Everyone agrees there was something improper about the natural resources element of Georgetown County’s comprehensive plan.

“The extent of strikes and inserts in the revised draft creates something that is no longer the Planning Commission’s original recommendation,” Monica Whalen, staff attorney for the S.C. Environmental Law Project, said

That list of goals and objectives for protecting the county’s natural resources was adopted unanimously by  the commission in 2022. It was amended by staff and County Council members after a retreat in January 2023, removing items that they thought were outside the county’s purview, such as improving shellfish beds, or would create additional expense, such as managing conserved land.