|
Town Council - Nov 14, 2007 |
Minutes McClellanville Town Council Public Hearing November 14, 2007 - 7:00 PM The Mayor and Council for the Town of McClellanville held a public hearing on the above-noted date. Notice of the hearing had been published in the Town Newsletter and the Charleston Post and Courier. Mayor Rutledge Leland presided at the hearing. Council Members present included Bob Gannon, Gussie Humes, and Aaron Baldwin. Councilman Jim Scott was absent. Clerk Mary Duke was also present, as were Building Official Paul Fields, Richie Billington, Sewell Crisman, and Dwight Williams. Mayor Leland called the meeting to order. As Building Official Paul Fields was delayed in his arrival for the meeting, Mayor Leland asked Council to first consider the third agenda item, review of a letter drafted by Councilman Aaron Baldwin for the Council of Governments in response to the Town of Awendaw's application to the COG for an amendment to the Berkeley-Charleston-Dorchester 208 Water Quality Management Plan to allow construction of a sewer system for a planning area extending from Awendaw to the Santee River. After reading Aaron's letter, Council agreed that they supported sending it to the COG. Mayor Leland said that he felt the letter should make clear, however, that Council's concern is that the planning area for the sewer system would include McClellanville. Building Official Paul Fields then arrived at the meeting, and Mayor Leland said that Council would at that time hear the request from Jerry Sexton, owner of Poseidon Properties, LLC, and Athena Technologies, for a variance from the requirements of the McClellanville Flood Damage Prevention Ordinance. Richie Billington and Sewell Crisman, contractors for the project, were present on behalf of Mr. Sexton. Building Official Paul Fields, who also serves as the Town's Certified Floodplain Manager, reviewed his findings with regard to the application with Council. Paul said that the building that Mr. Sexton proposed to erect was a metal building, and that the front portion of the building would be elevated to meet flood code requirements. He added that a rear portion of the building, however, would be constructed on a concrete slab on grade. Paul said that he felt that the uses proposed by the owner for this rear portion of the building somewhat exceeded the uses approved by FEMA for storage areas. Because of this, he felt that a variance from the requirements of the Flood Ordinance was needed. Paul informed Council that he had discussed the situation with State Floodplain Manager Lisa Jones, and provided Council with a copy of a letter he had written to Ms. Jones. Paul said that Ms. Jones had recommended to him that the rear, slab on grade portion of the building be considered a "functionally dependent" use, which would allow approval of a variance so that the area could be "wet flood-proofed" rather than elevated. The justification for the variance would be the association of the business with boats and the marine industry and the fact that the building area can easily be wet flood-proofed. Sewell Crisman said that the International Building Code and FEMA manuals had instructions for addressing situations such as this one. He said that he felt it would be unrealistic to require elevation of an area that needed to be built slab on grade to enable its practical use. Dwight Williams said that he planned to build a garden center in the same Planned Development in the future, and asked whether his greenhouses, etc., would have to be elevated. Paul said that uses such as greenhouses would probably be considered agricultural uses, and therefore would be eligible for a variance. Office spaces and finished spaces, however, would have to meet flood elevation requirements. Paul said that perhaps the Flood Damage Prevention Ordinance should be studied to determine whether some of the language could be made more clear and specific. Councilman Bob Gannon asked whether Paul felt it was advisable to hear applications for variances as these were submitted, rather than revising the Flood Ordinance to make it more flexible. Paul said that the FEMA requirements were clear that variances should only be allowed for historic buildings, agricultural uses, or functionally dependent buildings or uses. Bob Gannon then made a motion to approve the variance to the Flood Damage Prevention Ordinance as requested, on the grounds that the area in question would be a functionally dependent use. Gussie Humes seconded the motion, and the motion was carried by unanimous vote of the Council Members present. Mayor Leland then asked Councilman Aaron Baldwin to read his revised draft letter on the Awendaw sewer sytem question. Aaron reviewed the letter with Council, and Council agreed by unanimous consent to approve the letter to be sent to the COG and the Town of Awendaw. Aaron said that he would email the letter to Mary, so that it could be printed on the Town letterhead. The Mayor and Council Members agreed to stop by the town office on Friday, Nov. 16th, to sign the letter. There being no further business, Bob Gannon made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 7:25 PM. The motion was seconded and unanimously approved. Mary S. Duke Town Clerk |