The November 2023 elections for the Town of Mount Pleasant weren’t as close as other parts of Charleston County, or even high in voter turnout, but they could eventually prove to be the most significant for area residents and leaders.
On the table is a long-standing issue: whether to limit future growth and development in a drastic fashion, or to let the market continue to decide.
And in the next year or two, the four newly-elected members of the Mount Pleasant Town Council — and the five who are finishing their terms — are not only readying to continue the battle for managing growth, but to make decisions that will likely signify a major turning point in the area’s long-term direction.
“Mt. Pleasant growth is part of a three-pronged issue: traffic, attainable housing and growth management,” said Town Councilman Howard Chapman, who was decisively re-elected to a second term with 7,090 votes. “And in the coming year, all the members of council are going to play a major role in solving this issue.”
Councilwoman Laura Hyatt, also re-elected to a second term having received the second-highest tally of 7,842 votes, added that in the past four years, the council has helped slow area growth from “about 4.5 percent to under 2 percent.”
But first-time elected Councilman Daniel Brownstein, with 6,643 votes, pointed out that the area has grown so much and so fast in the last 20 years that “now we are trying to play catch-up with our roads, parks and first responders.”
And Jake Rambo, who polled more votes than any other candidate with 7,980 to easily win a second term, said that planning the future of Mount Pleasant growth is going to be an ongoing challenge.“All three incumbents that ran for re-election finished in the top three spots in the voting,” Rambo said. “To me, that is validation from residents that council has been on the right track doing what we were originally elected to do: manage growth.”
Such growth has been more than three decades in the making.
For example, in the not-so-distant past of Hurricane Hugo in 1989, Mount Pleasant was simply another Lowcountry area — attractive for its mild weather, marsh fishing, kayaking, summer beaches, history and food. Residents numbered around 30,000.
Since then, the population has more than tripled to around 95,000 and counting—with annual 2022 overnight visitors topping 1.42 million — both of which Chapman said could threaten the area’s basic quality of life if left unchecked.
“So if we manage our growth by selecting areas in our hubs to place attainable housing, we will reduce our traffic congestion, which our residents have stated is our number one issue,” Chapman said.
Of course, the growth issue in Mount Pleasant involves many other facets, such as affordable housing, different types of commercial and residential construction, adequate emergency protection personnel such as police and firefighters and enough infrastructure such as water, sewer and roads, to handle the numbers.
Brownstein said that over the past two decades, too many developments were approved “without improving our infrastructure.”
“Our rapid growth has led to a loss of greenspace,” he said, “and has placed stress on our parks and recreational amenities.” To help hold the growth in check to some degree, as well as avoid the possibility of either raising taxes or reducing services, the 2016 Mount Pleasant Council adopted an ordinance to limit the height of new buildings in all applicable areas to 45 feet — 10-30 feet lower than previously allowed. In 2017, another action allowed for an increase in the area’s Development Impact Fees, which affected new development and redevelopment for both residential and commercial projects.
Rents for Class C properties (older properties relied on for affordable housing) now cost almost $6,000 more per year than in 2010.
“We have taken other measures as well — such as an apartment moratorium, permit allocation system and reducing residential units in commercial corridors,” Hyatt said. “And I hope that going into 2024, the public will voice opinions to council so that we might be encouraged to continue these programs.”
It is all related to the town’s comprehensive plan, which originated in 2009, in part to address economic development, transportation, schools and land use — especially since more people are expected to keep coming to Mount Pleasant.
And as they do, an additional growth concern will soon take center stage: water.
Retired Mount Pleasant Waterworks GM elected to Water Commissioner
In Mount Pleasant, newly-elected Water Commissioner Clay Duffie sees water not only as a resource to maintain the area’s high standard of living, but as a critical factor in sustaining the area’s growing population.
“It’s really important to conserve water and to use water wisely,” said Duffie, who won election in a landslide with 6,065 votes, more than the other four ballot candidates combined. “We have a lot of people and a lot of businesses compacted into a small area, and having a sustainable, long-term source of water is really, really important.”
Since 2021, Duffie and leaders with the Department of Natural Resources have been developing a long-term state water plan, which Duffie sees as “the future of our water resources for the next 50 years.”
“I’ve been an advisory member of the plan for the last three-plus years,” said Duffie, who served 32 years as the general manager for Mount Pleasant Waterworks before coming out of a two-year retirement to run for water commissioner. “And it’s important that our state General Assembly adopts that plan.”
The plan is expected to be ready by 2027. And Duffie wants to see the plan through to full adoption.
“We’ve had explosive growth over the last three decades, and nobody ever wants to run out of water, or pay too much for water,” expressed Duffie in a Mount Pleasant podcast prior to the election. “And having a plan that will help sustain that resource and be sure that it’s allocated properly to all the different users will help us protect our water environment and make sure our water utilities are available when more growth occurs.”
And going forward, both water and growth are issues that are expected to influence Mount Pleasant voters in future elections.
“A total of 13,974 ballots were cast by eligible voters in the Town of Mount Pleasant’s 2023 municipal elections,” said Matt Dillane, marketing and communications coordinator with the Charleston County Board of Voter Registration and Elections. “This represents a turnout rate of about 17.46 percent, while voter turnout for all of Charleston County was slightly higher at 22.91 percent. And because the future of Mount Pleasant depends on the choices of its community members, we urge all eligible voters to keep exercising their democratic rights in every election they can.”
By L. C. Leach III
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