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Applicant withdraws tree‑removal variance after fire‑department variance and community petition
Summary
A high‑profile James Island case to remove a 40‑inch live oak was withdrawn so the applicant can refile a narrower tree‑protection encroachment request after a recently issued Fire Department variance and public outcry (petition of 2,245 signatures). The BZA approved the withdrawal and asked staff to expedite the new application.
A controversial James Island application to remove a 40‑inch grama live oak from the public right‑of‑way was withdrawn at the June 30 Charleston County Board of Zoning Appeals meeting after the applicant’s representatives said a recent variance from the James Island Fire Department could allow emergency access without taking the tree down.
Staff reported the case had attracted extensive public input: "We have received 11 public comments in support, 524 in opposition, and there was a petition with 2,245 signatures in opposition," Miss Warking told the board. The applicant’s attorney, Neil Thompson, said his client had secured a July 10 variance from the James Island Fire Department that provides an alternate path for emergency vehicles and that his client had prepared a tree protection plan from an arborist.
Thompson asked the board to allow withdrawal of the current tree‑removal application so the applicant could submit a new variance request under the county’s tree‑protection code (encroachment/tree protection analysis). Several board members said the fire‑department letter and the arborist materials were newly received and that opponents had not yet been given an opportunity to consider the revised materials. Susan Milliken of Save James Island, who said she represents more than 2,300 petition signers, told the board the group supports tree protection and asked the county to temporarily fence the tree during the interim.
The board voted to approve the applicant’s request to withdraw the removal application and to expedite a new filing. The board included staff’s recommendation that, if the applicant chooses to reapply, staff produce a new report and the case be scheduled for the earliest available meeting once the materials were complete.
The withdrawal preserves the community’s opportunity to review any encroachment plan and gives the applicant a path to pursue an alternate variance or tree‑protection permit without two active variances pending.
