From The State: Developer: Annexation would allow Cayce to control its destiny

By WARREN BOLTON - Associate Editor

DOES COLUMBIA Venture LLC legitimately believe it’s in Cayce’s best interest to annex 3,000 acres along the river, or is the company engaging in the developmental equivalent of judge-shopping?

After the developer didn’t get the results it wanted from the Richland County side of the river, it apparently decided to shop for a friendly government that would approve its plan. And dangling expanded borders, new jobs and development and an increased tax base in front of the smaller, but ambitious, Cayce doesn’t hurt.

Bob Hughes, the Greenville developer who heads the new management team at Columbia Venture, doesn’t deny that the company has decided to take its chances with Cayce because it’s more open to the possible development. He doesn’t feel the company has gotten a fair hearing from Richland County.

But, he said, there are legitimate reasons for Columbia Venture to seek annexation and any developmental approval from Cayce. Many concerned about flooding have continually argued Cayce would be the most affected by development on the Richland County side of the river. Yet Cayce didn’t have a seat at the decision-making table, he said.

Mr. Hughes said it makes sense for Cayce to annex the property and control its own destiny.

That’s a sound argument, as far as it goes. Residents in Cayce’s Riverland Park community became concerned about possibly damaging floods from new construction on the Richland side of the Congaree when Burroughs & Chapin pitched a $1 billion development in the late 1990s — a proposal that eventually died. If Cayce annexes the property, it inherits the authority to decide whether and how the property will be developed, if at all. As it is, Richland County would be making decisions about Cayce’s future, and Cayce would have no meaningful input.

While the company is expected to propose some type of mixed-use development, Mr. Hughes said no development plan exists at the moment.

Concrete plans for the property will be developed as the company determines exactly what it can do with the land and through discussions with Cayce officials and citizens, he said.

Mr. Hughes said people shouldn’t jump to conclusions just because the company has asked Cayce City Council to annex the property. If the council annexes the land, it is expected to apply a transitional zoning designation to the land, he said. “They’re going to zone it that kind of ‘talk to me later’ zone.”

Columbia Venture expects to develop a plan and come before the council at a later date asking for zoning approval, he said.

But let’s not be naive. Cayce isn’t considering annexing this property for the sake of gaining territory. City officials, particularly Mayor Avery Wilkerson, acknowledge that the reason to annex it would be because of the economic boost it could possibly bring. That can’t happen unless this land is developed.

Annexation doesn’t guarantee the property will be developed, but the only reason annexation is being considered is the promise of new revenue, jobs and development.

While there might not be a plan, it’s Cayce’s responsibility to demand as much information as possible from the developers in an effort to determine whether annexation is even worth the trouble. Say what you will, annexation is no small thing. If Cayce annexes this property, it will incur tremendous pressure to approve this development.

And while city officials might get comfort out of knowing the fate of Cayce residents is in their hands, they’ve also got to worry about possible flooding elsewhere should they approve a project. There are concerns that significant development might cause flooding that could harm the Congaree National Park and other areas downstream.

That said, there’s nothing wrong with Cayce officials considering this in an effort to control their town’s fate — or even to grow the municipality. In the end, it could work out fine, with Columbia Venture building a safe, prosperous development — or doing nothing. It’s conceivable.

But city leaders must do their homework and be far more than reasonably sure about potential liability should the worst happen.

Otherwise, it could chart a destiny it doesn’t want any part of.

Reach Mr. Bolton at (803) 771-8631 or wbolton@thestate.com