Arbor Nature transfer station saga is settled. What does it mean for Hilton Head?
The saga over Arbor Nature’s permit for a solid waste transfer station on Hilton Head Island has come to a close.
A settlement agreement between state Sen. Tom Davis; the landowners’ association for the gated Port Royal community; and Arbor Nature, a tree grinding company that now operates a temporary dump for construction and demolition debris on the island’s north end, went into effect last month, according to a copy of the agreement obtained by The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette.
The agreement requires that within three years of the solid waste transfer station opening, Arbor Nature must build an enclosure and roof over the temporary dump, records show.
The settlement also says that Davis and Port Royal can hire their own inspectors to visit the facility (in addition to the inspections that the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control will conduct).
“It’s like anything else in litigation,” Davis said in a phone call Tuesday. “In a settlement, you don’t always get everything you want, but you gotta make an assessment of what’s the best outcome given the facts and given the law.”
Arbor Nature’s proposal to open the solid waste transfer station at 26 Summit Drive, near Hilton Head’s airport, was fiercely opposed by community members, including Mayor John McCann, during public meetings in fall 2020.
“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.”
DHEC, though, in March 2021 approved Arbor Nature’s permit application, after agency officials said they do not consider nearby traffic on roads, general opposition to a project or property values, among other things, during the permit review process.
The town had initially leased, and then later sold, the roughly four acres off Summit Drive to Arbor Nature as part of a settlement between the town and the company, approved in 2017, regarding a dispute over land-use rules following noise complaints from neighbors in Indigo Run.
Adam Congrove, the owner of Arbor Nature, confirmed Tuesday that the solid waste transfer station has now been operating for a few weeks.
Davis, R-Beaufort, signed the settlement on March 18, records show.
What’s in the settlement?
After DHEC staff approved the temporary dump permit, Davis and Port Royal filed a request for the agency’s board to review the decision. The board declined to do so, the state senator said, meaning the next step was an appeal to the Administrative Law Court.
At that point, Davis said, a Hilton Head attorney representing Arbor Nature, Thomas Taylor, stepped in and asked, “What can we do to resolve this?”
“The DHEC regs weren’t worded in a way that I thought we had a really good chance on appeal,” Davis said, so the three parties entered into settlement negotiations.
“I felt like there was an opportunity to obtain some mitigating concessions from Arbor Nature,” he said.
Davis added, “I’m not being paid by anybody. I did this pro bono on my own behalf.”
The parties reached an agreement in May 2021, records show, and the settlement was signed this year. As part of the settlement, Davis and Port Royal agreed to forgoe their rights to appeal to the Administrative Law Court, records show.
A phone message left with the Port Royal administrative office Tuesday was not returned.
The settlement says that:
▪ Within three years of the solid waste transfer station opening, Arbor Nature must build an enclosure and roof over the temporary dump;
▪ Davis and Port Royal can hire their own trained inspectors to visit the facility;
▪ Truck drivers that bring materials to the facility must sign a form confirming that the debris being dropped off are allowed under DHEC and Arbor Nature rules;
▪ Arbor Nature will have a “system of fines” to impose on business owners or drivers that dump unacceptable debris.
Previously, Davis said, many people were worried about the “unsightly nature” of the planned facility and “wanted it to be enclosed.”
The Coalition of Island Neighbors, or COIN, in a March statement wrote that the advocacy group and the Port Royal community will continue to monitor the site to ensure that the construction of the enclosure “happens on time with the proper scope.”
The settlement agreement will last either 99 years or until the temporary dump closes — whichever is earlier.
The parties also agreed to pay their own legal fees.
A DHEC spokesperson said Wednesday that Arbor Nature will need to submit a request for a permit modification so the planned enclosure — as it’s described in the settlement — can be built.
Taylor, the attorney for Arbor Nature, said Tuesday the company plans to submit a request sometime in the next several days.
Transfer station, not a landfill
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, according to previous reporting from The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette.
Up to 240 tons of trash and debris, including recyclable material, can be at the Arbor Nature 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 — it is available for use by construction and demolition companies, which can dispose of waste there while they are completing projects on the island, the newspapers previously reported.
The height of the waste stored at the site is limited to 15 feet, unless a lower height is required in local laws, according to DHEC. Dead animals are not allowed at the facility, the permit says.
The operating hours are 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, according to a DHEC-approved plan.
The newspapers in 2020 reported that the following items can be accepted at the facility, among other materials: construction and demolition debris including asphalt, concrete and bricks; debris from land-clearing, including brush and tree branches; and asbestos-containing materials, which Congrove previously said his company was unlikely to accept.
The permit was issued on March 4, 2021.
Meanwhile, in a separate Arbor Nature matter, a Beaufort County master-in-equity ruled last year that the town did not have to reimburse Arbor Nature for more than $115,000 in attorneys’ fees that the company incurred during a monthslong legal battle over a dispute about town land-use rules.
This story was originally published April 7, 2022 at 12:04 PM.
