Dorchester and Berkeley settle 5-year border dispute
BY ANDY PARAS
MONCKS CORNER - Roughly 300 residents living in an area that was mistakenly carved out of Berkeley County a century ago will keep their Dorchester County addresses as part of an agreement that will settle a five-year boundary dispute between the two counties.In return, Berkeley County will take back hundreds of acres of uninhabited property, including an undeveloped Interstate 26 interchange that officials say has a wealth of economic development potential.
The county councils adopted the agreement this week to avoid potential litigation and a messy mass change of addresses that would have required childrento switch schools, as well as complicated tax and law enforcement issues. The agreement is pending a survey by the South Carolina Geodetic Survey and legislative approval to change the boundary.
“This way we don’t upset anybody’s lives,” Berkeley County Supervisor Jim Rozier said. “We didn’t want to drag in a lot of people who didn’t want to come.”
Of about a dozen residents contacted for this story, most were satisfied with the outcome, if not indifferent.
“It makes no difference to me,” said Dantzler Lane resident Mike Mooring. “I haven’t gotten anything worthwhile out of either county.”
The dispute stemmed from a century-old surveyor’s error that placed about 3,000 acres stretching between Four Holes Swamp to Sawmill Branch, in Dorchester County.Geodetic surveyors discovered the mistake about five years ago after Summerville and Dorchester County requested a survey to pinpoint their precise boundaries.
Initial discussions were terse Berkeley County Council voted in 2004 to resolve the dispute by “all means available,” but officials from both counties eventually agreed they didn’t want to uproot the residents.
“It’s a whole lot better when you can work something out,” Rozier said. A lawsuit “would have been the next step and I preferred not to do that. I certainly didn’t want to be someone who sued one of my neighbors.”
Berkeley County Attorney Mark Stokes said even though the property initially belonged to Berkeley, there was a chance the courts could have allowed Dorchester to keep it because the existing boundary has been observed by both counties for at least a hundred years.
Dorchester County Attorney John Frampton said coming up with a resolution that didn’t affect residents drew out negotiations. “We’ve been working well together,” he said. “It’s never been antagonistic.”
Berkeley officials are excited about the prospect of developing the exit 187 interchange of I-26, which is just north of Ridgeville. Rozier said sewer is already available at the intersection and that it won’t take much to extend a water line.
“The industrial prospects are huge,” Stokes said.
Dorchester County Economic Development Director Jim Friar agreed. “That’s an obvious section where economic development and growth would take place,” he said.
Friar said development of the intersection would still benefit Dorchester County by creating jobs and attracting interest in existing industries it has nearby.
Two residents who live near S.C. Highway 182 but didn’t want to be identified said at one time they were hoping to be included in Berkeley County because of lower taxes, but now they consider the taxes so similar that it’s not worth it.
A Jedburg Road resident said all of his children attended Dorchester District 2 schools and couldn’t imagine his grandchildren not doing the same. He wasn’t even sure what the closest Berkeley school was. A Red Hill Road woman was disappointed with the agreement because she wanted her son to attend Berkeley County schools rather than Dorchester District 4.
Kerry Royal had lived at his Dantzler Lane home for two years and said he had no reason but to be satisfied with the agreement.
“I don’t know if we’re better off or not,” he said. “I’d have to live in Berkeley County for a while, I guess.”
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