I want to announce that Town Council has set our upcoming planning retreat that will take place in January at the Municipal Center. The community is welcomed and encouraged to attend.
The retreat will be held in three workshops listed below:
1. Tuesday, January 11, 2022 - 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
2. Thursday, January 13, 2022 - 1 p.m. - 4 p.m.
3. Friday, January 14, 2022 - 9 a.m. to noon
The annual retreat is for Town Council and senior staff to evaluate plans from the prior year, review current projects, develop objectives for 2022, and discuss long-term strategic planning to support the mission and goals of the Town.
One critical area of review will be dealing with Annexation and Zoning. That discussion will occur at the January 11 workshop from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. We will be discussing the sequence of events that took place with the Andell West Tract development project. There has not been any further activity with the project itself, and I feel that the retreat would be an appropriate time to reevaluate the process.
It's important that Council review what took place in the context of South Carolina Annexation Laws and the Town's Zoning Ordinance and see if any changes are necessary to enhance the review and approval process. Since State Statute dictates SC Annexation Laws, we must be mindful of what we can and cannot do regarding timelines and expectations from the community and developer. These are important subjects to discuss with the objective of making the Council and staff more responsive to the community's needs and meeting the Town's mission while still being respectful to the rights of the developer.
We are working on a detailed agenda that, when complete, will be provided to the community through our email distribution list and posted on our website. If you are not signed up for the Town's email list, please email sbraswell@kiawahisland.org to be added.
I encourage all residents to look for this information and feel free to share their thoughts and perspectives on any of the agenda items with the Town Administrator, Stephanie Tillerson, at stillerson@kiawahisland.org.
We are blessed with a beautiful community and have an enormous responsibility to not only maintain it but improve it for future generations.
Sincerely,
John Labriola
