OVERVIEW.
Smart Growth 41 is a volunteer community action group based in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. The goal of the group is to urge lawmakers on a town, county, state, and federal level to reconsider a proposed highway project that threatens the ecosystem of Laurel Hill County Park. This 800-acre property was donated for preservation and is in a 100-year trust to prevent development.
Residents of the area vehemently oppose this plan, which was not voted on by the public. The question was, how could their voices be heard? It's a literal grass roots situation. The public was panicked. Why is the local government not listening to them? What exactly is happening? With all the confusion, fear, and anger running amok, I was asked to build an factual information website to educate the public. Along with that, I designed a brand for the group that communicates the goal for smart decisions to be made by the government.
The website was stood up with an online form system that allows citizens to voice their opinion and route those letters to a multitude of Town Council, County Council, State Senate members, The Army Corps of Engineers, and the SC Department of Public Health. To date, over 10,000 entries have been collected over 3 years. The website is regularly updated with new information, where the appeals processes stand, and calls to action for new submissions that perform new tasks. This has been a very effective project and it's been exciting to see it all come together.
A drone video of the swath of protected park that is proposed to be bulldozed:
