COASTAL OBSERVER

Regardless of a decision in a lawsuit over a multi-family development in Pawleys Island, that project is not going to be built, the state Court of Appeals was told this week.

The property for the project known as Petigru Place was sold and the new owners “have different plans than what are being contested,” said Tommy Morgan, Georgetown County’s assistant attorney. “It’s truly a legal principle that we’re arguing before the court today.”

Neighbors and community groups filed suit in 2023 after County Council approved the 12-unit duplex development on Petigru Drive. The 2-acre site was zoned “general residential,” which allows multi-family development, but opponents said the zoning didn’t follow the “medium density” designation in maps that are part of the county’s comprehensive plan as required by state law.

They also said the council’s role violated state law by removing authority for approving the project’s site plan from the Planning Commission, which had voted to deny approval. The county has since changed the requirement that the council review multi-family developments with more than 10 acres.

The suit is one of five challenging land use decisions by the county brought by plaintiffs represented by Keep It Green Advocacy. The citizens group Keep It Green is a party to four of the suits. Three were dismissed by Circuit Court judges on motions from the county and are on appeal. The Appeals Court heard arguments on the other cases earlier this year. Decisions are pending.

In the suit heard this week, the plaintiffs argued that the judge, Kristi Curtis, erred in finding that there was no claim for which the court could offer relief. They said the judge also improperly considered the merits of the case in her decision.

Curtis was elected to the Court of Appeals by the legislature in February.

Morgan argued that the dismissal was appropriate because the facts of the case are not in dispute, only the legal questions that surround them.

Cindy Person, chief counsel for Keep It Green Advocacy, told the three-judge panel that the case is identical to one they heard in May. Two of the judges, Aphrodite Kondouros and Jerry Vinson, were on the panel for that case and another that was heard in June. Judge John Geathers was not on the panel for the other cases.

Person said she wanted to focus on two issues raised by the judges in May: the conflict between the state law and the local ordinance and the reason the neighbors sought a declaratory judgment rather than filing an appeal to the council’s decision.

The state law is clear that the authority for site plan approval rests with the Planning Commission, she said.

“The net effect of the Georgetown County ordinance is to render the Planning Commission completely impotent with regard to these decisons,” she said.

Vinson challenged that. 

“That doesn’t mean they’re impotent,” he said. “That just means that they’re part of the process.”

What recourse does the council have if it disagrees with the commission, Vinson asked.

“Whether we think it makes sense or not, the enabling act gives that final authority to Planning Commission,” Person said.

She sought to have the decision declared invalid “because my clients were faced with a really bizarre legal dilemma.”

They agreed with the commission decision and the ordinance provided no appeal of the council decison.

Morgan argued that the council has the authority as the “governing body” cited in the state law.   “Other counties across the state have taken the authority granted to them,” he said.

Asked by Geathers why the case shouldn’t be allowed to go to trial, Morgan cited a 1952 state Supreme Court decision that says “courts cannot become city planners.”

He said the project didn’t violate the comprehensive plan because the “general residential” zoning allows medium and high density.

Geathers asked if the change in plans would make the lawsuit moot.

“There is a potential if, for whatever reason, this case gets remanded back to the lower court,” Morgan said. 

“We’re talking academia at this point in time,” he added.