Judge rules that county may condemn Georgia-owned land for port

CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA - Jasper County may condemn Georgia-owned land in South Carolina for a steamship terminal, a state judge ruled Wednesday, noting that the terminal would amount to a public use of the property. <br> <br> ``All I can say is it&#39;s another case of David slinging it to Goliath,&#39;&#39; said Jasper County Administrator Henry Moss who has been pushing for a steamship terminal on the Savannah River for years. <br> <br> The 50-page order by Circuit Judge Perry Buckner allows the county to condemn almost 1,800 acres owned by the Georgia Department of Transportation. Stevedoring Services of America has signed an agreement with the county to pay $350 million to build a container port on the site. <br> <br> Georgia challenged the condemnation, questioning whether it was for a public use and noting the land now serves a public purpose because it is used by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for disposing of silt from dredging the harbor channel. <br> <br> Buckner noted both Stevedoring Services of America and the county could be construed as the terminal operators. <br> <br> ``Jasper is creating a public use by condemning property for a marine terminal and entering into a lease, which, as a matter of law, is the same as Jasper itself carrying out the operations,&#39;&#39; the judge concluded. <br> <br> He also found the county had shown a public necessity for the project and had not abused its discretion in selecting the site, which is across the river and downstream from the Georgia Ports Authority docks. <br> <br> Diane L. Strickland, a spokeswoman for the Georgia Ports Authority, said the agency could not comment on the ruling until seeing it. But, she said, ``nothing has changed with respect to our concerns about the property.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Those concerns include, among other things, reducing spoil capacity for dredging the Savannah Harbor by 30 percent and that changes to the property would require congressional approval. <br> <br> While the development ``may affect the long-term dredging management strategy of the Savannah Harbor, the Corps is flexible when dealing with changes to its dredge management plan,&#39;&#39; Buckner concluded. ``The mission of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is support of the nation&#39;s commerce and the long-term management strategy must change in order to support commerce.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> A steamship terminal would create jobs representing ``almost 40 percent of the gross value of the Jasper tax base,&#39;&#39; which now relies heavily on tourism and service jobs, the judge noted. <br> <br> Some state lawmakers have suggested the site be used by the South Carolina State Ports Authority for a container terminal. The agency has run into heated opposition to plans to develop a new terminal on Daniel Island. <br> <br> The order was filed even as a legislative committee in Columbia approved a bill requiring the authority to build on the west bank of the Cooper River instead of Daniel Island. <br> <br> Buckner heard arguments on the condemnation challenge during a three-day trial last year. <br> <br> Jasper County has offered the Georgia Department of Transportation $8 million for the land and any appeal by Georgia would go straight to the South Carolina Supreme Court, county attorney Tom Johnson said. <br> <br> Rep. Thayer Rivers, D-Ridgeland and a real estate lawyer, said a Jasper County port will create higher paying jobs for residents who now drive hours to coastal resort communities like Hilton Head to work. <br> <br> And, he said, a Jasper port has advantages over a state port expansion in Charleston. <br> <br> ``It&#39;s not a state-owned facility,&#39;&#39; he said. ``They are going to pay taxes.&#39;&#39;