Members of a task force charged with steering the future of the U.S. Highway 17 corridor through northern Mount Pleasant made their initial recommendations Tuesday night.

Though it will not vote on the recommendations until early June, the Highway 17 Corridor Task Force agreed to create consistent low-density urban and commercial zoning for both incorporated and unincorporated areas; push for protections for sweetgrass basket stands, and to submit two controversial ideas for extensions to Hungryneck Boulevard.

The task force was created by the town of Mount Pleasant, Charleston County and the Coastal Community Foundation as a way for residents living in an area roughly between the Isle of Palms Connector, Porcher's Bluff Road, U.S. 17 and Rifle Range Road to address traffic, neighborhood infrastructure, future growth and create consistent zoning between incorporated and unincorporated areas. The recommendations will be submitted to planning commissions and councils of Charleston County and Mount Pleasant and will eventually serve as legal guidelines for growth and improvements for the area.

While many points brought general agreement, a proposal to build a major traffic corridor on the western side of U.S. 17 brought out several members of the public who were not considered a part of the task force's initial focus.

Among those concerned about a major road through the strawberry fields of the 700-acre Boone Hall Plantation were residents of the Rice Fields neighborhood and Boone Hall's owner, Willie McRae.

"It makes no sense in terms of traffic flow," McRae said. "You have to go north, east, west and south just to go north. And what would the road do to a history property like Boone Hall? We're one of America's oldest continually working plantations."

McRae added that with rampant growth in and around Mount Pleasant, Boone Hall represented one of the largest remaining pieces of contiguous green space. "I don't think I should be penalized for being a good steward of my land," he said.

But residents of the historically black communities of Six Mile, Seven Mile and Hamlin have expressed a strong interest in keeping their generations-old neighborhoods intact. This would include maintaining a zoning of no more than three houses per acre and limiting commercial development. Many in the area fear that any new road would usher in new development, and increase the tax burden on low-income residents.

Six Mile resident and task force member George Freeman said that the alternate road plan was the product of many members of his community.

"This road is being pushed by the town of Mount Pleasant," Freeman said. "But the area we're talking about is not in Mount Pleasant. This is a historic African community that is made up of the descendants of those Africans who were oppressed during slavery. Some are actually descended from people who worked on Boone Hall Plantation. Africans were given the opportunity to re-create the village concept of their homeland in America after they were given their freedom. The people who live in our community don't look at it as an investment. They appreciate what they have and they want it to stay that way."

The proposals
A few conceptual ideas in the Highway 17 Task Force's Survey of Neighborhood Preferences:

Traffic Option A
Build new road on west side of U.S. Highway 17 through Boone Hall Farms - either build an overpass or intersection connecting the Boone Hall connector to Hungryneck via Old Georgetown and Long Point Roads.

Build a new road parallel to Hamlin Road near Old Georgetown Road and U.S. 17 running to Hamlin Beach.

Traffic Option B
Extend current alignment of Hungryneck Boulevard Phase 3 across Hamlin Road to Porcher's Bluff Road.

Zoning
Low-density zoning in both town and county areas of three units per acre.
Create provisions for lower cost 'workforce' housing.
Low intensity commercial on U.S. 17 north of Old Georgetown Road. Include buffers to protect sweetgrass basket stands.
Any high-intensity retail to include protections and buffers for basket stands.

Neighborhoods
Any new road should be shaded and include street lighting and sidewalks for runners, walkers and bicyclists.
Redefine affordable workforce housing.
Mount Pleasant to consider providing regular septic field maintenance program.
Improve storm water drainage for mosquito control and flooding, possibly creating master retention pond within town's Hamlin Park.

Reach Chris Dixon at cdixon@postandcourier.com or (843) 745-5855.