Published on 05/08/05
After 45 years of aggressive annexations under two mayors, Charleston's city limits today extend from the Wadmalaw Island boundary to the Francis Marion National Forest.
The city, whose original northern limit was Calhoun Street, now contains 104 square miles.
To take in all that new territory, which had to abut existing city limits to be annexed, Charleston has crossed rivers and snaked across marsh, scooted down roads and power line easements, and crafted annexation petitions that have withstood dozens of court challenges.
Often, the large annexations were announced hours or minutes before City Council was asked to vote on approving them, catching opponents flat-footed. Similar tactics are now being employed to block North Charleston from jumping the river and annexing the Watson Hill tract on S.C. Highway 61.
Bill Regan, who was Charleston's lead attorney for 27 years under Mayor Joe Riley, estimates the city has been sued over annexations at least 70 times, mostly by public service districts trying to preserve their tax base. But none of the annexations were overturned, he said.
"A lot of them involved a lot of intrigue," Regan said. "The fun part was figuring out how to get from A to B, from the city to the land that wanted to come in."
In order for the city to annex a group of properties, at least 75 percent of the owners, representing 75 percent of the property value involved, must agree. That means the city must count heads and calculate values, seek petition signatures and connect the dots.
Regan recalls an annexation on James Island in which, to make sure enough property owners agreed to be annexed, the city's lawyers chipped in $150 each and bought out a man's interest in a small piece of marsh land. Then they deeded it to the city so that Riley could sign the annexation petition himself.
The city's annexation of Daniel Island, which North Charleston had hoped to annex, has become the stuff of lore.
It happened in 1990, when it was well understood that the new Mark Clark Expressway would open rural Daniel Island up for development. The expressway would connect Daniel Island to North Charleston, but the Guggenheim Foundation that owned the roughly 5,500-acres had not sought annexation.
Working behind the scenes, Charleston assembled a plan to reach across the Cooper River with a petition that called for the involuntary annexation of Daniel Island.
The city included two smaller islands with high appraised values and multiple owners in the petition. One of the islands was owned by developer and Riley supporter Joe Griffith, who in order to help Charleston meet the 75 percent ownership standard for annexation, added the names of his spouse and children to the island's deed, Regan said.
By filing the first annexation petition, Charleston cemented its claim to Daniel Island. The Guggenheim Foundation later agreed to have the land annexed voluntarily.
"It was a shotgun wedding that turned into a happy marriage," Regan said.
North Charleston officials, and some in Berkeley County, were furious.
Berkeley Independent publisher Allen Morris compared Riley to Saddam Hussein in a 1991 editorial and called for a boycott of Charleston businesses, which some Berkeley County officials supported.
Last week, Charleston demonstrated that it remains willing to use its experienced annexation lawyers to shape the region.
The city announced it had joined forces with Summerville to annex all of S.C. Highway 61, so that the town and city limits meet at the Dorchester County line, blocking North Charleston from its goal of annexing across the Ashley River.
Charleston has been annexing property since at least 1798, but the city's growth beyond the peninsula did not begin in earnest until Mayor J. Palmer Gaillard Jr. took office in 1960.
The city limits had not changed for more than a century: in 1849 the city line was moved north to Mount Pleasant Street. One of Gaillard's first initiatives was to cross the Ashley River and lay claim to thousands of acres west of the Ashley, adding more than 10,000 residents to the city. In 1973, Gaillard reached across Wappoo Cut and gave Charleston a foothold on James Island.
"It's the best thing that ever happened to the city of Charleston," Gaillard said this spring, 30 years after leaving office. "I annexed territory every year I was mayor."
Riley stepped up the pace after he became mayor in 1975, moving quickly to annex the remaining land below North Charleston's southern boundary and more of West Ashley.
It was a time when annexation votes were conducted for entire areas, and the 1976 election was marked by scandal.
The names of dead people turned up on annexation petitions, and others whose names appeared swore they hadn't signed. The authorities were summoned and handwriting experts declared that many of the signatures were by the same hand. Then-councilman, now state Sen. Robert Ford was charged with forgery.
"He was never convicted," Regan noted.
The city's boundaries continued to swell, as Charleston crossed the Stono River onto Johns Island in 1985. In West Ashley and James Island, annexations continued, to the consternation of public service districts that wanted to tax and serve the same land sought by Charleston.
Kiawah Island was incorporated in 1988 partly out of fear that Charleston would try to annex it, according to the town's Web site. On James Island, enough residents oppose annexation that they have twice tried to form their own town.
The city's focus going forward is to annex all the unincorporated land within the urban growth boundary.
"The city has gone through a very important phase, since 1960, of expanding opportunities to grow," Riley said. "The phase we are in now is infill, annexing areas that are surrounded by the city."
Within the city's outer limits there are hundreds of properties that haven't been annexed, giving some areas the appearance of a checkerboard. But beyond the urban growth boundary, the city hopes development will be limited.
"We all need barriers, and we all need limits," Riley said. "There will come a time when the borders of Charleston will not continue to grow through annexation."
David Slade covers the city of Charleston. Contact him at dslade@postandcourier.com or 937-5552.
Copyright © 2005, The Post and Courier, All Rights Reserved