By Eugene Platt
Published in The Post and Courier

Neither Councilman Aaron Brown nor I was born yesterday. We were not so naive as to think our resolution, urging the Council of Governments (COG) to take a leadership role in tempering what has become unbridled growth in the Lowcountry, would receive unanimous support. After all, COG is a development-oriented body. We understood the most for which we could reasonably hope was to plant a seed that would generate useful debate over a problem, which seems to worsen daily. Indeed, it is not hyperbole to term this problem as a kind of crisis. After all, thousands of Lowcountry residents, including a small but growing number of elected officials, are convinced, with congested highways, crumbling bridges, crowded schools, polluted beaches, filled-in wetlands and denuded woods, that our very quality of life is threatened.

I will not presume to speak for Mr. Brown, who speaks eloquently for himself and who has done as much as anyone to save the town of Summerville, on the disingenuous tactics used to defeat his and my resolution. However, I personally was particularly dismayed by the successful efforts of Dorchester County Councilman Larry Hargett to misrepresent the resolution as a mandatory directive.

As quoted in The Post and Courier, Mr. Hargett said COG did not have “the right to tell any municipality or county what to do.” Well, Councilman Brown and I, being quite aware of COG’s limited prerogatives, had carefully worded the resolution so that it would be nothing more than an earnest appeal to all governmental bodies affiliated with COG to do what they should have been doing all along.

Mr. Hargett has been in politics long enough to understand the difference between a mandatory directive and a nonbinding resolution. Obviously, he has also been in politics long enough to know how to scuttle any proposal he does not like, regardless of its popular (as opposed to political) appeal.

Wait! Did you hear a crash? That was the sound of the last grand tree in the Lowcountry being felled.

When will we ever learn?

EUGENE PLATT
Commissioner
James Island PSD
Gilmore Court
James Island

Resolution

Subject: COG. Resolution re moratorium on development
Date: Fri, 16 Nov 2007 16:39:40 -0500

WHEREAS the Berkely-Charleston-Dorchester Council of Governments (COG) is a cooperative organization of local governments in Berkeley, Charleston, and Dorchester Counties; and

WHEREAS COG over the years has developed into a multifaceted service organization meeting a wide variety of needs of local governments in those three counties; and

WHEREAS there are many challenges facing the region including (but not limited to) the areas of transportation, land use, economic development, and infrastructure, and often these challenges transcend tradition and political boundaires; and

WHEREAS residents of the region served by COG have become increasingly vocal, as reflected by their letters and comments in the news media, their outspoken participation in public hearings, their voting patterns in recent elections, etc., about the negative effects on their quality of life occasioned by what these residents perceive as unbridled development; and

WHEREAS residents of the region expect and demand decisive, perhaps unprecedented action not only by the various governmental bodies represented by COG, but also by the governing board of COG itself; and

WHEREAS, although there has been discussion in COG about the need for a regional approach to managed growth, there has been no definitive action taken to slow overall growth in the region to a reasonable, sustainable pace; therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED, the Board of Directors of COG urges all local governments in the COG region to assess their particular situation, especially the wishes of their respective constituents, with regard to the deterioration of the quality of life occasioned by excessive development and unbridled growth; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that where such assessments indicate such decisive, perhaps unprecedent actions are appropriate, the Board of Directors of COG urges those local governments to enact a moratorium on development at least until such time as COG has finalized a comprehensive plan for a regional approach to managed growth.

IN MEETING DULY ASSEMBLED, this 30th day of November 2007.