By Warwick Jones
Citizen Reporter
The fate of the Sheppard Tract was finally decided at the Nov. 17 Charleston County Council meeting.
The 750-acre tract, near U.S. 17 and Parkers Ferry Road, was once considered as a potential location for garbage landfill. Residents last year protested about the possible use of this site as a dump and the county decided to sell the land.
There was a willing buyer but they seemed to want the land without any deed restriction.
Unwittingly, Charleston County had not placed a restriction on the title prohibiting landfill. When it announced its intention, the buyer lost interest.
The county will now place a deed restriction on the property and put it up for sale again.
Councilman Vic Rawl noted that the MeadWestvaco project was close to the property. It might be better to wait till the project got under way before selling the property, particularly as the market is weak, he said.
This was acknowledged, but as Councilman Dickie Schweers said, placing the property on the market did not mean that it had to be immediately sold. If bids were too low, the county could retain the property.