Board member disagrees with Catholic church teachings; will vote against expansion

BEAUFORT -- A county board voted to rezone a greater Bluffton church over the objection of one Beaufort County Council member who said she'll vote against it because of the Catholic church's stance on reproductive rights and other issues.

The county Land Management Committee voted 5-2 Monday to rezone St. Gregory the Great Catholic Church from rural to suburban, a move that, if approved by the County Council, would allow the growing parish to expand.

That change would allow the church and school on U.S. 278 near Buckwalter Parkway to build additional buildings and parking because it reduces the amount of required open space on the 63-acre site by 20 percent.

During the discussion, Laura Von Harten, who represents Beaufort and Port Royal, but is not a member of the committee, said she won't support the rezoning when it comes before the full council because official Catholic policies are an "affront to my dignity and all of womankind."

Von Harten cited the Catholic church's position against female clergy and "uterus rights" as her reason for opposing the rezoning request.

"I don't want to support anything that will perpetuate that," she said. "I just have to vote in favor of love and not hate."

Church leaders took extreme exception to Von Harten's comments.

"I've lived in South Carolina for 15 years and have never heard such religious bigotry," Father Ronald Cellini said after the meeting.

St. Gregory the Great has no immediate plans to build, except for adding parking spaces and reconfiguring the lot to make it easier for people to get in and out, according to Ross Kuykendall, chairman of the congregation's building committee.

The church is saddled with debt from its kindergarten through sixth-grade school that opened in August 2007, Kuykendall said.

"We just need the zoning so we can expand in the future," he said.

Traffic concerns dominated the Land Management Committee's discussion Monday.

The county is moving forward with a frontage road along U.S. 278 between Berkeley Hall and the Bluffton Township Fire District's headquarters, but until the state determines a traffic light is justified in front of the fire station, most traffic will come and go from the Berkeley Hall entrance, officials said.

Councilman Jerry Stewart, who voted against the rezoning along with Steve Baer, said he fears the one traffic light will produce a "bottleneck" during peak church times Saturday nights and Sunday mornings.

County administrator Gary Kubic said his staff and church leaders have had discussions about improving traffic flow by redesigning the church parking lot.

"We can improve the staging of cars so people know in advance how to go in and go out," he said.

In addition, the county hopes to demonstrate the need for a full-service intersection in front of the fire station.

"The ball's in our court," said Councilman W.R. "Skeet" Von Harten.