HANAHAN, S.C.—The Berkeley County School District is seeking costs related to legal action it is taking against the City of Hanahan, according to court documents.
In turn, the city has announced on its website that city council will go into executive session tonight to discuss the Berkeley County School District’s recent move to take the city to court.
This closed door meeting comes after the city denied the district’s request on December 10 to rezone property that would have paved the way for a new school for the Tanner Plantation community.
The new school, which would accommodate about 900 students, would alleviate overcrowding at Hanahan Elementary and Goose Creek Primary, according to district officials.
In court documents recently filed this month, the school district is appealing the city’s decision to deny its application for an amendment to Foster Creek Planned Development.
The district stated that it performed its “due diligence” in locating a suitable site within the Tanner Plantation area of the City of Hanahan for the new elementary school.
According to BCSD, it determined that the Bowen Creek site was the only available site for the Tanner Plantation area that could meet the legal and practical requirements for construction of an elementary school.
In order to build the new school, district leaders stated that about 12 acres currently zoned multi-family use would need to be rezoned to village commercial mixed-use.
According to court records, the school district considers Hanahan’s move to deny their request for rezoning “unreasonable and unjust.”
The district further claims that “the city is arbitrarily using its zoning powers to dictate where the proposed elementary school
should be located and accomplish its unrelated objectives.”
BCSD is now asking the courts for three things:
1. Reverse the denial of the application for a zoning amendment to Foster Creek Planned Development.
2. Award Appellant/Petition its costs of this action pursuant to any applicable statue
3. Issue as such other relief as is just and proper
As of right now, the school district isn’t commenting on this case. Hanahan mayor, Minnie Newman-Caldwell, says they have
obtained an attorney out of Columbia that is representing them and calls the case “sad” and “unfortunate.”
On November 6, 2012, Berkeley Co. voters overwhelmingly approved $198 million to help build the new school along with the district’s other projects. These projects include the renovation of 29 schools and the construction of three new elementary schools, a new middle school and a new high school.
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