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News

10-31-07
Board examines rules to preserve more trees
Several elements come to mind when people think of Beaufort, and trees are an important part of the "Beaufort look." Property owners are stewards of these trees, not actual owners, and for that reason an effort by an advisory board to the City Council to protect trees is encouraging.
Published by The Beaufort Gazette

10-03-07
Officials prepare for fight over law

In this corner: Property owners eager to protect their right to do what they want with their land.
Posted with permission from The Augusta Chronicle

9-12-07
State funds help secure land from development

Georgia gave a coastal land trust group $3.5 million in loan and grant money Tuesday to hold onto St. Simons Island property next to Fort Frederica and keep it from being developed.
Posted with permission from The Augusta Chronicle

05-12-07
Greenspace may see development

Under a rarely used provision of Georgia's Greenspace Act, a developer has asked that 6.5 acres of Columbia County land purchased with state funds as permanent greenspace be released for development.

In exchange, Blanchard & Calhoun, which would be able to add 17 lots to a planned subdivision near Harlem, is willing to trade adjoining land along Euchee Creek's headwaters.

Posted with permission from The Augusta Chronicle

04-08-07
Tiny towns brace for waves of development

As tens of thousands of people drive along U.S. Highway 278 to the Verizon Heritage Golf Tournament on Hilton Head Island this week, they may notice a backdrop of scenery that is changing dramatically: fewer trees, more "for sale" signs on wooded plots of land and the stale smell of exhaust from dozens of construction vehicles.
Posted with permission from The Charleston Post and Courier

04-01-07
Developers worry about saturating local market Rethinking retail

Developers in the past year or so have flooded Augusta with grand plans for open-air "lifestyle" centers, but changes to some of those projects - from putting them on hold to scaling back - suggest saturation.
Posted with permission from The Augusta Chronicle

03-23-07
Owners to restore property

One of Augusta's oldest surviving textile mills has a new owner, a new look - and a new mission.
Posted with permission from The Augusta Chronicle

03-07-07
Garden Club protests billboard proposals

A battle over billboard height and tree-cutting restrictions for the outdoor signs is once again brewing at the state Capitol.
Posted with permission from The Augusta Chronicle

11-22-06
Group wants retail zoning

Developers are eyeing more than 80 acres near the intersection of Interstate 20 and Wheeler Road for a new "big box" retail center that would require major road construction.
Posted with permission from The Augusta Chronicle

11-08-06
Amendment - 5 Eminent Domain

Results of Eminent Domain Amendment

09-13-06 Fee spike may hike cost of building

The cost to build a new home in southern Beaufort County would increase by thousands of dollars under revised impact fees being considered by the County Council.
first published by The Island Packet

08-22-06
Protecting what's best about South Carolina

South Carolina's identity is defined by its rich history and diverse natural resources. Yet both are increasingly at risk as developers discover what we have always known: South Carolina is a treasure.
Posted with permission from The State

07-25-06
Summerville can spend its fees

The South Carolina Supreme Court affirmed Summerville's plan to spend millions of dollars in impact fees collected from builders. The ruling Monday was closely watched by builders and by other municipalities considering using impact fees to help pay for infrastructure required by growth.
Published in the Charleston Post and Courier

07-10-06
Ignoring caution on incentives

The Legislature's approval of an incentive package for a national retailer usurps executive authority over economic development and can be expected to diminish its success if more broadly pursued. South Carolina doesn't need "170 secretaries of commerce."
Published in the Charleston Post and Courier

06-27-06
Sanford signs eminent domain bill

With last fall's defeat of a controversial tax increment financing plan in Aiken County fresh in his mind, Gov. Mark Sanford signed a bill Monday that he says will limit when and how local governments may seize private property.
Posted by The Aiken Standard

05-19-06
Poultry farming restriction bill clears S.C. House

COLUMBIA - A bill that takes away counties' ability to restrict the location of poultry farms cleared the House on Thursday.
Posted by The Aiken Standard

Home Rule-Poultry Regulation

This bill exempts all agricultural operations from regulation by county government. It would remove siting restrictions from county ordinances, including setback requirements from local residences. The bill would allow some protection from new hog operations , but no local protection from poultry, cattle or other CAFOs (Confined Animal Feeding Operations).

05-08-06
Ruling Hits Foxhall Neighborhood Hard

It's been a long, hard fight for neighbors in West Augusta's Foxhall subdivision. A fight filled with emails, meetings, and petitions.
First posted by WJBF, newCHANNEL 6

05-03-06
Berkeley Boom Will Bring Many Changes

The new neighborhoods being built in those areas are obvious signs that the county is experiencing a building boom.

02-28-06
House to debate property rights

The South Carolina House is taking a much broader approach to limiting government power to take land than the Senate.
Posted by The Aiken Standard

02-27-06
Some developers get unintended tax break

Laws meant to give tax breaks to farmers and timber companies also unintentionally benefit developers, who pass on the tax burden to other property owners.
Posted by The Aiken Standard

02-20-06
Charleston endangered? Some believe city faces architectural disaster

It didn't get slammed by a hurricane, devoured by termites or crumbled by a quake, but Charleston's historic district is being considered for a spot on the nation's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places list.
Published in the Charleston Post and Courier

01-27-06
Jasper County officials promise smart growth

Almost 100 Lowcountry residents, builders, politicians and planners heard the good news about Jasper's development future at the annual State of the County breakfast on Thursday, but some remained hesitant.
Posted with permission from The Beaufort Gazette

01-16-06
Growth pushes school planners to think big

Trees surrounded the campus of Grovetown Middle School when it opened in January 2003. Now, the school is circled by new homes and more are coming.
Published in the August Chronicle

01-15-06
For now, conservationists stay mum on nuclear plants

RALEIGH, N.C. - With guaranteed federal loans and insurance protection promised to the first power companies to build a new wave of nuclear plants, the race is on for construction of up to 10 stations between Maryland and Mississippi.
From the Associated Press

01-13-06
Developers want public land

It would take an act of Congress - literally - but a plan to develop resort homes on 550 acres of Thurmond Lake shoreline could also bring dollars to one of South Carolina's poorest counties.
Published in the August Chronicle

01-05-06
Director wants revival

After one month on the job, the new executive director of the Downtown Development Authority/Main Street Augusta said she is working with both boards on a strategy to accelerate the central business district's revitalization.
Published in the August Chronicle

Events

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