The would-be Watson Hill developers intend to file revised plans with Dorchester County today, but exactly what will change is anybody's guess.

Richard Lam, who represents S.C. Property Holdings, offered no clues last week.

"We intend to meet the deadline, but we're still working out the details," he said. "We're having discussions with everybody. It's a moving target."

Today is the Dorchester County Planning Department's deadline to file plans to be discussed at the June 16 planning commission meeting. The commission hears plans and makes recommendations to County Council, which has the final say.

The developers' original plans call for up to 4,500 houses, condominiums and hotel rooms around a golf course on S.C. Highway 61 near Middleton Place plantation. The potential impact on the historic plantation district sparked an uproar, but whether the revisions do anything to quiet critics remains to be seen.

MOVING AHEAD

A lot has been going on behind the scenes.

Conservationists and rural property owners near Watson Hill have been talking with Lam, outlining ways he could build fewer houses without losing his $34 million investment on the 6,600-acre tract.

Owners of several big tracts near Watson Hill, such as Middleton Place and Uxbridge Plantation, have put easements on their property limiting development to one house for every 10 acres.

Dorchester County is drafting regulations that would limit development on 30,000 acres that include Watson Hill to one house for every eight acres. That would allow about 800 houses at Watson Hill.

Lam is covering all bases as the battle for control of Watson Hill continues: He's revising plans for Dorchester County; he's trying to get Watson Hill annexed into North Charleston; and he's talking to local conservation groups about the possibility of selling easements, as Poplar Hill developer Vic Mills did recently.

"It's very fluid with Summerville's actions and North Charleston's actions and (Charleston) Mayor Joe Riley's well-educated annexation knowledge," Lam said. "I think this is a chess game. I don't think everybody's true motives are out there. We're trying to work with the prevailing jurisdiction. We're moving ahead on all fronts."

Dorchester County Council approved Poplar Grove for 3,500 units last year. Then local conservation groups raised $10 million to buy easements to limit development to 450 houses.

Lam said he's willing to work out easements, too, but he doesn't see any serious movement in that direction.

"Now everyone wants the county to work for the conservation groups (limiting development without buying any easements), instead of respecting property rights," Lam said.

Lowcountry Open Land Trust President Will Haynie said Lam talked with him about conservation easements. The idea is great, but getting more money after Poplar Grove is the problem.

"It's probably not a probability, but you never know," Haynie said.

LEGAL BATTLES

Lam's comments last week were his first to the news media since April, when a lawsuit was filed over a parcel in Mateeba Gardens that both Summerville and North Charleston want to annex.

The owners, Bo and Mickey Barry, tried to cancel a contract to sell the tract after they learned the sale would allow North Charleston access to Watson Hill, because the parcel runs between Watson Hill and the King's Grant golf course in North Charleston. Riverbroze, a company managed by Lam, sued them.

On Tuesday, North Charleston is scheduled to finalize its annexation of an area that includes Watson Hill, two strips of land that would connect Watson Hill with S.C. 165 to the west, and the Barry tract in Mateeba Gardens.

Summerville earlier this month annexed a barricade between Watson Hill and North Charleston that includes the Barry tract. North Charleston Mayor Keith Summey vowed to fight Summerville's action in court. Summey said he would urge his council to approve 4,050 units at Watson Hill, a slightly lower number than the original plans presented to Dorchester County.

Those plans cut the number of houses in the last phase but not in the earlier phases, Lam said.

Watson Hill's plans on file with the county call for 700 units in phase one, with traffic flowing in and out via Highway 61. Another 500 units would be built in the second phase, after a road is built to S.C. 165. Up to 3,500 units would be added in the final phase, but only if the Glenn McConnell Parkway were extended past Watson Hill from Bees Ferry Road to the south.

Summerville plans to finalize the annexation of two more parcels along Highway 61 on Friday to strengthen the blockade between Watson Hill and North Charleston.

Charleston recently annexed a strip of properties along Highway 61 to bolster the buffer. Charleston's legal department has been helping Summerville.

Some residents near Watson Hill have reported heavy equipment on the highway recently, and they feared that indicated a premature start on work at Watson Hill. But Lam said the only work at Watson Hill has been surveying.

The trucks are probably from the Middleton Plantation tract next to Watson Hill. Trucks have been hauling out dirt from several lakes being built along a series of hiking and hunting trails on the Middleton property.