James Island, South Carolina
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
James Island is a town in Charleston County, South Carolina. It is located in the central and southern parts of James Island. As defined by the U.S. Census Bureau, the town's population is included within the Charleston-North Charleston Urbanized Area and the larger Charleston-North Charleston Metropolitan Statistical Area.
[edit] History
Long settled as a semi-rural area, the town has been affected by increasing urbanization and the expansion of the city of Charleston. Town residents created the corporation of the Town of James Island on January 8, 1993 and sought recognition by the South Carolina state legislature. The normal course of events was interrupted by a lawsuit brought by Charleston as the city sought the right to freely annex additional areas for expansion. A second attempt at recognition in 2002 also failed.
South Carolina changed the state laws affecting incorporation, effective on July 1, 2005. A third attempt to become a town was successful in June 2006, when about 3,000 voted to incorporate. The day after the vote, Charleston mayor Joseph P. Riley, Jr. filed a lawsuit against the town for the third time saying that it was unconstitutional. Currently, the town's existence is in contention in court, but the town administration is continuing its operations until a court ruling dictates otherwise. Mary Clark was elected mayor in July, 2006.
