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While the acreage involved in the wetlands application is relatively small -- about 3.7 acres in a 280-acre site -- the issues raised by the Coastal Conservation League in its appeal illustrate broad concerns with the regulatory approach to development in the watersheds of our tidal rivers.
The Okatie River has been designated impaired since 1995 because of high fecal coliform counts, which state studies have attributed largely to increased development in the area. State and federal officials are studying pollutant loads in the river to determine the maximum amounts it can handle and stay healthy. Preliminary results of this study show that pollutants need to be reduced 20 percent to 50 percent in the upper reaches of the Okatie watershed, the area where the 1.6-million-square-foot shopping center is to be built.
At the heart of our regulatory problem is the propensity of state and local officials to take a piecemeal approach to permitting when protecting these waterways requires a broad one. Often, the left regulatory hand doesn't seem to know -- or care -- what the right regulatory hand is doing.
In addition, we seem convinced that we can engineer our way to a healthy environment, with little evidence to support that and no clear way to correct problems when that engineering falls short.
All the more reason to be very careful in how and where we allow development to occur. And all the more reason to look at the cumulative impacts of development rather than the isolated impact of a single project -- large or small. That's particularly true in the Okatie watershed where Beaufort County, Bluffton, Jasper County and Hardeeville all have jurisdiction in different areas.
The mall site involves federal and state jurisdiction, as well as Hardeeville and Beaufort County, a recipe for getting at cross-purposes if officials aren't careful and aren't working together.
The Sembler Co., the mall's developer, has promised to go above and beyond required stormwater management practices. Officials at every level must make sure they do if the project goes forward and should come up with a way to hold the company accountable should the system fail to perform in a way that protects the river.
The tax policy and environmental issues may soon intersect. The sales tax incentive bill that came out of the Senate is now in the House. The bill would allow Hardeeville to impose a 2 percent local sales tax at the mall to raise money for certain infrastructure projects associated with its construction. That means mall customers would pay more in sales tax than at other retail centers.
State Rep. Bill Herbkersman of Bluffton, who voted for the much more expansive House incentives, has said he would work to keep the more narrowly drawn Senate incentives and would seek to add environmental safeguards.
Herbkersman has damaged his credibility on this issue with his past performance on the House bill. He came very late to worrying about the environmental impacts of this project. But even if he's successful in requiring the project to meet Beaufort County's more stringent stormwater rules, Sembler could decide not to use the sales tax incentive. What then?
Plans for the mall call for about 70 percent of the 280-acre site to be covered by hard surfaces -- buildings, roads, parking lots. The Coastal Conservation League estimates that 15 percent of the Okatie watershed is covered with hard surfaces now. The mall project would add another 2 percent.
That alone should signal officials to be very careful. Research by Dr. Fred Holland, former director of the Hollings Marine Laboratory of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Charleston, has found that if 10 percent of land is covered by hard surfaces, oystering in the headwaters of tidal creeks is likely to be prohibited. If 30 percent or more of the land is covered, it brings the kinds of changes that can't be turned back completely.
Clearly, we shouldn't cross that threshold if we can at all help it -- and we can help it if we'll look at the overall impact of development in the watershed.
Federal, state and local officials have deemed the Okatie River a special priority for restoring to its former health. That should be front and center in every decision affecting the watershed.
