Charleston Southern must sell river property, judge rules

By DAVE MUNDAY
The Post and Courier

ST. GEORGE - A judge has ruled Charleston Southern University must honor a contract to sell a riverfront parcel that's part of a wide-reaching conservation deal.

The university signed an agreement to sell to the Lowcountry Open Land Trust 68 acres at Bacons Bridge near Summerville for $325,000. The Land Trust plans to let Dorchester County use the land for a park.

The park was also part of the deal to downsize the Poplar Grove development from 3,500 to 450 houses.

The school's board of trustees canceled the contract after a deadline was missed.

The Land Trust filed suit. At least 28 other people also owned part of the property. Both the school and the Land Trust cited difficulties in getting all the owners to transfer their interests in the property. The contract said both parties would make a good-faith effort to complete the title work.

Master-in-Equity Patrick Watts ruled that missing the deadline to finish complicated title work should have been expected and was not a valid reason for terminating the contract.

"A closing by the expiration of the title examination period was not a material element of the contract," Watts wrote in an order issued Tuesday.

Watts ordered the school to rescind its termination of the contract and for both parties to sign an agreement to extend it. He rejected the school's argument that missing the deadline showed that the Land Trust had lost interest in the sale.

A representative of the Land Trust hailed the ruling.

"This tract is a small component of a much larger effort to conserve the natural beauty of the Ashley River Historic District, which is important to the residents of Dorchester County and all the Lowcountry," Executive Director Will Haynie said. "Our board will act in accordance with the court's order and proceed to successfully close this transaction."

The university was still weighing its response Thursday.

"We are reviewing the matter with our legal counsel and our Board of Trustees to determine how we wish to proceed," university spokeswoman Deneshia Graham said.

Reach Dave Munday at 745-5862 or dmunday@postandcourier.com.