Charleston County Board Approves Tree Removal for New Development on James Island

The Charleston County Board of Zoning Appeals unanimously approved a variance request for the 'Banner on Folly' project in James Island, South Carolina. The development involves 96 new apartment units and 16 town homes. The approval required the removal of three grand trees—a 32-inch hickory, a 29-inch live oak, and a 44-inch live oak—and encroachment on two others. Domonic Jones and Robert McIntosh argued that the removals were necessary and reasonable for the project, which they noted was undevelopable if every grand tree were preserved. The approval was granted with strict mitigation requirements: inch-for-inch tree replacement through new plantings, payment of $250 per inch of tree removed into the county’s tree mitigation fund, or a combination of the two.

The decision impacts the housing stock in the area and the financial health of the county's tree mitigation fund. The required payments of $250 per inch of tree removed into the fund establish a new revenue stream for the county based on the development's scale. The approval process itself sets a precedent for future development projects seeking variances in the county.