to pay any of these funds. You don't have to worry about any of this stuff. And this doesn't always happen. But I do appreciate the effort that even when it looks like the votes might be there, And even I know internally, you feel like you're doing, we haven't achieved any of this in any other PD we've done in this county. This is a one of one in terms of getting infrastructure money. But I know you go into those meetings, not knowing that you're going to be able to satisfy each and every person you meet with. And these aren't just the broad community meetings. It appears to be one family at a time. So I wanted to share that tonight that I didn't know those meetings were still going on as committed as they seem to be still going on. And throughout this process, it's been very much like making the sausage. And there's been one accommodation and one concession after the other. And I don't know that we've worked with anyone who has listened so well. and continue to engage with the community like you have. And we have members of the community here tonight that have been fully committed to this, unwavering, on and on and on, and continue to come. And if your only goal is that this thing doesn't pass and the existing development passes, because there's really not another option, my argument would be We're certainly at an infinitely better place than if this didn't pass. But a lot of the input that we've gotten has been incorporated. There's a gentleman now that supports this project that has submitted more documents and more things to read, and I've read every single thing I've gotten than any three or four or five other people put together. and is now all of a sudden supporting the project. And that wouldn't have been something I would have guessed at the beginning of this. And I know, I think we're getting close to the finished product that we're actually voting on. But again, I'll just say it again, I do appreciate the willingness to go. It looks like we got the votes, but we still have that one adjacent property owner that has a big concern. and the effort to alleviate that concern. And we know it comes with a cost, an additional cost to all of this. Again, this is our template moving forward if anything like this comes up. And we just appreciate your team's efforts on listening. And there'll be a public hearing tonight that we will listen to and we need everyone to listen to and then there'll be a third reading. and another set, but this is far from even what we voted on originally, and I appreciate the clarity of Councilman Obie tonight bringing up all these concessions. I know that the school district, the fire department, the road system, the adjacent property owners are all infinitely better off than you developing by right. There's no doubt about that, irregardless of frustrations about growth, and those should exist in Berkeley County. But we're far better off in all of those categories than if you were to just get frustrated with these proceedings and meeting with staff and having all the public meetings going, I'm just going to build it by right. So I wanted to pass that along in my appreciation.

Any other questions or discussion from council? Move for approval. Second. Motion by Councilman West, second by Councilman Brooks. Any other discussion? Not hearing any, all in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? That motion carries. Next up is Bill number 26-39, an Ordinance to Modify the Official Zoning and Development Standards Map of Berkeley County, South Carolina, in regards to Ben Grimming on behalf of BMG to 3rd LLC and JTG to 3rd LLC and MRG LLC. For TMS numbers 180-00-03-021, a plus or minus 3.48 acres located on South Live Oak Drive in the vicinity of Monk's Corner from the planned development mixed-use assessment for Cane Bay Plantation PDMU District to the Lake Village Planned Development Mixed-Use Village PDMUV District in County Council District 6. Move approval. Second. A motion by Councilman West, a second by Councilman Pinckney. Any discussion? Not hearing any, all in favor please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? That motion carries. Next up is bill number 26-40, an order to modify the official zoning and development standards map of Berkeley County, South Carolina. In regards to Ben Grambling on behalf of Builders Capital LLC for a plus or minus 2.70 acre portion of TMS numbers 180-00-03-087, a plus or minus 37.87 acres located near Radiant Blueway and Calm Waterway in the vicinity of Monk's Corner from the Plan Development Mixed Use Assessment for Cane Bay Plantation, PBMU.

Second.

A motion by Councilman Stern, a second by Councilman West. Any discussion? Not hearing any, all in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? That motion carries. Next up is bill number 26-41, an order to modify the official zoning development standards in Berkeley County, South Carolina, in regards to Ben Gramling on behalf of CBI Holdings LLC for TMS numbers 180-00-03-001 at plus or minus 314.41 acres located on South Live Oak Drive. Move to approve. Do we have a motion? Second. A motion by Councilwoman Stern, a second by Councilman West. Again, going from PDMU to the mixed use Lake Village PDMUV. Any discussion? Not hearing any, all in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? That motion carries. Next up is bill number 26-42, an ordinance to modify the official zoning and development standards map of Berkeley County, South Carolina, in regards to Ben Grimming on behalf of Cane Bay Lakes LLC for TMS numbers 180-00-03-008. and 007, and 006, and 005, and 004, and 003, and 085, and 056, and 055, a plus or minus 177.5 total acres. Second. A motion by Councilwoman Stern, a second by Councilman West. Again, going from Flex 1 District to Lake Village Plan Development PDMUV. Any discussion? Not hearing any, all in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? That motion carries. Next up is bill number 26-43, in order to modify the official zoning and development standards map of Berkeley County, South Carolina, in regards to Ben Grimming. on behalf of Cane Bay Lakes LLC for TMS numbers 180-00-03-067 and 080 and 079, plus or minus 22.69 total acres. Motion by Councilman Brooks, second by Councilman Stern. Any discussion? Not hearing any, all in favor, please say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed? That motion carries. Next up is bill number 22-44, an ordinance to modify the official zoning and development standards map of Berkeley County, South Carolina, in regards to Ben Grambling on behalf of Daniel Lakes LLC for TMS numbers 180-00-03-076 and 195-00-00-033, plus or minus 798.75 total acres located on... Second. Go to Ms. Lane.

And that's 2644, just for clarification.

2644, yes, thank you. A motion by Councilman Brooks, a second by Councilwoman Stern. Any discussion? Not hearing any, all in favor, please say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed? That motion carries. Next up is bill number 26-45, an ordinance to modify the official zoning and development standards map of Berkeley County, South Carolina. In regards to Bingraming, on behalf of Daniel Lakes LLC, for TMS numbers 180-00-03-029, a plus or minus 18.31 acres. Move to approve.

Second.

A motion by Councilwoman Stern, a second by Councilman Brooks. They go from GC to the PDMUV. Any discussion? Not hearing any, all in favor, please say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed? That motion carries. Next up is bill number 26-46, an ordinance to modify the official zoning and development standards map of Berkeley County, South Carolina, in regards to Ben Grambling on behalf of Daniel Lakes LLC for TMS numbers 180-00-03-038, plus or minus 7.05 acres, located on South Live Oak Drive in the vicinity of Monk's Corner.

Move to approve.

Second.

Motion by Councilman Stern, a second by Councilman Brooks. Going from R2 to the PD MUV, any discussion? Not hearing any, all in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? That motion carries. Next up is bill number 26-47, an ordinance to modify the official zoning and development standards map of Berkeley County, South Carolina. In regards to Ben Gramling, on behalf of HTC South Live Oak LLC for TMS numbers 180-00-01-004 and 161-00-01-057, plus or minus 13.87 total acres. Move to approve.

Second.

A motion by Councilman Brooks, a second by Councilwoman Stern, going from Flex 1 to the PD MUV. Any discussion? Not hearing any, all in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? That motion carries. Next up is Bill number 26-48, an order to modify the official zoning and development standards map of Berkeley County, South Carolina, in regards to Ben Grambling on behalf of HTC, South Live Oak, LLC. for TMS numbers 180-00-01-071, plus or minus 3.16 acres, located on South Live Oak Drive in the vicinity of Moncks Corner.

Second.

A motion by Councilwoman Stern. A second by Councilman Brooks. Going from Flex 1 and RNC to the PD MUV. Any discussion? Not hearing any, all in favor please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? That motion carries. Next up is Bill number 26-49, an ordinance to modify the official zoning and development standards in Berkeley County, South Carolina. On behalf of Ben Grambling, in regards to Ben Grambling, on behalf of HTC South Live Oak LLC, for TMS numbers 180-00-01-041 and 180-00-01-049 and 181-00-01-048, plus or minus 7.27 total acres located on South. Second. And that's going from general commercial to the PD MUV. Do we have enough for a quorum? Mr. Pinckney walking out?

Nope, we need to hold.

For Mr. Pinckney to come back. Jared, if you want to tell, or make sure he's...

No problem, sir.

Again, on bill number 26-49, we have a motion by Councilman Stern, a second by Councilman Brooks. Any discussion? Not hearing any, all in favor, please say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed? That motion carries. Next up, we have bill number 26-50, an ordinance to modify the official zoning and development standards in South Carolina. In regards to Ben Gramling, on behalf of HTC South Live Oak LLC for TMS numbers 180.00.01.003 and 042 and 043, plus or minus 3.31 total acres. Second. A motion by Councilman Stern, a second by Councilman Brooks. Again, going from R2 to the PDMUV. Any discussion? Not hearing any, all in favor please say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed? That motion carries. Next up is bill number 26-51. Different subject. In order to amend Article Two, definitions, Article Four, use table, Article Five, urban residential zoning districts, Article Six, rural zoning districts, Article Seven, commercial and industrial zoning districts, and Article 11, supplemental regulations to the Berkeley County zoning.

Move to approve.

Second.

A motion by Councilman Brooks, a second by Councilman Stern, and this is for a large majority of being the accessory dwelling units. Any discussion? Not hearing any, all in favor please say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed? That motion carries. Next up is bill number 26-59, an ordinance approving the authorizing the county supervisor to enter into the development agreement for Lake Village by and between Berkeley County, South Carolina, and Ben Grambling of Grambling Brothers Real Estate and Development on behalf of BMG III LLC, JTG III LLC, MRG LLC, Builders Capital LLC, CBI Holdings LLC, Cane Bay Lakes LLC, Daniel Lakes LLC, HTC South Live Oak LLC for your plus or minus 2,029.66 acres assemblage located approximately to South Live Oak.

Move to approve.

Highway 17A. Second.

Please note Councilman Newell's recusal.

Yes. Note Councilman Newell's recusal. And a motion by Councilman Brooks, a second by Councilwoman Stern. Any discussion? Not hearing any, all in favor please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? I'll entertain a motion to adjourn.

Bill moved.

Second. Motion by Councilman Pinckney. A second by Councilman West. Any discussion? All in favor of adjournment, please say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed? We stand adjourned. Thank you. Welcome back, Mr. Newell.

Good evening. I would like to call the committee on auxiliary meeting to order. Madam Clerk, has this meeting been properly noticed via the Freedom of Information Act?

Yes, sir, it has.

Thank you. First, on my general approval of minutes from the regular committee meeting held on August the 10th, 2026, which have been distributed to have a motion.

So moved. Second.

Are there any corrections to these minutes? All in favor?

Aye. Aye.

Opposes? Minutes stand approved as presented. Next, we have consideration prior to our first reading, a bill number 26-71, an ordinance to amend Ordinance 96-05-15, Section 6, to increase the number of members on the Mental Health Board from 9 to 15.

Move for approval.

Second. Motion and second.

I do have a question.

Any discussion?

Mr. Chairman.

Yes. We need more members.

There was a discrepancy between the ordinance that created the body and the bylaws. And I think they have appointed more members than nine now. And so to bring the body into compliance, there was a desire to set the number at 15. Also, there's some specific requirements about the types of people or professions that have to be on that board. And so I think they have filled many of those, but right now they're more than nine, so they'd have to release some members to be able to go to the lower number.

Couldn't you just make one? I mean, you could still have as many as you want, but only nine can vote. The rest of them could be alternates, right?

We'd either have to amend the bylaws or amend the ordinance, one, because they don't match. They're not consistent. Okay. Okay. Chairman? Yes, sir.

Does it mandate 15 or could it go back to nine?

It could go back to nine.

So they could clean it up? Yes.

Any other discussion? All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carried. I would entertain a motion to adjourn.

Second.

Everyone? All opposed? We all adjourn. Thank you.

Good evening. I'd like to call to order the Committee on Administrative Services meeting. Ms. Clerk, has this meeting been properly noticed by the Freedom of Information Act?

Yes, sir, it has.

Thank you. The only item on my agenda is approval of minutes from the regular committee meeting held on June 8, 2000. Move to approve. Any corrections to these minutes?

Not right now.

All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Minutes stand as presented. I'd like to entertain a motion to adjourn. So moved. Second. All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? We stand adjourned. Thank you.

Good evening. At this time, I'd like to call the public hearing to order. Madam Clerk, is this meeting properly noticed via the Freedom of Information Act?

Yes, sir, it has.

Thank you. First up, or the only agenda item for public hearing, is Bill number 26-59, an ordinance approving and authorizing the county supervisor to enter into the development agreement for Lake Village by and between Berkeley County, South Carolina... and Ben Grambling of Grambling Brothers Real Estate and Development on behalf of BMG III LLC, JTG III LLC, MRG LLC, Builders Capital LLC, CBI Holdings LLC, Cane Bay Lakes LLC, Daniels Lake LLC, and HTC South Live Oak LLC for a plus or minus 2,029.66 acre assemblage located proximate to South Live Oak Drive, Highway 17A, Black Tom Road, Cane Bay. and Wynwood communities in the vicinity of Mutt's Corner as pursuant to the Local Government Development Agreement Act and Berkeley County Ordinance 97-1-2 as amended. A second public hearing for bill number 26-59 be held on Monday, September 28, 2026 at 6 o'clock p.m. or as soon thereafter as may be heard following other meetings in the assembly room at the Berkeley County Administration Building at such time and location as otherwise announced. Would anyone like to speak on bill number 26-59? If you'd like to speak on the bill, could you raise your hand so I could figure out State your name and address for the record and time of four minutes, Mr. Lee.

Yes, Ken Lee, Baytree Road. My consideration tonight regards the stormwater plan for the Lake Village development. It's based on the 2009 stormwater plan, and that plan is now obsolete. with the release of the September 2026 stormwater development plan, management plan. And my question is, does Mr. Grambling want to use the newer development plan now, the 2026 plan, because it is superior to the 2009 plan, which is responsible for flooding in 2015, there were fatalities and that's why the council came up with the idea of developing a new stormwater plan and by December 23, they had the new plan in a draft and then Mr. Gramling applied for the Lake Village application based on the 2009 plan stormwater plan. And then in 2026, the new plan is now available. And I just wanted to ask Mr. Grambling if he would like, or his representative, if he would like to ask the council to apply the new stormwater plan because of the dangers to the communities downstream from it. And this has been an ongoing issue. And I'm sure he's familiar with it. And we're all familiar with the reasons that the 2009 stormwater a manual was adopted for his application. And I think we have a good understanding of why the council allowed him to use the 2009 instead of the draft 2023, which was then available. But now we've got a completed, it may not be signed, but we have a copy of the 2026 September stormwater design management plan and we want to see that used because people downstream are going to get flooded out. Evidence is in Moody's plantation just a few days ago and from retention ponds from Cane Bay And we also know that there were flash flood rescues that had to be done in 2024. And nobody's pointing fingers. Nobody's blaming anybody for anything. But we're asking for the future. Just like Mr. West said, we're trying to create a heritage for the future. And we don't want floods in our communities. You guys don't live there. You've got nothing to lose. We have everything to lose. It's a little inconvenient for you to have to refile that application. Okay, but the people that live there don't want to lose their patrimony and their lives and their children's safety. That's all we're asking for. So would Mr. Gramling or his representative like to answer why he won't use the 2026 September wastewater management development plan. I think I've got that right. I can't remember how you say that. I didn't bring my paper up here. I guess I could read it.

Thank you, Mr. Lee. Your time's up. Thank you.

Please respond.

All right. That concludes the public hearing. At this time, I'll entertain a motion to adjourn. So move.

Do we have one more speaker? If you had one more gentleman that wanted to speak, he wasn't standing up.

Welcome. Is there anyone at Mr. Godfrey, correct?

Yes.

Anyone else after Mr. Godfrey?

Welcome. Welcome. Good evening. My name is Leroy Godfrey Jr. I live at 519 Glose Avenue in Wynwood for 25 years. This is my home, and many of you are my neighbors. Let me say it plainly, I'm not against growth. I'm against guessing. And Mr. Obie did an amazing job tonight of answering most of the questions on the record that I have been raising for the past several months. And I'll have to do and redo my research based on those answers. But those questions have been out there for a while now. And with the answers, we need to ensure that those answers are right. And if they're right, I will be the first to say, well done. It's a great job, but the decisions that we're making will last a lifetime. They are impacting this community. and the residents, and so we have to get it right. Mr. Lee just spoke about water damage, and when you get up in the morning after rain and you have problems with water in your yard and flooding, and there's a 2026 plan that's out, but we're basing our information on something that's 15 years old that the county approved and requested in 2023. That's a question that's unanswered. Why are we using something 15, 16 years old to approve the largest project something of this magnitude in 2026. Those are questions that need to be answered and answered correctly and properly. So I thank you, Ms. Obie. It's almost like you went down my list of questions I had and I've submitted to this council to the T and I'll be the first to commend you for doing that. And I thank you. Those are answers I've been seeking. 21 questions. So I'm not asking and have never asked that this project be denied, but that questions be answered so that we can explain it to our children and our grandchildren when we sit through a traffic light for three and four cycles. I thank you for saying, yeah, the traffic is limited to 5,006 houses, but that traffic study already fails even with the improvements. So how do we look at that, understand it, and explain it? That's a question I'm still puzzling in my mind. Does it make sense when we know that the grade by South Carolina Department of Transportation is already an F? How did we jump from with improvements to saying, okay, we're going to give you an A to keep going. So there's still questions that are out there, but I applaud you on how far you've come. One day, the people who live here will go back and read the record and see your names beside the decisions you're making. And I'm just saying, let's be sure that the decisions we're making are the right ones and they're made for the right reasons. Thank you for your time.

Thank you.

Thank you for allowing me to speak. I'm Kathy Lee. I'm on Baytree Road. writing these speeches, so here we go. I have been doing some research. Of course, this is still online, the draft of the 2023 Stormwater Design Standards Manual, and I happened to notice the word engineering on there, so I went to the engineering section of the website, and lo and behold, I found the September 2026 Design Standards Manual for stormwater. I've printed all 220 pages. Why isn't it already out there? Why isn't it published? Why isn't that the normal standard that we should be using? It's important. The long awaited Berkeley County 2026 Stormwater Design Standards Manual was posted this morning on the engineer department section of the Berkeley County website. I downloaded the copy and then it's disappeared. It's not on there anymore. Lake Village applied in 2024 for rezoning using the old 2009 stormwater manual that's failed many areas of Berkeley County since the deadly flooding October 2015. Lake Village shouldn't be passed until this earlier posted The one I downloaded today, standards are reflected in the development agreement. It'll take more money maybe to build Lake Village. I understand that. But it's worth it to save lives. It's worth it to protect properties. roads and bridges, there should be a new application to add the new standards in this 2026 manual. There's a lot of homes. I appreciate the development is going to be great. I mean, let's build it right. Wetland soils and vegetation can retain over a million gallons of water per acre. I'm a geologist with hydrology work experience, and I've mapped the flow of water in parts of Berkeley County. Wetlands are a very valuable natural resource in flood control. The west side of Cane Bay, that water drains towards the Ashley River. The east side where Lake Village will be, that water drains to the Cooper River. It's a unique spot in Berkeley County. So there's a lot of concern about downstream channels. There's little creeks up in that wetland area. They're blocked up. They need to be dug out. If there's going to be an overflow of runoff, it's going to be a problem. Moody's Plantation has been discussed. So can we think again and try and use the 2026 updated standards to address stormwater issues? Let's do it right. Thank you for your time.

Thank you. Anyone else? All right, this time I'll adjourn the public meeting. Thank you.