City Council - Regular Meeting

Call this April 14th meeting of city council to order. Madame clerk, would you please call the role? Council member Greg, Council Member Sheileley here, Council Member McBride here, Council Member Poke, Council Member Brady, Council Member Dalisandro, Council Member Wearing, Council Member Seekings, Council Member Tinkler, Council Member Bowen, Council Member Appal, Council Member Scardan, Mayor Cogwell

here. I would like to now ask Council Member Scardan to lead everybody, well, give the invitation and lead everybody in the pledge of allegiance. Thank you. The following reading is from the Unitarian Universalist Himnel and is attributed to Anonymous with a few tweaks. May we be reminded here of our highest aspirations of service and inspired to bring our gifts of love and service to the altar of humanity. May we know once again that we are not isolated beings but connected in mystery and miracle to the universe, to this community, and to each other. Thank you. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible with liberty and liberal.

Okay, we have two presentations and recognitions tonight. The first one is for uh a lady that knew this building well, knew this city well for uh more than 40 years, Mary Anne Sullivan. And are any of her family members by chance here tonight? If not, I will read this resolution on a woman who uh did a lot for this city behind the scenes. Whereas Maryanne Sullivan, April 27th, 1944 to April 2nd, 2026, a lifelong Charlestonian, devoted more than four decades of service to the city of Charleston and leaves a legacy of intellect, integrity, and quiet leadership. And whereas a proud graduate of Bishop England High School and the College of Charleston, where she served as editor of the Meteor and championed freedom of speech, she further pursued academic excellence by earning a master's degree in classics from the University of Georgia. Whereas after joining the office of Mayor Joseph P. Riley Jr. In 1976, she became his longtime principal adviser and the longest serving member of his administration, playing a vital role in securing resources and advancing initiatives that transform Charleston into a thriving worldrenowned city, including projects such as Waterfront Park, the South Carolina Aquarium, and the International African Museum, African-American Museum. And whereas a member of the civil rights generation, she was deeply influenced by the pursuit of justice and equality and remained committed throughout her life to the ideals of fairness, opportunity, and service to others. And whereas known for her brilliance, her humility and

unwavering commitment to public service, she worked tirelessly behind the scenes and durmed deep respect of colleagues and the community. And whereas beyond her professional accompl accomplishments, she was a devoted daughter, sister, aunt, and friend, remembered for her keen wit, boundless curiosity, kindness, and the profound impact she had on her family and all who knew her. Now, therefore, be it resolved that I, William S. Cogwell, Mayor Jr., your mayor of the city of Charleston, hereby honor the life and legacy of Maryanne Sullivan and express my deepest gratitude for her extraordinary contributions to this city. I would now like to ask uh our own Miss Janna Shaw Johnson and OA Matthew Meadows who's the CEO of the Charleston Urban League to join me here on the podium. Oh, you got Yeah. Here we go. Good to see you, baby. Good to see you.

This is recognizing Fair Housing Month. Whereas April is recognized nationally as Fair Housing Month, commemorating the passage of the Fair Housing Act of 1968, which prohibits discrimination in housing based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, familiar status, or disability. And whereas the Fair Fair Housing Act remains a cornerstone of our nation's commitment to equal opportunity, expanding access to safe, decent, and affordable housing and protecting individuals and families from discriminatory practices. And whereas the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, HUD, in partnership with state housing agencies such as SC Housing, continues to promote fair housing principles and works to ensure that all residents have access to housing free from discrimination. And whereas fair housing is essential to building strong inclusive communities where all individuals have the opportunity to live, work, and thrive. And whereas the 2026 theme, faith, freedom, and fair housing for all Americans, as established by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, highlights the importance of advancing e of advancing equity, protecting individual rights, and ensuring that all people are treated with dignity and respect and housing. And whereas communities across the nation reaffirm their commitment to advancing equality, removing barriers, and fostering inclusive neighborhoods throughout through education, outreach, and enforcement of fair housing laws. Now, therefore, I, William S. Cogwell, Jr., mayor of the city of Charleston, do hereby proclaim April 2026 as Fair Housing Month. Would you like to say a few words?

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Like to thank you, council members, and most importantly, Miss Johnson, for the support that you've given the Urban League to do this work in fair housing year after year after year. I I would like to say that we've come a long way as it relates to fair housing and in some ways we have. But at the Urban League, there's not a day that goes by where we don't receive a phone call or we don't have an individual coming coming into our doors who say that housing doesn't work equally for us. And we understand at the Urban League that it doesn't work equally for people of color. It doesn't work equally for people who have a disability. It doesn't work equally for people who are poor. It doesn't work equally for people who are different. And and and so it reminds us, Mr. mayor that we need to keep working to make fair housing work better in this community. How do we do that at the UR at the Urban League? We we do that. We conduct workshops all year long. We do outreach. We file discrimination complaints. We let individuals know what their rights are and how it is that they're protected under the Fair Housing Act. O over this past year, Giana, we've assisted over 300 people through the fair housing hotline that the city provides funding for. We've helped over 70 people avoid eviction. We've helped almost 100 individuals pay their rent.

We have helped over 47 people become first-time home buyers. And we have had in this past month three people buy their first home through the support from the city of Charleston. But because of your support, the Charleston Area Urban League was elected by the Department of Housing and Urban Development as one of 33 agencies to receive a fair housing education out outreach grant in the nation. one of 33 agencies to let us to build let us continue to build on the work that we feel that is so important to this community. At the end of the day, what does fair housing month mean? It means that we need to continue to empower our citizens to strive and let them understand that everyone has a choice to achieve and a right to have a home. Thank you very much. I appreciate you.

Thanks. You got to get pictures. Come. You can't go anywhere. You got pictures. I'm not used to

Thank you.

Okay, next up we have approval of council minutes. Can I get a motion? Motion made, properly seconded. Madam clerk, did you catch who made the motion and who got it? All right. All those in favor signify by saying I. Opposed. Eyes have it. We are now on to citizens participation which uh is reserved for 30 minutes. Madame clerk, how many people do we have signed up? We have uh six people signed up to speak.

Okay. Why don't we give everybody a minute and a half? We'll remind everybody the rules of decorum. Ask that you please follow them. If not, uh you will be given one warning. If you continue, you'll be asked to leave. So, uh Madam Clerk, please call the first speaker. Thank you. All right. We will be starting with our in-person list first. Uh Courtney Christmas.

Hi there. I'm representing the city market vendors um at downtown. We pay rent to the city and take in a lot of tax dollars and a lot of revenue being over 300 vendors that show up daily at the city market. We are being displaced by the sale of the port property to the BMK group who just opened the Cooper and we would just like to have a peace of mind of our daily parking. We have parking provided for by the port for over 50 years. And as of April 1st, we have no parking. The ones that paid for the parking pass for April, we called it in on March 30th, we were able to purchase it. But then the ones that called on March 30th to receive their April 1st parking pass, they could not receive it. We are number 32, 132 in the parking garage for monthly parking passes and we've been on that list for seven years. We load and unload daily our product for our brick and mortar. Uh B parking lot over on Concord Street has a bunch of construction products in it and equipment as a staging area. What's happening with that lot? and also the A lot that's right in front of the fleet landing, but maybe bought that. We have no idea. Um, we just need over a 100 parking spaces for our vehicles. Thank you.

Sandy Cromali.

Hi, my name is Sandy Crilly and I also own a business at the Charleston City Market. Uh, for the past 10 years I've had uh parking. We have had uh vendors who've had a pass for 50 years and suddenly we are completely displaced. Um I've been on a list for a city garage for over seven years. They're non-existent. We're we don't know what the status is of the B lot at Concord and Market Street, but that Bot and A lot would be enough spaces to hold all of us permanently. We would be out of everyone's hair. Um, we need a place the the logistics of what we do there, the loading in and the loading out. Um, a lot of us leave our products downtown. Um, it's very very very unique and we're um in a panic mode right now. Um, we don't know what to do with employees or product or anything. And the the rug has really been pulled out from under us for 50 years. So, we we just need a place, a permanent place, whether it's opening up um one of the lots or whether it's opening up additional spaces in the garages that could accommodate us. Um we're just asking for some some help. Thank you, Muhammad. Evening. I passed out some of these to you all and it said, "Peace be with you." And this is what Pope Leo the 14th is saying. And today is the 14th and the there are 14 letters and peace be with you. I have more to say about that. I want you all to read

it and with the help of God the next city council meeting I will explain it. I'd like also to say that we prayed that Mayor Raleigh get well. He did a whole lot of good for this city. He had his fault, but he was not a liar. Not to me, and we pray that God would help him to recover. Thank you,

former council member Jackson. Thank you, Carol Jackson, Patterson Avenue. Um, I'm here speaking for myself and I just want to thank the mayor and the council members for your ongoing thoughtful consideration of the important changes that are continuing to be made to the new zoning district ordinance known as MU3 workforce housing. I especially appreciate council's agreement that the ordinance specifically agree I'm sorry that this ordinance specifically codify the guarantee of the public housing contract units to be replaced one to one on the date those public housing communities are resoned. I look forward to your work. Thank you

Joyce Wagner. Hi, I am also a vendor in the Charleston City Market for 45 years and the loading and unloading, wear and tear on the body, wear and tear on the van, we need parking that we can depend on, parking that we have a voucher for for any given month uh that we are in that day and we have been blindsided again because of the development and understand all of that but the lack of communication we feel is the most prominent thing one edge is not catching the other and we're kind of being left in between with the rug pulled out from underneath us I also paid for April and I have my voucher but we were told as well that there was not going to be any more parking after that I spoke to Adam at the port today and he assures us that we're going to have temporary parking for a while until this gets worked out. But I think the main thing is the communication development is great. It helps our city. It's wonderful. But if you do not build parking garages to accommodate and then think thoughtfully of the garages to have the lower level as high as it can for box trucks for those of us who have been here for 45 and 50 years, sometimes more physically taking our items out of our van every single day and basically being the ambassadors when the cruise ships come in, which we're losing that business as well, too. Some think that's great. For most of us, it's a venue and a revenue that we'll we'll never get to see. So, please, we need some vouchers.

Thank you. And we'll move to our online uh list. Anthony G. Bryant. And you can press star six to unmute yourself.

Anthony G. Bryant, president Ag Bryant Group, Inc. Um I want to know basically in terms of the 3500 plan in terms of what's the total amount of projected units in the market uh corer square potentially union pure development magnolia development other developments see the total amount of market units if it's 10,000 uh before 2030 are projected and the price points possibly you can't do uh secondly in terms of getting a third party historical uh lawyer to evaluate the Wilmont Fraser's request of the Robert um Robert E. Lee monument, it could be erased under confiscation act 6162 has no records for the confiscation act at all. That's an evolution from from from property a property to to to being free under 13th amendment for section 1 and two that was not advised to the historical board. We need to have an historian or lawyer look into the Department of Justice under Amos Acherman in 18 in the 1860s who created the department in the first place protect African-Americans from from their rights being uh impacted. So Robert E. Lee was a war war criminal not a war hero and you what you can do is just simply erase his name from the the to the stone and they can keep the monument there without his name on it. So we hope that gets done immediately. Whoever is an African-American descendant should to make a request to the Department of Justice, US attorney in South Carolina as well to protect the rights of formerly descended of slaves under 13th and 14th amendment. Thank you and have a nice evening.

Great. And those were all the speakers that signed up. We did have some comments submitted online. One comment was received from Christy Smith urging council to commit in writing to using the funds received from PI's buyout for improvements on John's Island um in particular the Oakfield community. She also requested that the sum necessary for the buyout be increased to $700,000 um to account for the 37% cumulative increase in inflation over the last 11 years. One comment was received from Nancy Bright requesting that council reconsider allowing PY to pay $500,000 in lie of completing the transportation improvements required in the putt agreement. One comment was received from Jerome Harris urging council to defer action on the second and third readings of the amendment establishing the MU3 um zoning district. One comment was received from Josh Dixs encouraging council to adopt the MU3 zoning district ordinance and two comments were received from Mr. Bryant which were sent to council in full and those are all the comments we received.

We're now on to petitions and communications. We have two appointments tonight. Um, Councilman Seekings for the chair of the uh, a tax committee. We got a second. Motion made probably second. If any further discussion, all those in favor signify by saying I oppose. I have it. Second up is Mr. Gregory Voit who is a longtime member of the Charleston Housing Authority is currently the chair and I put him up for reappoint. Um so can I get a motion?

Motion made probably second. Any further discussion on that? If none all those in favor signify by saying I opposed eyes have it. Uh we are now on to uh consent agenda items. There is one committee report here. Recreation does not require any action, but um uh Councilman McBride uh do you want to report out or anything you want to mention on that?

Thanks, Mr. Mayor. Just that uh both the projects that we uh talked about last week, the WL Stevens pool timeline and update and the John Recreation Center timeline and update both progressing well. um expected the WL Stevens pool project will be done a little sooner. Um hopefully 2027 time frame, maybe early 2027, I think if I remember right and then uh John rec center looking around 2028. So uh looking forward to both those projects being completed will be a great asset to the communities. Agreed. Agreed. Uh all right, now on to committee reports. Councilman Sheileley.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor, uh, the committee on public safety met March 17th at 400 p.m. Uh, we had two approvals to submit applications for grants. Uh, one being the SCDPS bodywn camera grant, the other is the, uh, school resource officer grant. Um, both of those were approved unanimously and, um, I move for adoption of the report, please. Motion made, properly second. Any further discussion on these items? If not, all those in favor signify by saying I. I. Opposed? Eyes have it. May I like to call on Councilman Appel for Community Development.

All right. Um, thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um, the community development committee met um back on March 19th. Um, we it was an affordable housing themed um meeting as as most of our community development committee meetings are. There are four um items we got briefed on um non-action items, but updates on number one, project 3500, specifically uh the mayor and his team's meeting uh with HUD in DC and some of the good work that they're doing to collaborate on that. Uh number two, we got an update on the MU3W ordinance that we're going to be uh voting on later this um evening and some u modifications that we've made to that ordinance to help lock in some of the commitments that are very important in that scheme. Number three, we got an update on the West Edge Foundation, MUSC Foundation ongoing discussions for the portion of project 3500 over by um Brittlebank Park. And then finally, we got an update on 899 Morrison Drive um and some environmental um cleanup work that that is going on on that property. And I invite anyone that's interested in these items to tune in to YouTube. You can get the full rundown. Y'all don't want to hear me go through all that here tonight. And then there were two other items we talked about at the committee, but these have already been pushed through to council and approved at our March 24 meeting. The first is 99395 Morrison and then um approval of some amendments to a PSA for the 899 property um from the ILA. And with that, that concludes my report.

Thank you Appel. Now moving on to committee for public works. Councilman Wearing colleague says it's two pages with all actionable items passed unanimously and I move the adoption in the report. Second motion made probably second. Any further discussion on any of these two pages worth of items? Uh seriously. If not, all those in favor signify by saying I. Opposed eyes have it. All right. Now on to councilman seeking. Thank you, Mr.

Fellow council members. I'm not going to be quite as efficient, but I'm going to try to be as quick as I possibly can. Um the committee on transportation had two meetings on March 24th, 2026. One at 2:30, one at 3:30. The first was a special meeting where we took public comment on um amending the sections in our ordinance that deal with bicycles um and the like. The principal purpose was to take up what we might do about electric bikes um that come in many different sizes, shapes, and forms. We worked through it. We worked for a long hour. You will see a proposed ordinance on the next city council agenda. We're still working through a couple of particulars, but we did unanimously push through um with some direction to staff an ordinance which which effectively looks to place not person on the regulation of what are a series of different types of electrically motorized bicycles, ebikes, emotos and then something beyond which is either a moped or a motorcycle. So, more to come on that. Um, you'll see that on our next um city council agenda. We'll get a presentation from legal. We then followed up um at exactly 3:30 with a regular meeting of the traffic and transportation committee. Um we took up a few things, one of which I'm going to talk to you about on that screen, but before we get there, we did have a request for approval of certificate of public convenience and necessity from TopShelf Limousine Services LLC. All was in order and we approved that unanimously. Um, we got an update on the SC DOT road safety audit, which is the Folly Road Corridor and request for approval of a municipal agreement between the city of Charleston and the SC DOT. Um, they gave us a quite extensive presentation on the Folly Road corridor. Um, they broke it into segments. Um, some places will have medians, some will not. There's going to

be a lot of safety measures taken along the route. Not all of that length of Folly Road is in the city of Charleston. Some of it is in the town of James Island and I believe some of it actually is in the unincorporated county. But the important part of what I'm about to tell you is the SCOT wants to do this project, but um they have to do it with the consent of the municipalities through which the road runs. So, we unanimously at RT& meeting um on March 24th voted to um enter into the municipal agreement with the SC DOT for these folly road safety improvements. The challenge is James Island also has to do the same. And at the last um meeting and the last I heard, they have not done so. Um, and there's some question whether or not the SE dot either will or can proceed with the portions of Folly Road in the town of James Island without that municipal agreement in place. Um, more to come from the SC DOT, but for the purposes of tonight when I finish my report, if there's um a stomach for it on this council, I'd ask for a vote to approve that municipal agreement. So, at least we've got our ducks in a row and are ready for that project to move forward. It is possible, and then I'll shut up, that they might just do part of it, the part that's in the city and not the other part. That seems silly to me um if it's a road safety project. But anyway, um there's that. We um updated our towing ordinance to allow for some higher rates on the um toes from private lots, non-consensual. That passed unanimously. The next I'm going to ask your indulgence just for a couple minutes to talk about the request for approval of anou for Maybank Highway at Southwick Drive traffic sign on John's Island. Um it's really hard to see um up

there on that map, but we did not have the benefit of a map when we took this up at TNT. So, thank you for giving us a map. So, there are two projects on John's Island, two developments. Um the pro and this road project involves two separate developments. north of Maybank Highway, um Herod's Capitol, which I wish I had someone here to point. Um but anyway, located at the curve part of Southwick Drive, and then Mr. Mayor, you might be that person, and then the Cooper development. Anyway, there's two big developments, lots of big developments on John's Island, right? There was a traffic study done by Heritage Capital, who is doing the Northern or the I guess it's really, let's see, the Southern project, right, Jim? The We're upside down,

right? Thank you very much. the the the southern project um at the intersection of South Oak and Maybank that shows that that intersection currently meets the requirements for traffic signal. Um there is a plan for realignment rather than placing a traffic signal at the current three-way intersection which is a little bit clunky. Um the city plans to line to realign Southwick with St. John's Woods Parkway. Um so that they all square up. Um it's about a 500 feet to the east. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um this will create a more efficient four-way signalization intersection rather than three-way. Um Cooper Development owns the property needed for this realignment and is currently seeking um a PUD that's still to come back. Right. So, how's this all going to happen financially? Um, Heritage Capital is going to provide $782,000 um in escrow to be held in escrow. Um, the money which they would have spent on the original signal um will instead be used by Cooper Development to build the realigned intersection and the signal. So, you're going to get a four-way as opposed to a three-way. Um, there's a three-year window for this. If the PUD for the Cooper development does not move forward within three years, the city will use the escro funds to signalize the original South Wick May Bankank intersection as it exists today. So, we've got a three-year window for this these projects, this PUD, and this plan to move forward. Um, the plan is also currently pending formal approval from the SC DOT. um we all know how that may go but all indications at least informally is that they have expressed

conceptual support for the realignment of this intersection. So this is what we did at the committee and the outcome. Um we asked council member McBride asked and um rightfully so that when we came to city council that we have a map so you could sort of visualize where this all was. Um pending approval from the SC DOT I'm sorry we have a map so you can see what was going on and the public can better see it. It's now on YouTube so you get to see it. We did vote unanimously to approve theou and move the project forward, which effectively what that does is start the three-year clock. Um, still a lot to be done, but it's a start moving forward. There's private funding. It seems, I think, to the committee anyway, that this is a better alignment. I think the council member from John's Island agrees the alignment is better. So, um, we approved that unanimously, recognizing that it's not going to happen overnight. Did I get generally that correct?

One quick comment comment. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Great summary. Uh is I'm working talking with the city about the existing Southwick, which is really close to the new road. Um trying to and this has nothing to do with the deal that was made with the city, but just the existing Southwick and the new signalized road are very close together to try to limit um left turns in and out of that road. That's a separate uh separate issue related to this project.

A little bit smaller scale, but this is a fairly large scale project and really make some improvements. So lastly, um we took up um a request for approval of agreement to perform traffic improvements with PY Homes regarding the Cane/ River Road and Kimmerland Street on John's Island intersection. Um we deferred it. Um still a little bit more work to be done by PY. Um, I think there is general agreement in the committee that this is a worthy project if in fact all the warrants are met and the traffic studies are done, but we agreed to defer it to finish I think one single traffic study. So, I apologize for taking so much time on this report. Um, I'm shamed by council member Wearing. He got through two he got through two pages in 10 seconds. I got through two paragraphs in about 10 minutes. But with that, I would ask based on what I've reported out for approval of the report. Motion made probably second. Any further

and happy to answer any question. If none all those in favor signify by saying I I opposed eyes have it would like to keep on councilman seekings. You'll pick up ways and means. I move for approval as amended with the deferral. Thank you. Item for for clarity. This first item has been deferred. Well, not bids and purchases but the STIO contract. So motion made as amended with deferral and we have a second. Any further discussion on this ways and means agenda? If none, all those in favor signify by saying I. I.

Eyes have it. Um we are now on to second reading. We've got eight bills up for second reading. Move one through eight. Well, well, let me if if we could uh pull out M item number two and just do second reading on that one. Move one and then three through eight for second reading. Motion made, properly seconded. Uh all those in favor signify by saying I I opposed. Eyes have it. Move for third reading and one and three through eight. Motion made properly seconded. Uh all those in favor signify by saying I

I oppose. Eyes have it. Move. Can I get a motion to go for second reading on item number two? Motion made properly seconded. Mr. Mayor I have conflict on that. You have a conflict wearing as a conflict. So we have a motion made properly second for second reading only. Who was the second? And also are you approving it as amended because I believe there is an amended version placed on okay so we have motion made we have a second on the as amended second motion made properly seconded um all those in favor for second reading signify by saying I

was number two right I wanted to have a little discussion u yes we can have discussion before we take the vote councilman you'd like So yes, please. Um, well, as you all know, just to make sure I am in the right location on the agenda, we are talking about MU3, correct? Yes.

All right. So, you're not going to get away with it that fast, folks. I'm sorry. Uh, you all know that the, uh, zoning ordinance, that's the underpinnings of project 3500, um, is very impactful on district 4 in particular. Uh, the, uh, eight sites that were shredded, six of them are in district 4. Um and as you all are aware uh the public housing sites located uh at Meeting Street Manor in Cooper River Court as well as Gaston Green uh in uh District 6 had already been previously involved in conversations with respect to their demolishment or demolition and rebuilding. And then project 3500 uh added to the mix additional uh parcels of public housing located at the intersection of median and Romney media streak extension as well as uh the ragar homes located down in the garden district. So everybody in district 4 is talking about MU3. Um and I've spent a lot of time uh thinking about this and working on it. And the first thing I wanted to use this time to do is express a lot of appreciation to the mayor as well as Josh Martin in particular. um for the care and time that they put in uh working with me and others to comb through the versions of the ordinance. Um and you all have a uh version of it now that reflects a significant amount of work and a significant amount of conversation and a lot of good faith effort uh to to get us to a point of agreement. Uh I apologize for uh the reference to the one big beautiful act that you all see there. uh but there was a previous reference to the tax cut and opportunity jobs act that wouldn't be applicable to the opportunity zones for this particular stuff. So at the uh at some point we might be able to make some adjustments to that. But the reason why I wanted to spend a little bit of time with this is because we are uh undertaking

uh quite a innovative and transformational effort here. um that is clear to me is going to be sort of the most consequential piece of work that I'm going to be involved in um as a council member during this term. And when we look at uh the ordinance and we look at the zoning aspects of it, what we're seeing here, particularly with respect to the public's engagement with it and their engagement with me as their representative, is really the first opportunity for folks to stress test our commitment to the principles um that the mayor has frequently articulated um and that we all have or many of us and I'm sure most of you all would absolutely agree with. But those principles are uh crashing against experience on the peninsula. Uh and the fact of the matter is is that even with respect to my lifetime, uh memories uh are are still tender with recollection to uh the uh uh situation that happened with Anson Burough Homes where that was a public housing development um that uh folks received assurances that the residents would return to and they did not for complicated reasons, but the public processed it the way that they did. And then also when you think about the private interplay of section 8 housing, uh the other uh example that frequently comes up occurred in the neighborhood that I grew up in. Uh what is now known as Longboro was once known as Shore View. And at the time of the uh demolishing of those units and the reconstruction, there were assurances that were made that folks that currently live there or people who were seeking future affordable or workforce housing opportunities can find their ways into the new development and that wasn't uh merited out uh in in in in the outcomes as well. So we have to go through uh a

long uh trust building exercise uh to to to really bring people along as to what the values of this plan are and how uh over the next forward 6 8 years we have to be vigilant to um be accountable to those values. And I believe that the uh engagement with the edits to this ordinance was quite an example of living those values. Mr. Mayor and and and Mr. Martin, um what I was going to do here tonight though, um and I spoke with Council Member Seekings right before the meeting, right after I spoke with you, Mr. Mayor, I was going to make a suggestion tonight that because of a couple of lingering issues pertaining to the section that gets into the uh uh guidelines of uh the project 3500 guiding principles of redevelopment D. Um that there's some uh tidying up that still needs to occur on that section. And initially I thought that it would have been appropriate to suggest that we uh just do second reading tonight and not traditionally uh proceed straight to third reading. But council member seekings pointed out to me that then if that's the case then there would have to be unonymity as I understand it at the point of third reading. Um so it's a different set of uh outcomes than a motion to defer. But the reason why I would prefer that outcome though is I also want to show to the public that we're moving forward with this. Um, and so I uh want to put out either a concern about after I'm done talking maybe we can discuss a little bit a concern about the propriety of third reading from a from a parliamentary procedure perspective or whether or not there's another approach. But before we get to that, I just want to mention um a few things for the record that I think it's important for the public to understand.

And one of the most important things is for me to affirm my understanding of uh the representations that the mayor has made frequently uh individually in small groups, in large groups, and at this council as to what the values are behind this effort. and and my understanding of them as I would paraphrase them is as follows. Number one, housing unaffordability and vulnerable infrastructure are Charleston's top existential challenges of our time. People from all walks of life should be able to affordably live in and enjoy the spectacular community and culture that we are all so deeply grateful to live. Our explosive growth is a fraught blessing, but it's much better than the alternative. We cannot solve our traffic wos unless people upon whom our local economy depends on are able to live in walkable and bikable communities closer to work centers, transit lines, services, and leisure. The mayor has been cleareyed as to his understanding of existing lawful and our abidingly moral responsibilities to current and future Charlestonians who especially those who live in public housing today. And that this understanding is manifest into leaning into the existing requirements as been brought up in our last meeting of the onetoone replacement of public housing units. The build first strategy so that the folks will temporarily live nearby what will ultimately become new and distinguishable dwellings built in the same communities so that they were never actually displaced. And that the finished product should look and feel like Charleston. and that the mayor means to move rapidly, affirmatively and boldly. So the question is then how do we bring people into a space of trust to believe those principles that have been so frequently articulated? And step one

in doing that for me is for me to say them here tonight because we have to be out here saying that for the next six to eight years and reminding ourselves to the commitment that we're making for a transformational innovative and nationally trend setting project here. I think another important thing for us to do is when we take a look at these guiding principles of redevelopment that perhaps we should take out of this particular section and consolidate in a different section all of the aspects of this ordinance that apply specifically in the public housing context. And the reason why that's important is because whenever anyone looks at the chart of the 50% that's going to be affordable and they see the income AMI brackets 20% AMI 120 120% of area median income on down to 10% 16 below the first question they ask is well if only 10% of the units are 60% and below how does the math work for public housing and the answer to that question is that public housing is actually a separate That's what I've been told and that's my understanding from the 3500. So in some cases it's project 4800 or whatever the math is project 3400 right or 4,400 right I'm I'm a lawyer not a mathematician. So the point that I'm making is if we spell out in a separate consolidated section exactly the application of this zoning classification to lands that are co-mingled with the housing authorities responsibilities. Then we can go back to community and be clear as to what does it mean for the folks that currently live in those structures in this future of Charleston. I want to be able to do that. And so on April 21st, next Tuesday, a week from today, over on the east side at the SC State Building, I'm

going to be conducting my own town hall with public housing residents where I'm going to walk through my understanding of both this ordinance, its impact on public housing as well as uh the broader aspects of project 3500. the commitment that I'm making to join up and build trust and to also establish a a baseline for accountability with the community so that when we're moving along with this that folks know what questions to ask and that they're really uh comfortable um with uh the representations that we're making to them. So, however that finds its way in our action tonight, uh the only thing that I'm asking us to do is find a appropriate parliamentary uh uh method to let this sit for two more weeks. There's no intent to make dramatic changes. I voted for it at first reading. I did not vote for it at the committee, but I did vote for it at first reading. And I believe that if we just take a beat between second and third reading of some form and we tidy this up and clarify the public housing applications of it, then we'll be good to go with this and then we can move on um to uh making sure that in execution uh this zoning and its interplay with project 3500 uh is of the best of Charleston and is something that we can be proud to stand up with and for uh for the people who are most impacted by it. Thank you, Councilman Pulk. Um, right at your 10-minute mark, too. Uh, uh, and appreciate you pointing out this aspect of it that, frankly, I was not aware of. And what's the will of any further comment on this one? Any anything from our parliamentarian? Well, I I would be fine to defer it. um just because you know I think it shows a

signal that uh we are committed to this and we are um and so I think we I think your your suggestion that we carve out a separate component of this because you make a great point on the chart it has been confusing I've had people come to me with that confusion so I think it could be helpful um you know this is we're still running forward in parallel with a lot of the efforts which y'all are going to hear about um uh uh very shortly on uh moving the RFQS forward for design on this effort. Uh so I think you know this is a critical piece to it and we want to get it right and Councilman Pier just want to applaud your efforts for really digging in and working through all the details looking through unintended consequences, potential pitfalls, etc. Uh to make sure that there is clarity uh and so I am committed to that. I think we all are. I think we could wait another um two weeks for um so we have a motion I'll I'll make that motion.

Well, we have already we've got a motion and a second on the floor to approve the deferral would take precedence deferral. Okay. See all this parliamentary stuff, right? Um it's only a week, Mr. Mayor. Just a because we moved our next meeting up to next Thursday. We got work to do then. All right. Well, let's So, just so everybody knows that that's All right. Well, fair enough. I think we can uh we can put something together. Um because this is not a huge tweak. I think it's a slight change. And council, do you have a It's like everyone's got their There we go.

Um Council Member Pulk, thank you for those comments. I I agree with everything you said and I think this has been a very good process getting us from where we started to where we are right now. The only thing I just want to put on the table as we talk about getting this over the finish line, which I think we're all in favor of doing, is at the end of the day, this is just a zoning ordinance. Zoning is one of many pieces that come into play to make a development of a scale and magnitude and complexity as project 3500 come to fruition. So, for example, there are going to be deed restrictions. There's going to be development agreements. there's going to be agreements with the federal government, contracts, things of that nature. Um, so let's not fe put so much pressure on ourselves to feel like everything's got to be in this zoning ordinance perfectly within with precision for posterity or else bad things happen. There's so many more opportunities to lock in the types of asurances and guarantees that are so important to building trust within the community as we move this thing forward. You know, personally, a lot of these long-term commitments, binding commitments, these are things that need to go into covenants running with the land and contracts and things of that nature because zoning ordinances at the end of the day are legislative acts that can be changed by future legislators. And zoning at the end of the day is just about uses. It's dimensional criteria. It's height scale mass. It's parking. It's trees. It's things like that. A lot of the stuff that's in here doesn't necessarily, you know, fit by the book into what should be in a zoning ordinance necessarily, but I think there's an important messaging component and criteria to this. So, I'm I'm not I'm not opposing the deferral. I'm not suggesting we don't spend a little bit more time on this, but let's not um we

all want to get this right, but let's not put so much pressure on ourselves with the zoning piece in recognition of the fact that there's a multitude of other legally enforcable binding mechanisms to come and I would say far more important binding legal mechanisms to come that are actually going to lock in those important um values and commitments that you spoke. um so eloquently about. So that's all I'll say for now. Thanks. So we do have a motion to defer. Who is the second for the deferral? Okay. Thank you. It was council member.

Um and and and so let's take that vote up and we can bring it back hopefully uh in advance by next week. Uh so we have a motion made probably seconded. Any further discussion on this? If not, all those in favor signify by saying I. opposed eyes have it. Um, all right. Good discussion, guys. What? No first readings.

We have no first readings. Uh, so our next council meeting again uh appreciate you all indulging me because I will be at a Bloomberg conference the following week. So that is why this uh next council meeting will be next Thursday night. Next Thursday night. If there's no further to come, nothing further