MeadWestvaco Meets Neighbors Residents Give Input on 72,000-acre Project
-
Friday June 29, 2007
By Ryan Castle
Summerville Journal Scene.comNeighbors of MeadWestvaco's 72,000-acre East Edisto project have told company officials and consultants what they want in the proposed project.
In a series of four community meetings, held in Ravenel, Clubhouse, Ridgeville and Summerville over the past week and a half, hundreds of residents came to express their thoughts, concerns and ideas to MeadWestvaco officials about what they envision for the unprecedented project.
Last month, the global packaging company proposed the 72,000-acre project as a way to divest itself of a portion of its vast timberland holdings throughout the region.
The land for East Edisto has been owned by the company for more than 85 years and runs contiguously along the eastern edge of the Edisto River from Adams Run in Charleston County to Givhans in Dorchester County.
Company officials say there is no plan right now because they wanted to gather input from local residents. They will then bring in consultants to work with EDAW, a San Francisco-based environmental planning firm hired to oversee the design, to develop a preliminary plan to bring back to residents in the fall.
"Our guiding process is to do what's appropriate for the land, the people and the historical context," Ken Seeger, president of MeadWestvaco's community development and land management group, said.
"Growth is here and it needs to be planned for. If not it will happen randomly," Seeger said.
Seeger said the project will focus on preservation and conservation of the area.
Edisto River access for the public, while preserving the banks from development was a recurring theme at all four meetings.
The need for MeadWestvaco to pay for the infrastructure needed to accommodate the development was also mentioned as a high priority, not putting the infrastructure needs on the back of the existing taxpayer.
"Have whoever benefits from the infrastructure pay for it," said Mike Rose, a Summerville lawyer and former state senator.
Maynard Wren wants the development "fully self-contained."
"It shouldn't rely on Dorchester County for anything, the people who use it, pay for it," he said.
"We kept getting into the discussion of [the project] being self-supported," EDAW facilitator Barbara Faga said in the wrap-up of the Summerville input session.
A concern to many of the rural neighbors to make sure they won't be priced out of their property or to make sure they have the opportunity to buy an additional buffer from MeadWestvaco. "It would be a pity that because of rising land values [existing neighbors] would be forced out of their land," George Neil, a Summerville resident, said.
Many citizens also stressed the need for schools and stores within walking distance, along with job opportunities available for the new and existing residents.
Of the 72,000-acres, the company estimates about 20 percent is wetlands. A total of 6,000 acres along the Edisto River is already in conservation easements, with half of that within the East Edisto project on the east side of the river.
A regional input session for Charleston metro area residents to give their thoughts on the project is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. July 12 at the North Charleston Convention Center in ballroom C-2.
