The South Carolina Supreme Court decided Wednesday that the City of North Augusta did violate Freedom of Information laws while deliberating the Project Jackson proposal, but that the project can move forward because there were no laws broken in setting up the financing of the project.
The case of Steve Donohue v. The City of North Augusta, Mayor Lark Jones and the North Augusta City Council went before the state's highest court on May 5. Donohue sought to prove violations by the city in proving blight in a Tax Increment Financing, or TIF, district, and violations of the Freedom of Information Act.
The court ruled Wednesday that the City broke FOIA law, stating that Council voted to go into a closed, executive session to discuss contractual issues without addressing the specific purpose of the session.
The S.C. Supreme Court ruling indicates that Donohue may be entitled to have a portion of his court fees paid by the City. The ruling includes language for the circuit court that first heard the case to go back and make that decision.
Todd Glover, city administrator, said the City respects the court's decision, but that he believes the state legislature is going to have to weigh in on what is "specific" enough to meet the standard of the law.
"I know we are not the only jurisdiction that goes into executive session in that manner," he said. "Since the date of our hearing before the Supreme Court, we have made an attempt to be more specific for the reason for executive session."
On the issue of financing, the project was born from a blight study first completed in 1991, and amended in 1996. For a TIF to be used, a blight study must be conducted every 10 years.
Donohue's lawyer, James Mosteller, argued that the amendment in 1996 did not offer any new findings of blight and that since that time, property values have increased in the area. But the court ruled that new findings of blight are not necessary when a redevelopment ordinance is amended to increase the amount of bonds and to extend the time to repay them.
Still, Donohue is dissatisfied with the speed of the ruling.
"The court gave a short explanation. They didn't go into any detail and they should have," he Donohue said. "A statute that complex deserves more than an 8-page, 'that looks OK to us,' ruling."
Project Jackson is a proposed 25-acre development consisting of a hotel, stores and a baseball stadium for the Augusta GreenJackets that would be located between The River Club and Hammond's Ferry neighborhoods.
Donohue, a resident of The River Club, sued the City in December 2013 to stop the development. After the first court hearing, Judge J. Ernest Kinard, ruled Aug. 20 in favor of the City, siding with the City on all points. Kinard's ruling stated that the City did not need to prove blight of the TIF area, as the TIF was adopted in 2006 and the blight only needs to be proven every 10 years.
Donohue formally filed a first appeal motion on Sept. 2, which was denied by Kinard 17 days later.
In October 2014, the City filed a motion asking the Supreme Court to take jurisdiction of the case, skipping the Court of Appeals. This request came after Donohue filed a motion for a second appeal on Oct. 18.
Donohue said his legal team is deciding if they will file an appeal, but that a decision yet been reached.
North Augusta Mayor Lark Jones added, "We are pleased that the Supreme Court of South Carolina found the city acted properly in all of its actions regarding the TIF and look forward to the project moving forward."
Derrek Asberry is the SRS beat reporter for the Aiken Standard and has been with the paper since June 2013. He is originally from Vidalia, Ga., and a graduate of Georgia Southern University. Follow him on Twitter @DerrekAsberry.
