Sembler foes, fans pack Beaufort County Council meeting Monday

Beaufort County Council hosted the latest dustup Monday in a raging debate over a 280-acre shopping center and luxury outlet mall Atlanta developers plan in Beaufort and Jasper counties.

The Okatie Crossings development would do minimal damage to the area's economy, environment and traffic, company officials said.

Council members were less than impressed. They rebuffed calls from the Sembler Co. and its supporters to reconsider a previous resolution denouncing a proposed state tax incentive for such developments.

Several council members asked pointed questions of Sembler, even though Beaufort County has no authority over the site.

About a third of it is in Beaufort County, but the Jasper County city of Hardeeville has annexed all of it.

The meeting was Sembler's first formal presentation to the council regarding Okatie Crossings, which would include more than 1.5 million square feet for national retailers and high-end Italian and American designers.

Discussion lasted almost two and a half hours in a packed chamber and featured comments for and against the development and Sembler's quest for tens of millions of dollars in incentives, which the company could earn by meeting investment and job creation thresholds.

Council Chairman Weston Newton said many of his colleagues and constituents continue to have "great concerns" about the impact the development would have on local residents' quality of life.

Although Sembler promises to bring as many as 2,500 jobs and $400 million in investment to a relatively poor, rural corner of South Carolina, Newton said he worries Okatie Crossings could make the Lowcountry -- long renowned for its natural beauty and slow pace of life -- more like metropolises such as New York and Atlanta.

"All that glitters isn't gold," Newton said.

Newton said he is frightened at the prospect of building a "megamall" in a "very fragile area" near the headwaters of the Okatie River, where pollution levels already exceed state standards.

Newton can't shake the notion that "this is the wrong thing in the wrong place," and he fears the development could "ruin one of the things that makes Beaufort County special and unique," he said.

He suggested it might be a better fit elsewhere, specifically mentioning the 5,500-acre Tradition Hilton Head development in Hardeeville, where a bank has begun foreclosure proceedings.

Regarding traffic, Newton said company officials should understand the site is located at the intersection of two major highways: U.S. 278, a key hurricane evacuation route connecting Hilton Head Island to Interstate 95; and S.C. 170, the "lifeline" between northern and southern ends of a county bisected by the Broad River.

Company officials said they would alter a portion of S.C. 170 to minimize the cost to the county if it needs to widen the road from four to six lanes in the future. Newton said that's not good enough.

"Why should Beaufort County have to widen?" he asked. "We would have made you all widen it if you were dealing with Beaufort County."

In addition to expressing frustration with Sembler, Newton blamed officials in neighboring jurisdictions for presiding over what he called an "absolute failure" of state law that calls for municipalities to better coordinate projects of regional significance.

Although council's criticism of the company is "not unfair," Newton sympathizes with company officials who "just happen to be caught in the vortex" of a dispute among local governments, he said.

Other council members also questioned Sembler officials after their presentation:

• Steven Baer asked Sembler for more data on where it expects customers to come from. Although the development would probably yield some sales that wouldn't otherwise occur in the state, it could also shift business from existing shopping centers built without the benefit of public money, he said.

"The amount of money the state collects could actually go down," Baer said. "We need to see the math."

• Brian Flewelling said he is concerned about Sembler's development agreement with Hardeeville and wants more details about who would pay should something go wrong.

• Rick Caporale called Sembler's commitments on traffic and environmental issues "relatively weak" and said the development risks negating the county's efforts to buy and preserve land around the headwaters of the river.

"All of that could go for naught if your stormwater plans turn out to be a failure," he said.

Earlier in the meeting, Beaufort developer Dick Stewart -- speaking for the Port Royal Sound Fund -- said Sembler officials have said they would use best management practices to manage stormwater runoff and pay to measure the volume and content of runoff. But the company hasn't agreed to pay to repair any damages, he said.

Sembler director of construction Greer Scoggins said the company hasn't agreed to that because it's not clear who would enforce it.

"Should it be a state agreement?" he asked. "We just don't know."

Scoggins said the company hopes to present its final stormwater plan to county staff within 10 days.

State Sen. Tom Davis and Rep. Shannon Erickson, both Republicans from Beaufort, questioned proposals for incentives pending in Columbia. They said the proposals could allow the company to meet investment requirements by claiming "soft" costs, such as those for architecture.

Both state Sen. Clementa Pinckney, D-Ridgeland, and Sembler president Jeff Fuqua wondered why Beaufort County isn't more interested in supporting the development.

Fuqua said Okatie Crossings could be significantly different than Tanger Factory Outlet Centers, which operates two nearby shopping centers in greater Bluffton.

Sembler's center would be more of a destination, drawing people from farther away and luring other investors to build in the area, Fuqua said.

Sembler would spend as much on advertising as the $2 million per year spent by area chambers of commerce, Fuqua said.

"It's just unbelievable you guys wouldn't jump all over this," Fuqua said. "We're not just here to build some big boxes."