Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Conservation Acquisition topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Subcommittee conditionally approves Botany Bay Expansion reimbursement, requests proof of legal access and clear title
Summary
The subcommittee approved reimbursement for an access lot and approved the Botany Bay Expansion project contingent on clear, demonstrable legal access and clear title; the project's funding request and conservation values were discussed in detail.
The Charleston County Greenbelt Advisory Subcommittee approved the Botany Bay Expansion 2 project and a reimbursement request for an access lot, with funding contingent on proof of clear legal access to the peninsula lot and clear title.
Tom Austin, director of land conservation for Edisto Island Open Land Trust, presented the fee-simple acquisition and reimbursement request for the Botany Bay Expansion 2 (Osella Creek Point) project on Edisto Island. The total project comprises roughly 18.2 acres; the smaller access lot (3.7 acres) has already been purchased by the land trust and the larger peninsula parcel remains under contract. The group is requesting $570,000 in rural Greenbelt funds, with a reported 45% match of $255,000. Austin said the trust is requesting full reimbursement of the $80,000 already spent to acquire the access lot and is seeking $435,000 toward the peninsula purchase, plus $35,000 for minor improvements and $20,000 for due diligence.
Austin described ecological and cultural values on the peninsula, citing maritime fringe forest, hard salt marsh, important bird and bat habitat, and a grove of live oaks that may indicate an unrecorded Gullah cemetery. He said the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has committed to taking ownership of the peninsula lot pending clear title. The land trust said no Greenbelt acquisition funds will be dispersed until title is cleared.
A motion to accept the Botany Bay Expansion passed with the explicit condition that full legal access and clear title be demonstrated prior to release of funds; the committee recorded the vote as unanimous by voice, with no roll-call tally in the transcript. Committee members discussed title issues, heirs' property complications, pending quiet-title and partition suits, and the potential need for additional grant funding from a conservation bank to close the price gap.
The project will transfer protected lands to DNR once acquisition and title-clearance conditions are met, and the subcommittee directed staff to clarify timing and reimbursement procedures at a future GAP meeting.
