City’s zoning moratorium cited for thwarting mill project – Coastal Observer

City’s zoning moratorium cited for thwarting mill project – Coastal Observer

Warren Waters, founder of River Development Equities, says the plans to redevelop the 66-acre former Liberty Steel mill are dead, but his hopes are still alive. However how those hopes will come to fruition are unclear. “We are not here to point any fingers to trash anybody, but to let the citizens of Georgetown, you, the people, know what’s going on and hopefully figure out a way not to lose what we have worked so dearly to create,” Waters told an audience of about 200 people at Winyah Auditorium last week. “We feel like we have taken on a tremendous amount of risk.” He added that “we did so because we believe in Georgetown.” “We’re standing up here, done,” said Nathan Schutte, a principal at the architecture firm McMillian Pazden Smith in Charleston which drafted the plan. But many, including Former Mayor Carol Jayroe, cast blame at the city’s temporary zoning moratorium that City Council approved earlier this year in February. The stated purpose was to allow planning and zoning staff to make recommendations to its unified development ordinance (UDO) and how it reflects the goals of the updated comprehensive plan. The city paused applications for zoning changes, variances and subdivisions greater  than three lots. Jayroe said she had been involved with Waters and the project for a couple of years. In March the New Jersey firm was named the buyer of the International Paper mill that closed in 2024 that also had the steel mill site under contract. Jayroe said she was sad to hear it talked about in the past tense. “I’d like to thank the mayor, Doyle, and those that put the moratorium on that stopped this project and absolutely made this project come to a standstill,” she said at last week’s meeting. “I’m sorry that the city has not cooperated in a manner that it should have.” The 180-day moratorium was extended by an additional 90 days in July.  The moratorium does not apply to properties covered by existing development agreements and property owners who already have vested rights under state law. Markus Kastenholz, principal of Colliers’ International commercial real estate firm, said that capital goes where it’s welcome. He called the redevelopment “the most transformative project in the city’s history.” When his firm heard of the moratorium, the pencils went down, he said. “The first thing we hear about is a zoning moratorium. That’s not exactly holding up a welcome sign,” Kastenholz said. That was met with a thunderous round of applause from the audience.  “Then the moratorium gets extended,” he added. “You can’t make this stuff up.” Liberty Steel began demolishing the mill last year, raising concerns among residents about clouds of dust raised from the former melt shop and furnace facility. Bob MacPhee, a principal at GEL Engineering who specializes in brownfields, said the work stopped to allow GEL to do environmental monitoring.  GEL completed sampling on the site in June that yielded more than 90 soil samples and the installation of 27 small monitoring wells, he said. They found chlorinated solvent plumes, hydronic fluid plumes and poly-aromatic compounds and PFAS, also known as “forever chemicals,” on the site. GEL issued a report to the state Deparment of Environmental Services. “That’s when the deal kind of fell through,” MacPhee said. The hope was to continue and assess the cost of remediatiation. Liberty River entered into a voluntary cleanup contract, known as a VCC, earlier this year with the state to remove contaminants from the site without assuming liability for the pollution. Schutte emphasized the moratorium had no effect on the clean-up process. Liberty River planned a mixed-use development on the site integrated into the city street grid along with green space and walking trails. “To make this happen, we needed an instrument,” Schutte said. “Right now your zoning doesn’t allow us to do anything like this.” His firm worked with city staff to amendment  the redevelopment zoning district, known as REDD, that covers the steel mill site and other waterfront industrial property. Schutte had a copy of the amendments at last week’s meeting. “We have worked with staff, to take the character, and the key aspects, the uses, the open space, the river walk, and creating a narrative, and ultimately an opportunity to codify through a text amendment on the redevelopment district that could make this vision happen,” Schutte said. “That said, we can’t make this application. That’s outside of our control.” His firm’s role would have looked a lot different if they had that ability, Schutte later said. “I don’t understand how [Doyle] thinks his grand vision would possibly happen with the moratorium,” said Carrie Boettner, a Maryville resident whose husband was appointed to the city’s Planning Commission this month. “He promised this, and that’s how he got elected.” “We don’t want to get political here,” Waters said. Those amendments never made it in front of the Planning Commission, Schutte added. One of the text amendments initially proposed height limits of eight stories. Schutte said he believed they could have made six work. It preserved a maximum of three stories within 150 feet on the waterfront.  He did not want anything to overpower the buildings on Front Street that are limited to 45 feet, Schutte said. “If we start going below six, we start to add more burdens to the property or to the project,” he said. Even if those amendments are approved, there’s not a path forward for the steel mill site, Schutte said. “We are only interested in moving forward in an environment where the seller understands what we need to do,” Waters chimed in. “I’m still dealing with a bit of a void here. Until we understand what that is, I can’t answer your question.” They also couldn’t answer questions about what Liberty Steel is asking for. Waters said he and his team are under non-disclosure agreements that survived the termination of the contract with Liberty Steel. “I would love to answer your question, but I’m not about to get my fanny sitting in court for the next couple of months,” Waters said. “But there is an answer to it.” Schutte said River Development needs a seat back at the table with Liberty Steel. David Kossove, a business owner and developer, suggested a class action lawsuit against the former steel mill for environmental contamination.