Land use
Former tech park site sold to firm with nonprofit ties
Property at Pawleys Island that was once planned by Georgetown County for a technology park was sold last week to a buyer tied to a nonprofit foundation.
The sale by the Economic Development Alliance for Georgetown County of 14.4 acres on Petigru Drive came as the state Court of Appeals was due to hear arguments in a lawsuit brought by neighbors and citizens groups to overturn Georgetown County’s rezoning of the property in 2022 to allow 90 townhouses on the site.
The Alliance for Economic Development sold the property for $1.2 million to One Georgetown Realty, an LLC whose registered agent is Darrin Goss, the president and CEO of the Coastal Community Foundation.
The foundation, based in Charleston, had assets of over $400 million last year, including over $200 million in donor-advised funds.
Goss did not respond to messages seeking comment. Neither did Will Howard, who chairs the alliance, a nonprofit created and supported by Georgetown County.
The 14.4 acres was bought by the alliance in 2016 for $950,000, which was financed by a loan from the S.C. Public Service Authority, better known as Santee Cooper.
Cindy Person, chief counsel for Keep It Green Advocacy, which represents the plaintiffs in the suit, said she had heard a sale might be pending, but was surprised by the timing.
Following the sale on June 2, the alliance filed a motion with the Court of Appeals asking to be dismissed as a party to the suit since it no longer had an interest in the property.
The neighbors opposed the “eleventh-hour” motion, saying that as the entity that sought the zoning change that was being challenged “the Alliance cannot avoid its interest in the litigation.”
The neighbors also said they couldn’t be sure that the alliance didn’t have some connection with One Georgetown Realty.
“There has been no merger of any kind between the Alliance and [One] Georgetown Realty,” the alliance stated in reply.
In its filing, the alliance noted that it no longer has an interest in the outcome of the suit. It called that argument by the neighbors “a final Hail Mary.”
During Wednesday’s hearing before a three-judge panel in the Court of Appeals, Person argued that a Circuit Court judge incorrectly dismissed the challenge to the zoning before considering the facts.
“The order reads as if the case has already been tried,” she said.
The lower court found that the plaintiffs had failed to state a claim or cause of action and did not allege a “constitutional deprivation,” which is required to overturn a county ordinance such as a zoning amendment.
The county and the alliance decided to sell the property in 2018 after plans to create a tech park with the firm Mercom fell through. A proposed sale in 2020 to a developer who wanted to build 182 rental apartments sparked public opposition. A zoning change was withdrawn.
Another plan for 90 townhouses was recommended for denial by the Planning Commission, but approved by County Council in 2022.
The lawsuit followed, the third of three filed by Keep It Green Advocacy. All were later dismissed on motions from Georgetown County. All are under appeal.
During arguments earlier this year on another of those appeals, Judge Aphrodite Konduros questioned why the county’s decisions were so unpopular.
Tommy Morgan, the assistant county attorney, addressed that in arguments this week. The suits are from “the same advocacy groups and activists,” he said.
Judge Stephanie McDonald noted the effort to form a town in the Pawleys Island-Litchfield area “because they’re the cash cow for the county, and they’re so upset with the way its handling things.”
“Correct,” Morgan said. “That’s the power of the ballot box.”
He argued that is the way to deal with the land use issues, not by asking the court to second-guess the County Council.
“This is nothing more than lawfare,” he said.
There is no dispute over the facts presented by the neighbors, Morgan said. The court considered them through “the lens of the law.”
“It’s our position that there are a lot of factual issues,” Person said. “We’ve more than pleaded a case.”
