The election for Dorchester County Council District 7 may still be too close to call, but the strong finish by challenger Jamie Feltner shows just how powerful the sentiment has become for growth management in the Summerville area. Other local elected officials should take heed.

Mr. Feltner has a five-vote lead over Council Chairman Skip Elliott, according to the unofficial tally of Tuesday's Republican primary runoff. Although Mr. Feltner is a political newcomer, his criticism of council's failure to control growth resonated strongly with voters in the district, which includes some of Summerville's suburbs and a portion of the historic Ashley River Road area.

Mr. Elliott also based his campaign largely on his record on growth management, but his detractors challenged the credibility of his claims. Council's failure to approve a zoning plan to limit development along the Ashley River Road clearly didn't escape the voters' notice.

Council gave second reading to an ordinance to manage growth in the historic district that includes Watson Hill early last year, but stopped short of final action. Meanwhile, the Watson Hill tract has become the subject of a legal dispute involving Summerville and North Charleston, which has attempted to annex it to accommodate development.

County Council also has endorsed a major sewer expansion, though insisting that excess capacity will primarily be used elsewhere in rural Dorchester.

Mr. Feltner criticized the county's failure to restrain rampant growth, which stresses local schools, clogs roads and diminishes the quality of life. Hearings on the Watson Hill proposal and growth forums in Summerville have mostly shown a similar public consensus.

The rapidity of change is reflected in the astonishing growth rate in Summerville, which grew 35 percent from 2000 to 2005, according to recent Census information. Dorchester County's growth rate is the highest of any county in the state.

The boom also is evident in the increasing number of commuters in traffic, particularly along I-26 in the morning and afternoon rush hours. Meanwhile, the sale of farm land and timber tracts for subdivisions threatens more of the same.

Regardless of the outcome, the fact that Mr. Feltner, a comparative novice, is so close to taking a seat on County Council, should tell the membership that residents want to see less equivocating on growth management, and more action.