City Council - Regular Meeting

All right. I'd like to call this September 22nd meeting of City Council to order. Madam Clerk, will you please call the roll?

Gracious God, 37 years ago, a powerful storm came ashore that shattered any sense that we were in control. As we gather tonight, grant us the serenity to accept the lies beyond our power and the understanding to act where our choices have meaning. Help us take this city as it is, not as we might wish it, and leave it better than we found it. Teach us to see hardship not as an ending, but as a doorway. and to meet each decision one at a time with patience, determination, and humility. Together, we are resilient. Amen. Amen.

Okay. Tonight, we have two very important proclamations. The first one is honoring the life and memory of Ms. Martha Rivers Ingram. And I'd like to call on her brother, John, and other members that are here tonight from the arts community to join me up, if you will, on the diocese as I read this resolution. Come on up, come on up, come on up. We got a lot of people here. That's right. A different show.

Come on. We can make room. We can make room. That's right. That's right. Keep moving. Keep moving.

I got little league teams that do better than this, guys. Come on.

All right, whereas Martha Rivers Ingram was born in Charleston, South Carolina on August 20th, 1935, and was raised and educated in this city, attending Ashley Hall before continuing her studies at Vassar College. And whereas although she went on to build her career and family life in Nashville, Tennessee, following her 1958 marriage to Bronson Ingram, Martha Rivers Ingram remained deeply and actively invested in Charleston for the whole of her life. And whereas having already led the development of the Tennessee Performing Arts Center in the 1970s and the Shermerhorn Symphony Center in the ea

You wanna sit up, sit down? Have a seat. All right, next up, We have a proclamation recognizing Mesothelioma Awareness Day. And I'd like to ask James Ledley. James Ledley? I got it right. To join me up here on the dais. I can see you. Whereas mesothelioma is an aggressive asbestos-related cancer that affects the linings of the lungs, abdomen, heart, and other organs, and whereas the heavy use of asbestos in manufacturing, industry, and construction has been recognized as the worst occupational health hazard in US history, And whereas asbestos was used in the construction of virtually all offic

All right. We have six people. Let's give a minute and a half for our speaker.

Okay. Any further questions, comments from members of council?

I have one for item seven, Mr. Mayor, but I can wait until we get to that spot. On number seven? Item seven, yes, sir.

What? I think the parliamentarian, Brady, may object to my order on here, but I think my motion is to accept the recommendation of the Planning Commission on this one. I don't know if that's the proper order, but you get my drift. I think it is. That's a deny. that's correct i pulled the planning commission i i second that so we have a motion to deny on item one any further questions probably seconded any further questions comments i think just just to support that i mean i i realize this is a very complicated issue i know you know obviously you know we we we say all the time about the city's

So you make a great point. I think that we do appreciate the applicant coming to CD and giving a presentation. Some of the speakers tonight did highlight the relevant fact, though, that there's no guarantee that that's the plan that ultimately would be submitted and certainly respect that zoning is zoning. It does, I think, to your point, Councilman Tinkler, speak to some of the real needs for our update to the zoning code, which is underway. And that is not to pack more houses in, but it is trying to it will hopefully try to help better give us the tools to better balance more housing, more m

Any further questions, comments on this? Mr. Mayor, just a parliamentary inquiry. A vote aye is to deny and accept the denial of the Planning Commission, correct?

um a little bit of my ignorance here but would a it does a tiff not help in this situation to build the road and get the infrastructure in place it potentially could but it this does not uh sit in a tiff overlay so um and and also tiffs are typically uh six percent or commercial property assessment yes and

and uh councilman appellate i mean phil i i know you can educate uh the public better than i can on these issues but i you know i i mean this is the struggle here because i mean i mean i do think mr stripling has you know i mean he's pushed this through the trc under sr2 and and um i you know i i have no reason to doubt his his economic predicament that he's in and because I've heard from other builders across the local builders who are um who are trying to do this I mean Councilman del Sandro talks about public funding to support these projects I think the builders are trying to do this witho

Okay, so we've got a motion probably seconded. I'm going to call for a vote. I vote is to go with the Planning Commission and deny zoning or press. All those in favor, please signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? Ayes have it. All right. Can I get maybe a motion to take items two through six for approval? uh items through there's a point of order uh item two is a second reading so we would need to do uh man thank you this guy i'll tell you what um so we're gonna take second i'm gonna amend my motion to take item two second reading We have a motion made, properly seconded. All those in favor, si

Opposed, ayes have it. I'll move for third reading ratification. We have a motion made, properly seconded on third reading. All those in favor, please signify by saying aye. Opposed, ayes have it. Now I'm going to ask for items three, four, and five. Well, we want to keep seven out. Okay. So three through six, I'm going to make the motion for approval. Motion made, probably seconded. All those in favor, please signify by saying aye. Opposed? Ayes have it. I'm going to take item number seven. Can I get a motion before we get discussion? Move for approval.

Second. Okay. I'll give the second to you, Councilman McBride, and let you have the floor.

Okay. Thanks, Mr. Mayor. I just want to take this opportunity, uh, for a lot of my constituents who have, um, scar tissue over the decades when they hear annexation on John's Island or James Island, there's a perception that that means we're annexing from the county into the city and that equates to some kind of up zoning which is not necessarily the case and usually is not the case so i wanted i asked mr morgan if he would just spend about five minutes or less to explain this for the constituents that this is a great example where there's a pocket of county land in the middle of annexed city

and just to uh pull the thread a little bit more um comprehensive plan law was passed by the state in 1994 if i'm not mistaken before that it was maybe a little bit more haphazard but since then the county and the city and the county and the towns and cities more or less in the same area that they co-exist the the comprehensive plan results in equivalent or as close to equivalent as possible zoning so the sr the county land right there until the annexation was i think you said four units per acre which is what also the sr1 happens to be for the city so there's actually no no change at all as t

They also get full rebate of the local auction sales tax that comes to the city that reduces their property taxes pretty significantly.

Yeah, so that's and yeah and and from septic potentially to charleston water system things like that right and the mayor hit on one of the biggest points that that uh i have had to learn over the last couple years is is it's they actually the the landowner actually gets a financial benefit from nsing into the city they don't pay more taxes they actually get a net decrease in what they're paying because of the local local option sales tax that the city collects and distributes to residents

And it's the best way for the city to grow without going out further and further into the hinterland and taking down more large tracts of trees and extending the city's boundaries. Growing internally with these annexations represents a much more efficient use of government resources. So we have the conversation. I appreciate you bringing that up, Councilman Waring.

he's held the line we continue to hold the line we can hold it um so we have a motion made probably seconded for approval on item seven if there's no further discussion on this i appreciate the education council member bride i think it's important for people to know these nuances um if there's no further comments uh all those in favor signify by saying aye aye opposed eyes have it now uh maybe we could take eight and nine together for approval We have motion made, properly seconded. All those in favor, signify by saying aye. Opposed? Ayes have it. Now we'd like to move on to approval of the September 8th Council Minutes. Get a motion. Second.

Well, let's give them a minute because we've got a 30-minute cap on it. Sometimes they go a little bit over. I'm going to ask those that are here to speak tonight, or rather remind those that are here to speak tonight that we ask you to follow the rules of decorum. that this is not a question and answer. We are here to hear your voice, hear your points of view, and we ask that you be civil and respectful. We, in turn, will do the same. If you do not adhere to the rules of the quorum, I'll give you one warning. If you continue, you will be asked to leave. So, Adam Clark, will you please call th

Thank you, Madam Clerk. That concludes citizens' participation period. We're now on to petitions and communications. There are several appointments up for consideration. Commission on Women, Redevelopment and Preservation Commission, Board of Zoning Appeals, Site Design, and Tourism Commission. Any approval for all recommended appointments? motion made for approval on all items uh if there's no further discussion I'll just say a lot of people on this list really appreciate uh all the citizens being willing to sign up and engage and certainly thanks to all council members for your volunteering

Was that with, uh, do we, is that amended with the deferral or how do, how do we, we have the deferral for ways means it would be amended to defer.

So adoption of the committee report as amended, we have motion made properly seconded.

Got one comment, sir. I'm sorry. Just one comment. One comment council member McBride. Um, i learned about the paddle ball courts that are now at trophy lakes speaking of the the pickleball um friction going on right now um and the pickleball community will want to impeach me for saying this however paddleball courts adele see i'm not even a i'm not even an uh expert at this are much quieter the ball is quieter and they're built in with plexiglas walls to help uh

keep the sound in and it's about the same size as pickleball courts and i think it's a lot more fun so that's all i want to say psa there um i like it um okay that's right um okay we have a motion made probably seconded all those in favor signify by saying aye Opposed? Ayes have it. We have one. Clark, just let me know that there were two citizens that signed up for citizens participation that she missed. My apologies. We apologize for that. That was not intentional. I think it just slipped under the folder there. So we're going to open that back up and allow those two citizens.

Okay, we have a motion made to suspend the rule. We have a second. All those in favor, signify by saying aye. Opposed? Let's have it. Appreciate our pulpit here and keeping us straight. We called the first reading. The time was a minute.

Samuel Schumann, if you were still here. He did.

yes please let the record note that we apologize for that that was certainly not intentional and we look forward to hearing what they have to say um the one bill that is up for third reading has been deferred so we're now on to second readings and we have only one bill up for second reading um that hasn't been deferred that's item number one can i get a motion Uh, motion made probably seconded all those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? Ayes have it. We have no, can we get a, uh, motion for third reading? Uh, motion made probably seconded all those in favor signify by saying aye. A