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Volume 2 Issue 19 |
January 26 , 2007 |
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Sullivan’s Island has lost a valuable friend. Mayme Aiken Warlick Macmurphy passed away January 16 after an extended illness. A long time Sullivan’s Island resident and a good neighbor, “Miss Make” was honored January 20 at a memorial service at the Church of the Holy Cross where Islanders old and new poured in to be comforted by the words of The Very Reverend John B. Burwell. True to her character, Make had orchestrated the event in a three page handwritten document in her own inimitable script. She had insisted that no eulogies be made. And while the crowded event allowed those gathered to mourn, we came away feeling some joy, too, that she was off tending God’s flowers and maybe even giving Saint Peter preservation tips. |
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Chinaberry Trees
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| Do you have a Chinaberry tree in your yard? Chinaberry is widely distributed in South Carolina and has an interesting history and many different usages. Chinaberry was introduced to the United States in the 1800s as an ornamental. South Carolina was one of the first places where it was brought. Since Chinaberry grows in hot climates, now it’s widely spread throughout the southern states. Chinaberry is considered an invasive species in some places because it spreads so quickly and crowds out other native trees and plants. You just have to be careful with every part of the tree because research show it is poisonous. Especially do not eat the berries. Chinaberry is a deciduous tree in the mahogany family that has purplish flowers and yellow berries, called drupes. It is a fast-growing tree and grows to a height of 50 feet and diameter of 2 feet. Its binomial name is Melia azedarach, and it’s also called the bead tree, soap tree, Indian lilac, lelah, paraiso, pride of India , white cedar, China tree and Persian lilac Meliaceae. The drupes persist throughout the winter, giving the tree a pretty silhouette against a dark winter sky. Chinaberry is native to Asia . In China it was considered to defeat evil spirits. On the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese calendar, people wrap rice dumplings with its leaves and throw them into a river. The origin comes from consoling the spirit of Qu Yuan, a Chinese poet and politician, who drowned himself in a river. In Japan , criminals’ heads were hung on Chinaberry trees for public display. In India , Chinaberry drupes are used to make beads. Garlands of chinaberry beads can be found hanging over doorways where it is believed to prevent infectious disease. The hard, spherical seeds were widely used for making rosaries and other necklaces requiring beads, before their replacement by modern plastics. If you have chinaberry trees, you might want to try your hand at making beads. Boil the berries (since they're toxic, use a pan that you don't use to cook with) to soften and remove the fleshy covering. Drain. When they're dry, they'll turn a bone-white. You can dye them with food coloring or fabric dye--a quarter teaspoon in a half cup of hot water. The hardest part is drilling the center hole without cracking the seed. Try a Dremel drill with a 1-2 mm bit (be careful!), and position the berry in a small vise to hold it. String on waxed linen thread or filament. Medical Usage Ornamental & other uses |
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Saving the soul of Isle of Palms |
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| Although citizens were not allowed to comment during the special committee meeting held on January 18 at the Isle of Palms City Hall, their voices were definitely heard. Among the thirty or so residents who showed up to hear the decision on a new Livability Court for the island and to listen to the recommendations for rules on short term rentals, just about every one of them wore their opinion on their sleeve; or shirt, or hat. Thanks to the creative thinking and quick action of Catherine Malloy, a long time Isle of Palms resident, every citizen at the meeting wore a 5 x 7 bright yellow sign on their person, with declarations such as “Preserve our Island”, “Save IOP” and “Save our Neighborhoods” written boldly across them. “A friend of mine came up with the idea, but she said she was only an idea person. So I took the idea and ran with it,” said Catherine, eliciting smiles from the crowd of badge-wearing citizens around her. “We’re also working on putting signs in peoples’ yards. We’re raising money to get 500 signs to start and we’ll go from there.” The signs will be the same as the badges from the meeting and residents can make donations to fund the signs or to request a sign in their yard by contacting Catherine at clmalloy@comcast.net. The first motion was to approve the Livability Court, which was passed unanimously. What followed was a reading of the suggested outlines for the terms of short term rentals, narrowed down over the past year and half to an almost-final list, the first draft and potential first passing of which will be done at a special council meeting on February 22. A petition signed by over 800 residents trying to preserve the character of the island was brought up at the meeting, but Mayor Sottile stressed that the petition would not be acknowledged until the January 23 meeting and would not be addressed until the February 22 meeting. Each point of the short term rental suggested laws was a point of contention. The first, that the laws are to apply to all property types on the island, was passed with little grumbling, but when the definition for a short term rental as three months or less was brought up, Jane McMackin raised her hand and didn’t stop speaking until the attending residents were practically standing in applause. “The issue of applying laws to short term rentals isn’t just about the trash they create and the noise they make,” said Jane, “ The problem goes much deeper. Having short term rentals for a week or less is a business and they are set up in residential areas. This is not in accordance with current zoning laws. Small homes are being removed, 37 were torn down in the past year, and large ‘mini-hotels’ are being built. These buildings are being rented on a nightly business. This is a commercial activity and is not in our zoning laws. Single family means single family, not a new family every night.” With this, she passed out a list of her recommended changes and described them briefly to the audience. “There should be a different license for short term and long term rentals. The short term rentals should be thirty days or less and the minimum rental time should be one week in residential areas. We should re-evaluate the zoning ordinance because it currently does not allow commercial uses. We are violating our own zoning ordinances with stays of less than one week in residential areas. All short term rentals must be treated as a business with limits on number of licenses given for the island. Tourism is great but we need a balance so residents can feel at home. This problem is bigger than the planning council, bigger than this Council and we need to find a way to resolve it.” Mr. Ryan Buckhannon concurred with a surprisingly strong speech from the normally soft-spoken councilman. “The zoning areas of are island are pretty clear. SR means single residence, residential. GC means general commercial. We need to differentiate between the two and we need to fine tune our processes. Let’s put a percentage growth limit in each district. Let the people control the development, not the other way around.” The other suggested changes were many but fairly minor, including changing the fact that children under age eight don’t count in the occupancy limit to children under the age of two. Citizens’ comments were heard at the January 23 meeting and the next discussion of the short term rental laws, with a reading of the first draft, will be held on February 22 at 6:00 pm. |
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