Angel Oak Development Alert: Please come to this Tuesday’s City Council meeting!
Please come to the Charleston City Council meeting, tomorrow, 5pm, Tuesday, 3/22 @ Stiles Point Elementary School. 883-A Mikell Drive, Charleston, SC 29412.[Get Driving Directions] (843) 762-2767.
Controversies surrounding the ancient Angel Oak will be reappearing on City Council’s agenda this Tuesday night. The agenda includes a request from the City of Charleston to purchase 6.5 acres of land surrounding the Angel Oak with Urban greenbelt funds.
The city is proposing to pay the private development company, Angel Oak Village-AOD, LLC, over half a million dollars.
Interestingly, this area of land is already designated for “conservation use” on the approved Planned Unit Development, which means there could be no other use for this land, regardless of who owned it.
It seems odd that the city would spend such a large sum of
money when the developer is already restricted from building in land. One can see how the purchase would benefit the developer, but how would this purchase further protect the Angel Oak?
The city’s sudden desire to use public funds to buy already undevelopable land surrounding the Angel Oak is a flagrant misuse of taxpayer’s limited greenbelt money.
As a steadfast protector of the Angel Oak and an advocate for a real expansion of Angel Oak Park, I fully support moving the location of the current parking lot from the roots of the Angel Oak. However, the developer already agreed to all of these conditions in the approved PUD. The city’s financial assistance is completely unnecessary – it just needs to enforce the existing agreement.
PLEASE let your Council members know that this misuse of public funds will not be accepted and is clearly not in line with public desires! Any development remotely close to the Angel Oak is a bad idea, and if this purchase is approved, the City is only making a bad situation worse, not better!
The Charleston City Council meeting is tomorrow, 5pm, Tuesday, 3/22 @ Stiles Point Elementary School. 883 Mikell Drive, Charleston, SC 29412. (843) 762-2767. [Get Driving Directions]
You can view the agenda online at: http://www.charleston-sc.gov/shared/docs/0/city_council_03_22_11.pdf
*Since our item isn’t part of a public hearing section, we will need to speak during the “Citizen Participation Period” (item H. on the agenda).
Thank you!
www.savetheangeloak.org
