Will James Island Rise Like a Phoenix?

Published on 02/06/05

BY BRIAN HICKS
Of The Post and Courier Staff

All that remains of the town of James Island these days is an answering machine with a hopeful message on it from "mayor-in-exile" Mary Clark.

"We are currently working on a third incorporation," Clark says in the phone greeting, a reference to new legislation working its way through the Statehouse.

If two bills in the Senate become law, the town could once again rise from the ashes.

And if that happens, the city of Charleston promises to challenge the decision — once again.

Round 3 of James Island versus Charleston will play out in the Statehouse this coming week, with bills up for debate that would ease restrictions on new cities.

One bill would abolish the restriction on forming a town within five miles of another, and another would lower the number of people required to form a town and reconfigure laws that allow town borders to cross marshes, state roads and other public property.

On two separate occasions, the state Supreme Court has determined that the laws used to incorporate James Island were flawed and illegal. Twice, the town has been shut down, most recently this past July.

Senate President Pro Tem Glenn McConnell, sponsor of this new legislation, says lawyers believe they now have legislation with statewide application that will withstand court challenges.

The laws don't allow for "paper towns," McConnell says, but ease restrictions that have all but eliminated self-determination.

"The people have a right to vote, that's all this is about," McConnell, R-Charleston, says.

Clark says the state needs to clear up incorporation laws dating back to the 1970s which required towns to have 12,000 people and be farther than five miles from existing cities. These bills erase the distance requirements and lower the required number of people to 7,000.

The legislation requires towns to have police departments, fire halls, and recreation facilities, or at the very least to contract for them: the idea being that an area can't form a town to block annexation.

Charleston Mayor Joe Riley has requested public hearings in the Senate Judiciary Committee on the bills, believing senators need to hear public concerns.

"Looking to the future, South Carolina needs to commit its resources and energy to orderly growth," Riley says. "A policy that fragments communities is very bad."

The mayor says if the legislation passes and James Island incorporates for a third time, Charleston will again challenge the law. Riley says the bills are still written as special legislation, which is unconstitutional. McConnell says his bills are general application laws, and would apply to dozens of communities around the state.

Clark says if this Hatfield-and-McCoy fight ends up in court again, she'll fight and then go back to the Legislature for a new law a fourth time.

"I don't care if we have to do it five, six or 10 times," Clark says. "This is not about Mary Clark and Joe Riley. This is about American freedom."

Contact Brian Hicks at bhicks@postandcourier.com or (843) 937-5561.