A March 2 editorial makes a strong case for the Charleston County Board of Zoning Appeals to reject the water line in the name of keeping Johns Island like it is. Only one problem ... it was full of it.

Johns Island is reaching a point James Islanders reached long ago. The decision is not whether a water line is constructed, but by whom. The St. John's water company wants to build a water line across the island that many fear would lead to development. They may be right, but the alternative is unthinkable.

It has been reported here that if the county rejects the St. John's effort, then CPW would have the right to build its own water line. Think about that. You can see the results of simple-minded thinking on James Island. James Island rejected a movement to create a town in the '70s. The argument was to keep the island the way it was. What happened? Joe Riley and the city of Charleston used the opportunity to piecemeal annex across the island and to slap up apartments and cookie-cutter neighborhoods.

The city used ditches and offers of water to haphazardly annex James Island to the point it is unrecognizable to those who grew up here.

The question comes down to this. The water pipeline will be built. Johns Island has to decide by whom. This paper, in its editorial, stated that the city has promised to respect the limitations set out by the county. Please. All one has to do is look to James Island to see the effects of the city's idea of responsible development.

If the county rejects the current plan, CPW has the legal right to build the water line. When it builds the water line, the city will use it to annex away. Then you have to trust in the city to do the right thing. Wait, didn't Charleston just get a multi-million dollar grant to build subsidized housing on Johns Island? Sounds like responsible development to me.

Johns Island has two choices: 1) Ask for the St. John's water line to be built, assuring that the county and not the city of Charleston will determine the fate of development, or 2) Fight the water line, thinking that they have beaten back development only to realize too late that the real threat is the city of Charleston with its apartments, subsidized housing and tract homes.

I beg the people of Johns Island to learn from our mistakes. Please do not let the death of James Island go in vain. Tell the county that even though you do not like the water line that St. John's is proposing, the alternative is just too horrendous to risk.

J. WARREN SLOANE

871 Ft. Johnson Road

James Island