The Beaufort City Council should put the brakes on a proposed annexation of 5,000 acres of land next to the Broad and Whale Branch rivers. If it doesn't, it will destroy the intent of the county's exemplary comprehensive plan.

Owners of the property have a right to develop their land, but the rest of the county should understand the ramifications of the development and what it would cost them in the long run.

City planners laid out a plan over the last two weeks that shows the city may benefit financially from the building of 16,000 homes and hundreds of acres of commercial development. But it has woefully underestimated the financial burden on the remainder of the county.

City officials say they have been working on this agreement since 2001. Unfortunately, it was being processed behind closed doors out of earshot of other government officials who must deal with the fallout and the public that must live with the effects.

Earl Campbell, the former chairman of the board of education, and Herbert Glaze, the county councilman who represents the area, were rightfully incensed that these discussions weren't made public. The community has argued over the location and size of a school for nearly five years, but the City Council remains mum on its discussions. Where is the logic? The community has raged at the board of education, and all the while the City Council could have shed light on the need for a larger school -- indeed, schools.

Didn't the City Council learn anything from the Del Webb agreements and the wanton appetite for annexation in Bluffton? Person after person stood Tuesday night and pointed out the that in southern Beaufort County infrastructure costs for roads, schools and parks exceed $335 million and may increase to $500,000 million -- a half-billion dollars -- because of development that has more stringent agreements than those proposed for the 5,000 acres.

The city is about to grant Clarendon Plantation a 50-year development agreement and the McLeod property a 20-year agreement that would exempt them from future impact or development fees. In the meantime, the need for roads and schools will grow. School alone will require at least three times the 62 acres to be set aside for the projected 4,700 students who will arrive.

Beaufort is about to allow a development that will grow in 30 years to a population double the size of Beaufort in 2004, and it took the city nearly 300 years to reach this point. George Johnston of Dataw Island made a compelling point Tuesday: Are we to believe that all the costs we will incur is because of police and fire protection for the area? Do you understand the support system that goes into building" a community of this size?

The city is forgetting or blatantly ignoring the northern Beaufort County plan that the county and municipalities agreed to pursue. The southern Beaufort County plan is nearly complete, and the northern Beaufort County plan is about to start. Why not wait until the plan is complete?

While the city may be the only government entity to adopt an AICUZ (Air Installation Compatible Use) Zone ordinance, spreading at least 30,000 people or more across 5,000 acres near the Marine Corps Air Station over 30 years runs counter to efforts by the county and the Department of the Navy to buy land to prevent encroachment.

No one at Tuesday's public hearing asked that the city abandon the annexation. A majority of those who spoke asked for a 90-day reprieve in order to assess the real cost to all county taxpayers from these agreements. The projects should be returned to the Beaufort/Port Royal Joint Planning Commission for a at least thorough analysis. In the long term it should await the northern Beaufort County regional plan. The time has long past when municipalities and county government should operate in a vacuum.

Put the brakes on the annexation. Tell the taxpayers what they are buying.