HEARING OVER WAL-MART’S CONTROVERSIAL PLAN TO DRAIN WETLANDS IN LADY’S ISLAND, S.C.

Public hearing scheduled for Wal-Mart wetland plan [Beaufort Gazette (S.C.)]

A public hearing to address Wal-Mart’s plan to fill in wetlands on Lady’s Island where the retail chain had hoped to build a 195,000-square-foot store has been scheduled for 6 p.m. June 25 at Lady’s Island Middle School.

The retailer on May 16 applied to the state Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for permission to fill in 0.39 acre of critical-area wetlands.

Wal-Mart first filed plans with the city in January to build a Wal-Mart, two other stores and a fast-food restaurant on 40.8 acres of wooded property called Airport Junction near the Beaufort County Airport on Sea Island Parkway. Beaufort planning director Libby

Anderson rejected the application, saying the development differed too greatly from the site’s master plan.

Wal-Mart appealed Anderson’s decision to the city’s Zoning Board of Appeals, which rejected the appeal April 28.

Wal-Mart could have appealed the city’s decision to the Circuit Court, but the June 1 deadline passed without a filing from Wal-Mart.

The coastal management office will accept written comments on the application until noon June 16. Comments can be sent to 106 Parker Drive, Beaufort, SC 29906.

Posted by Joel Nezianya on Wednesday, June 11, 2008