The last waterfront property in Mount Pleasant, located on Highway 41, might tragically become the new home of 1600 new families.

The Republic Tract, the last undeveloped waterfront property in Mount Pleasant, is currently wrapped up in a lawsuit between its owners and the town. The town is being sued because they won’t provide sewer access to the property owners. However, the property isn’t within the town, and is actually under Charleston County, so they argue that they don’t have to. If they were to provide sewer, the property owners could build 16 apartments, or multi-family units, per acre. Compared to the one per acre without sewer.

This poses a threat to our already crowded town. Roads like Highway 41, Park West, and Dunes West Blvd will have more cars on the road, which will cause even worse traffic, especially during rush hour and more road noise, as if there isn’t enough of either already. Schools such as Wando and Beckham, who are already full or overcrowded, will have more students to maintain. Other public entities like libraries, parks, orthe Recreational Center will get even more usage.

Like any other topic relating to our local politics, the republic tract lawsuit is heavily connected to Highway 41. The highway won’t be widened until at least 2026, and at latest 2029, and the way things are going currently, it will only expand one lane through the Phillips Community. Ifthese three lanes can’t get the communitythrough 41 fast enough, the local government might not have a choice but to widen it further into four or more lanes, which would be detrimental to the Phillips Community.

Another important detail to note about the Tractis its zoning. The tract is zoned industrially, which is why the residential restrictions are so unique. That also means if Mount Pleasant doesn’t annex it then it has the potential to become the home of industrial business, which will only happen if they win the lawsuit.

If the Town wins the lawsuit, the property owners will not be able to sell the land to the buyer, whose goal it was to build the residential properties. As a result, they will most likely find a new buyer, the variety of buyers will open up more options as to what the land could be used for. The best case scenario, and what Mount Pleasant actually needs, is that the owners sell the property to the town, who will most likely build a park. Instead of adding overcrowding, it will help resolve it.

The property owners almost sold it to the town before, too. The town put down a $20 million bid for the property a few years ago with the plan of building a boat launch, a public park area, and leaving some of the land to grow naturally. Which would be even better to have within walking distance of three neighborhoods. If that still doesn’t happen, which is verypossible, then the next best option is a marina of riverside businesses which would still provide local amenities, just not for free under the government. The businesses would help bolster the local economy and would still provide a place for people to launch their boats, which is, again, far better than adding 1600 new people to the area.

If neither of these options are chosen, then the owners could sell the land to a company who wants to use it for a factory, store, or dealership. They can also continue to hold onto the land for the future. If that happened, it would be tragic, what could’ve been a waterfront community center becoming a big factory or complex.

All of the optimal possibilities depend on the town prevailing in their lawsuit. If the owners of the Republic Tract win, then thechance of a community park or marina are gone, along with our last waterfront property.

Instead we get to live with another thousand and a half families flooding our roads, schools, public spaces, and businesses. Clearly so much weight lies on this lawsuit, so the best resolution for the town is that the tract owners lose the lawsuit to the town, then decide to sell the property to the town. The property being developed by  the town into a community waterfront park, which would provide some greatly needed public greenspace. The intolerable addition of 1,600 more families into the community would be avoided along with the potential for an even further expanded and trafficked Highway 41.