Mayor Riley to “Citizens for a Better Charleston” – Thanks

“Overwhelming” support for Mayor from “South of Broad" and Ansonborough

Warwick Jones

The election results for the City of Charleston were a surprise. That Joe Riley won was not, but that he won so handsomely was. Many of us, perhaps even most of us, expected a run off. The polls we saw before the election had Riley ahead of his main opponent, Council member Dudley Gregorie by only a few percentage points. The other contenders were well behind but with percentages that would have denied either Riley or Gregorie an outright majority. As we all now know, Mayor Riley romped in with 67% of the total, well ahead of Gregorie’s 27% and Farrow’s 3%.

Continue reading "Mayoral Election"

Posted by Warwick Jones at 01:59 PM | Comments (0)

Of ships and sails and sealing wax, …and (men who would be) kings

Warwick Jones

Who they are we do not know. But their hands are busily turning the spindles and creating a web - exceedingly tangled to better achieve their immediate purpose of catching and deposing Mayor Riley. Their purpose beyond his deposition is murky.

Continue reading "Mayoral Election"

Posted by Warwick Jones at 08:06 PM | Comments (0)

Financing plan for Septima Clark project looks risky

Assault on new Code article by cruise ship critics repelled

Desperate times, desperate acts. OK, it may be exaggeration to call the City’s plan to complete the Septima Clark project as desperate. But the plan is not without risks. Arguably, the road and drainage project is the most important and urgent of City projects. Its completion is necessary to stop the flooding during heavy rains and high tides in a large section of the City. The cost is an estimated $154 million, an amount I wouild dispute as highly inflated. Most of the funding is not in place.

Continue reading "City Council, August 16"

Posted by Warwick Jones at 02:47 PM | Comments (0)

City to tighten regulations covering carriage horses

Mayor comments on necessity to join Carnival in law suit

The proposed amendments to the City’s ordinance covering the care of carriage horses took over a year to shape. But as Council member White told Council last night, they were subject to considerable and lengthy debate by the Tourism Commission. An estimated 20 to 30 members of the horse carriage industry were present last night to show their opposition, though only a few spoke.

Continue reading "City Council, July 19"

Posted by Warwick Jones at 12:40 PM | Comments (0)

Preparations for suit against Carnival Lines underway

HANA to join Coastal Conservation League as plaintiff

Threats of law suits to restrain the City, the State Port Authority and cruise ship lines have been commonplace for a year or so. But the threat is likely to be soon turned into a reality. The South Environmental Law Center (SELC) is preparing a complaint to be filed in a State court with Carnival Lines as the defendant. The Coastal Conservation League is the original plaintiff and last night the Historic Ansonborough Neighborhood Association (HANA) voted to join it. And the SELC expects that the Charleston Neighborhood Association will also vote to join it when it meets next month. It also hoped The Preservation Society would join.

Continue reading "Cruise Ships"

Posted by Warwick Jones at 01:48 PM | Comments (0)

For information, or intimidation?

City and SPA yield no ground

If the purpose of last night’s “Community Forum” was to bring closer the opposing sides of the cruise ship and the Union Pier plan issue, it failed. But we expect that the Historic Charleston Foundation (HCF), the sponsor of the forum held no such optimistic hope. It is 18 months since the Foundation’s last forum – “A Delicate Balance”. It was out of this forum that a Task Force was formed to oversee the developments on the Peninsula and which included Union Pier. But the issue over cruise ships and the Union Pier had grown large and in HCF’s view, another forum was needed to consider it.

Continue reading "Cruise Ship Forum"

Posted by Warwick Jones at 01:39 PM | Comments (0)

Neighborhood demands don’t look reasonable

The importance of the port cannot be ignored

Warwick Jones

Some folk on the Peninsula have a visceral hatred of cruise ships and their passengers. Their hatred has taken some time to foment. Except for the Coastal Conservation League (CCL) and some of its supporters, the opposition to cruise ship visits was largely latent at the time when City Council unanimously passed a resolution endorsing the Union Pier Plan and encouraging cruise ships to use the City as an embarkation point. That resolution committed the State Ports Authority (SPA) to limit ship visits to an average of 2 a week and vessel size to a capacity of about 3500 passengers.

Continue reading "Cruise ships"

Posted by Warwick Jones at 01:36 PM | Comments (0)

If the City had control, how much would really change?

CCL’s exaggerated fears for the environment

The dust on the cruise ship issue refuses to settle, at least in some areas of the Peninsula. The Coastal Conservation League (CCL) and others appear to be looking for ways to instigate a lawsuit. They say that they support cruise ships and the Union Pier plan but the number of visits and the size of cruise ships must be regulated by the City, regulations on waste disposal tightened, and traffic and parking studies be undertaken, inter alia. Two neighborhood associations in the historic district support the stand.

Continue reading "Cruise ships"

Posted by Warwick Jones at 09:39 AM | Comments (0)

Some still call for a controlling City Ordinance

Don’t think so!

Warwick Jones

The resolution that City Council approved two months ago should have put the cruise ship issue to bed. Council, unanimously, gave the nod to the Union Pier Plan of the SC Ports Authority (SPA), and cruise ship visits to Charleston. Letters from the SPA were attached to the resolution acknowledging its commitment. If the SPA wanted to increase the number of visits, the size of the ships or the number of passengers, it would first seek approval from the City. It agreed to allow only one ship to berth at a time, an average of no more than 2 visits a week, and a maximum passenger complement of 3500 a vessel.

Continue reading "Cruise ships"

Posted by Warwick Jones at 10:00 AM

Easy passage of amended Union Pier Plan

Landlords and property managers on notice

Marc Knapp

Discussion and citizen comments over a resolution relating to the Union Pier Plan took up much of last night’s Council meeting. Some of the comments by citizens were heated, but the discussion on Council was not. Although some Council members professed concern about some aspects, all voted for the resolution which had been amended slightly from that contained in the agenda package.

Continue reading "City Council, September 14"

Posted by Warwick Jones at 12:59 PM