CHARLESTON COUNTY, S.C. (WCIV) — Residents in McClellanville are once again pushing back against a mining operation they believed had been stopped years ago, after a small-scale mining exemption approved in January reopened the fight and raised questions about public notice and due process.
The Charleston County Board of Zoning Appeals rejected the original exemption request to mine four acres in 2023. But the issue returned after a two-acre mining exemption was approved earlier this year, prompting residents and environmental groups to challenge how the approval moved forward and whether the public had adequate notice.
At Monday night’s appeal hearing, that lasted nearly two-and-a-half hours, testimony focused on whether county staff wrongly dismissed an appeal from residents and environmental groups because mining had already been underway for more than 30 days by the time the groups learned of the ongoing work. The Board of Zoning Appeals ultimately reversed that decision, allowing the appeal to move forward…