Charleston County council declines request to oppose mitigation plan for Tobin Boyd School; community and preservationists press for stronger protections

Residents and preservation advocates urged Charleston County Council on May 13 to act to save Tobin Boyd Elementary School, a former segregated school in the Red Top community that the county's 2016 cultural resource survey identified as eligible for the National Register of Historic Places.

Jamal Wright, vice president of the Red Top Community, told council the neighborhood "would like the opportunity to save Tobin Boys School and preserve that school for our community so we can tell our history." Wright and other speakers said they were not given notice or an opportunity to purchase or otherwise secure the school when ownership changed.

Sam Spence of the Preservation Society of Charleston said the county's own 2016 survey documented Tobin Boyd as eligible for the National Register and recommended nomination. "The county has documented Tobin Boyd School as significant, and it's currently threatened by development," Spence said. He told council preservation staff and planning staff should be empowered to participate in mitigation conversations so that information needed to weigh preservation options is available earlier in review processes.

Dr. Melody Dover, president of the Red Top Improvement Association, described the building's emotional and historic importance to residents who attended the school and their descendants. "That school helped to shape my life," she said, speaking of the segregated school's role in community history.

Council discussion centered on what role the county government should play after a private owner submitted a mitigation plan tied to a coastal-zone/stormwater/subdivision permitting process. County staff and others explained that the current issue involved a developer's subdivision application and an associated mitigation proposal that the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) and coastal-zone consistency reviewers were evaluating. Staff said the owner's subdivision application otherwise met county requirements and that stormwater approval and coastal-zone consistency determinations are part of the permitting sequence.

Sam Spence and Red Top speakers said the mitigation plan proposed by the owner was inadequate to preserve the school's history; the owner's representatives had offered mitigation options such as an on-site kiosk or historical marker, Spence said, but advocates sought stronger measures. Spence and others asked council to let the Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) request that the county send a letter opposing the current mitigation plan to state reviewers.

Councilors debated whether a county-level letter was appropriate where the owner is exercising by-right property rights and where state review (SHPO/coastal-zone consistency) governs mitigation. Several council members said the developer had legal rights and that the county's direct authority over an owner's privately held property rights is limited; others said the council should show recognition of the building's historical importance.

The Historic Preservation Commission had asked the council to send a letter objecting to the developer's current mitigation proposal. After public comment and deliberation, Councilor Jim Boykin moved to deny the HPC's request for a county letter; the motion passed in roll call with seven ayes and two nays. The roll call recorded the decision as a majority vote to deny the HPC request (yes: Boykin, Honeycutt, Moody, Pryor, Sass, Wurman, Middleton; no: Darby, Kubrowski).

Council members asked staff and the developer to continue conversations with SHPO and with community representatives. County staff said the property was offered in various ways over time and that the county's historic preservation ordinance protects properties already listed on the National Register but does not automatically protect properties merely identified as eligible. Advocates said Tobin Boyd has documented significance and is threatened by the pending subdivision and permitting process; they emphasized urgency because, advocates said, the property sale and the owner's current plans had only recently prompted community action.

The council's formal denial of the HPC request does not prevent the HPC, SHPO, the developer, or community organizations from continuing negotiations about mitigation or preservation options. Advocates said they will continue to press for stronger mitigation and possible preservation outcomes through SHPO and other state and local processes.