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Mayor: staff-level talks underway on a binding urban-growth boundary agreement but town won’t lead the first signatory
Summary
Town staff are participating in intergovernmental talks on a possible binding agreement to protect the urban growth boundary; the mayor said Seabrook Island has less leverage than neighboring jurisdictions and prefers larger neighbors show commitment before signing.
Residents at the Seabrook Island town hall pressed the mayor about whether the town would sign a memorandum of understanding to support an enforceable urban growth boundary. The mayor said staff-level discussions are underway among the town, neighboring towns, and county staff but that no council action has yet been proposed.
"There are discussions ongoing that involve our staff, the town of... and county staff to try to lead to a binding agreement that the three entities can sign," the mayor said. He added the town's legal and practical influence on the broader urban-growth-boundary issue is smaller than that of neighboring municipalities and the county, and he suggested Seabrook should not be the first to sign a binding commitment until larger neighbors demonstrate willingness to abide by it.
A resident noted that developers have approvals elsewhere — referencing roughly 5,000 homes already permitted on Johns Island — and argued Seabrook should show solidarity with neighbors asking the county for enforceable limits. A council-member participant urged that any regional effort should not be limited to a single corridor but instead consider overlapping jurisdictional areas such as Seabrook Island Road and Kiawah Island Parkway.
The mayor said he supports the concept of an enforceable urban growth boundary in principle but reiterated that the town's staff are engaged in preliminary talks and that council has not yet received any formal draft agreement for consideration.
