SC senator appeals Hilton Head dump permit, calls review ‘narrow and insufficient’
State Sen. Tom Davis (R-Beaufort) has appealed the state’s decision to grant Hilton Head Island tree grinding company Arbor Nature a solid waste transfer station permit.
Davis’ appeal, shared with The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette on Friday, comes after the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control issued the permit March 5 for the temporary dump on Summit Drive.
Arbor Nature was relocated there by the Town of Hilton Head Island after its noisy tree grinding business frustrated Indigo Run residents.
Davis’ appeal of the permit says that DHEC was “narrow and insufficient” in its review process for the permit and ignored hundreds of public comments in opposition to the permit.
His appeal will be filed with DHEC’s clerk to the board. Appeals are heard by the eight-person board of directors for DHEC.
What is the permit for?
A solid waste transfer station permit is different from a landfill permit in that it allows waste and debris to be held temporarily at the site instead of permanently stored there.
Up to 240 tons of trash and debris can be on the site at any single time, according to DHEC.
The solid waste transfer station will not be publicly accessible. It is not a town trash dump, but for use by construction and demolition companies to dispose of waste while they’re completing projects on the island.
Up to 10 trucks per hour would take about six minutes to enter the site and deposit construction and demolition materials before heading back toward Dillon Road, according to the permit application.
The permitting process was frustrating to neighbors who oppose Arbor Nature’s plans, including Hilton Head Mayor John McCann.
“I cherish that we have created this desirable community to live, work and play, and this center will not contribute to the betterment of our community,” McCann told DHEC project managers. “Transfer stations do not belong anywhere near residential communities or in our environment.”
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Although two hours long meetings were held to allow public comment, DHEC officials said they do not consider nearby traffic on roads, general opposition to the project, property values, zoning/land use, incompatible uses or suggestions for alternative uses in the permit review process.
Davis’ appeal comes at the very end of the 15-day filing window with DHEC.
“DHEC needs to stop looking at this so narrowly. They’re looking at this in the traditionally bureaucratic way,” he said in September. “They are the state agency that is supposed to protect the public from having its natural resources denigrated.”
In his appeal, Davis said the project will negatively affect water quality due to the site’s location near Fish Haul Creek, that the site is located too close to a wetland and nearby roads cannot handle the truck traffic.
The appeal also said Arbor Nature has violated town codes and ordinances in the past and that DHEC failed to consider any of the company’s past noncompliance. Arbor Nature was involved in a dispute with the town over its tree grinding operations, which it was to relocate to Summit Drive before owner Adam Congrove applied for a solid waste transfer station permit.
Have questions?
You can find more information and context on Arbor Nature on The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette websites.
The newspapers will follow the permitting process and other Arbor Nature developments.
If you have questions or comments on the permit or Arbor Nature, use the online form below to submit them.
A reporter may contact you about your submission, but nothing you submit will be used without your explicit consent.
