Council To Consider Crowfield Deed Compromise

Goose Creek City Council will consider final approval next month regarding deed restrictions at the Crowfield Golf and Country Club. 

The issue has left the council closely split for the past seven months, but a compromise proposed by Councilman Franklin Moore is expected to address most of the remaining concerns with the deed restrictions.

Earlier this year, Mayor Michael Heitzler proposed restrictions to the deed at the city-owned golf course — an assurance that future city councils would be unable to subdivide the property in the event that it wanted to sell portions of the course.

The deed restrictions have faced persistent criticism from three council members: Marguerite Brown, Mayor Pro Tem Kimo Esarey and Jerry Tekac. But Franklin Moore's election gave the Mayor enough support on the council for a narrow majority. Emboldened, Heitzler instructed the city attorney to draft deed restrictions.

Under the proposed restrictions, which received initial approval from a divided council earlier this month, the council would be unable to subdivide the property for the next 25 years. Goose Creek residents are empowered to enforce the restrictions.

But Moore offered a suggestion to find broader support among council members. Under his proposal, the council would be able to remove the deed restrictions if the repeal receives majority support from voters through a citywide referendum. 

Loss of control had been a sticking point in the opposition to the deed restrictions. At a strategic planning meeting earlier this week, Moore pitched his proposal and will formalize the amendment at the November meeting. 

"That takes away some of the angst that some people had, but still address the level of piece the people out there asked for," said Heitzler.