What if growth limits ...
... meant you could not move to the Charleston area?
Growth limits, planned growth, managed growth and other terms are heatedly being discussed in the Charleston area because our area population is growing faster than the infrastructure (roads and schools) can keep up. With over 30,000 new homes currently scheduled to be built in the Charleston area over the next 20 years, many people wonder whether the quality of life in Charleston will suffer as a result.
I was particularly amused by a letter to the editor in today's Post and Courier by an obvious newcomer to the area who experienced the problems of growth where he previously lived and strongly favored limiting growth for the above reasons. And while he has every right to his opinion, what if they closed the gates the day before he decided to relocate here and he couldn't move here.
I've been very fortunate to have lived in many popular and fast growing areas of the country and the topic is common to just about everywhere that people want to move to. Charlotte, Seattle, Phoenix, Dallas, Atlanta and Charlotte again were places that I lived before moving to Charleston and all are very desirable locations that people want to live. I just think that locals who have lived in an area their entire lives have a little more right to complain than a newcomer.
It's been said that real estate agents are pro growth at all costs but I would like to disagree with that idea. While growth does help the real estate business and it likely is better to be selling real estate in the Charleston real estate market than many cities in the North who are losing jobs and population, we are citizens as well and want good schools for our kids and roads that will take you where you need to go without sitting in traffic for hours wasting time.
And we want to live in a beautiful place, or at least I do.
When Mead Westvaco made the controversial decision to sell a large parcel of land by the historic plantations along Ashley River Road and the developer announced plans for over 4000 homes in the Watson Hill tract, a major uproar was heard across the Charleston area. While I'm sure a few real estate agents thought it would be a good idea to have more houses to sell, most were against building in the Ashley River Historic District and "spoiling" one of Charleston's treasures.
With the growth that we are experiencing in the Charleston area, people are sensitive to maintaining the quality of life we enjoy in the Lowcountry. Grand trees are preserved whenever possible. Certain scenic roads will never be widened. (OK, I've got to amend that statement, Long Point Road in Mount Pleasant is 2 lane and scenic traveling from Belle Hall to US 17 North past Boone Hall Plantation. The road always backed up trying to make a left turn so they did cut a few trees down and added a left turn lane. But they didn't desecrate the drive, just made it a little easier.) When homes were built across the Ashley River from Middleton Place Plantation, they had to be painted in certain colors with height restrictions so that visitors to the plantation wouldn't see modern Charleston from the grounds of the plantation. Access to green space is highly treasured and more land is being placed in trusts to insure it remain so throughout the Charleston area in the future.
Mead Westvaco learned from that blunder and are doing a very good job of getting community input on an even larger tract of land called East Edisto and indications are that when it is developed, it will be very environmentally friendly. But this writer to the editor who questioned whether a proposed grocery store at the intersection of Ashley River Road and Highway 165 in Summerville and about 5 miles from Middleton Place Plantation should be built because it wasn't needed just smacks of pompous bs.
Charles Duell, President of Middleton Place Foundation even agreed a 28,000 square foot store would be just fine to serve the many residents who currently live and will live in the area while Publix was seeking approval for a 40,000 square foot store. An agreement was reached to allow the larger grocery and scale back the size of the shopping center. And when built, the writer to the editor will be able to shop within a few minutes of his home rather than sit in traffic burning unnecessary gasoline while traveling 5 miles and taking 15 minutes or longer to travel to the nearest store.
Let's face it, you really can't control growth, you can't manage growth but you can plan for inevitable growth. A great many people want to relocate to the Charleston area and we have to be prepared. It's better to get out in front with good planning than have to react once additional people have already arrived. And let's not hear from any more newcomers about how we have to do something to limit growth within days of their arrival.
I guess that last part was a little bit of a rant. 