The Spaceport Camden saga took another turn Tuesday as Camden Co. residents voted decisively against allowing the county commission to purchase land to build the spaceport.
4,168 voters were opposed to the land purchase and 1,611 in favor, per Tuesday’s special election, which came after Superior Court Judge Stephen Scarlett issued an order that said the county could not purchase the land unless it was approved by voters. Meanwhile, as the vote was taking place, Camden officials filed an appeal to the Court of Appeals of Georgia, and requested that the results of the vote not be certified until said appeal is heard.
County officials have spent nearly $10 million over the past seven years trying to get the spaceport off the ground, but have run into opposition from environmental groups that has ratcheted up in recent months. The Federal Aviation Administration approved a site operator’s license for the county in December, but the license is conditioned on the county purchasing the Union Carbide property. That purchase was rejected – or at least put on pause – on Tuesday.
As if that drama wasn’t enough, late last week the Camden County Commission appointed members to the Spaceport Camden Authority, in a move that critics claim could be an attempt to circumvent Tuesday’s vote. The authority was created by the general assembly in 2019, but this is the first time members have actually been appointed and the group has met. Members include County Commission Chairman Gary Blount, Commissioner Chuck Clark; former NASA official David Rainer, Jr.; businessman C.B. Yadav; and U.S. Airforce Major General (Retired) Robert S. Dickman.
According to The Current, “The option contract the county signed with Union Carbide allows the county to transfer the option with the consent of Union Carbide.” That means it could be possible for the newly-formed authority to purchase the Union Carbide property regardless of the results of the special election. Such a move would undoubtedly lead to more lawsuits, and the notion drew the ire of state Rep. Steven Sainz, R-St. Marys, whose district covers much of Camden Co. Sainz, who co-authored the legislation that enabled Spaceport Camden and has been one of its primary supporters since taking office in 2019, said in a Facebook video that he “will not stand aside and see that this piece of legislation created a few years ago be utilized in a way that allows the county to ignore the votes of my constituents, my voters and theirs as well.”
