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|Is the Sunshine drawing rave reviews? Not from Charleston residents.
This isn't about the heat; this Sunshine is the third in line of ever-larger Carnival ships to be home-ported here. For one citizen "sucked into the traffic undertow" on the East Side, the 3,000-passenger Sunshine represents a chilling reminder of the negative, largely unregulated repercussions of the SC State Ports Authority's (SPA) cruise terminal operations in Charleston.
For years, the SPA has run roughshod over residents' concerns about cruise ship pollution, noise, traffic, congestion, and illegal dumping and environmental impacts. Bringing in a newer, bigger ship that instantly increases traffic, tourists, and congestion makes everything worse—and there's no end in sight. These ships will get bigger.
Watch the Supreme Court argument
Can neighboring residents rein in the SPA and reduce the harmful effects of the cruise terminal? The South Carolina Supreme Court will hear oral argument on this decisive case at 10 a.m., June 11thin Columbia. If you care about your rights, you need to be there. The significance of this decision goes well beyond the cruise terminal issue.
For eight years the SPA has relentlessly pursued the construction of a new cruise terminal declaring that the existing terminal is inadequate and doesn't meet Homeland Security requirements. But to build on the harbor, it needs both federal and state permits.
The SPA applied for and received its federal permit. But six years ago, after opponents filed suit to oppose it, United States District Court Judge Richard Gergel tossed the SPA's federal permit to build a $35 million terminal at Union Pier and blasted the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for failing to adequately review the project's effects as mandated by Congress. "I think you did an end run," he told the Army Corps lawyers. "You gave this permit the bum's rush.
"You haven't done what the law requires you to do by reducing a 108,000 square-foot project to 41-square feet of pilings," he said. The federal judge also referenced evidence contained in a 1,200-page filing that the new terminal is being designed for larger ships than now call here, and that the new terminal could more than triple the number of cruise passengers visiting the city.
The Army Corps is expected to render its revised decision later this year.
South Carolina has a parallel permitting role. The SPA got a state permit for a new cruise terminal from DHEC, the SC Department of Health and Environmental Control. Once again, that permit was challenged– this time the result was different.
Administrative Law Judge Ralph King Anderson III ruled that thecitizens' group plaintiffs which included environmental, historic preservation, and neighborhood groups, "lacked standing" and couldn't challenge DHEC's approval of the permits. The groups appealed, but the SC Court of Appeals sided with Judge Anderson, forcing them to make a final appeal to the SC Supreme Court.
Blan Holman, managing attorney in the Southern Environmental Law Center's Charleston office who represents some of the citizens' groups said, "On June 11th, the Supreme Court will hold oral argument on whether neighbors have any standing to challenge the lawfulness of permits issued for a new cruise terminal that would be located right next door to them. Lower courts held that neighbors do not have standing because the injuries are felt by too many people.
"We contend that injury to more than one person does not render a permit unchallengeable. If anything it should require stricter review. The hearing is open to the public so that those interested can see the wheels of justice in motion. The court won't rule at the hearing, but will issue an order some number of months down the road."
Many observers suggest that there are broader citizens' rights issues involved.
Attorney Holman agrees, "The issue before the Supreme Court goes to the right of families and property holders across South Carolina to contest unlawful pollution permits. If a person who physically experiences soot pollution first-hand at her home has no standing, then it is hard to imagine who would ever have standing. That should be a concern statewide since it would limit citizens' rights to contest permits for toxic waste facilities, sewage plants, nuclear sites — you name it."
The cruise industry powerhouse
In May, 2015, SPA CEO James Newsome told city council that the "one sector that has not grown at all is the cruise sector" citing similar passenger counts of 186,000 for both 2011 and 2015. "It's not a growth industry, we've said that from the start." He added, "The market for cruise ships in this port is not that big, it will never be that big." Later in that speech, Newsome said that, "In 2010 … we had 67 cruise ships." What he didn't say was that Charleston would host 93 ships that year—an increase of almost 30-percent.
Perhaps CEO Newsome didn't realize that worldwide cruise industry growth was exploding. In 1990, four million cruisers set sail, but last year 27.2 million cruised the oceans, and 35-percent of them sail into the Caribbean. Here in Charleston, we reached the SPA's "voluntary limit" of 104 ships annually for the third year in a row.
Cruise passenger growth distresses most downtown residents. Although the SPA voluntarily agreed to a limit of 104 ships annually with a maximum of 3,500 passengers per ship, those limits aren't binding. A much-heralded city ordinance during Mayor Riley's reign did not codify those limits as many had thought; it merely obligates the SPA notify the city a year in advance if it wants to exceed those "limits."
As they wait for their permits, the SPA has lived up to its "voluntary limits." But because these limits are not binding, you have to wonder what will happen if the SPA gets the permits necessary to build a new terminal.
Since 2011, citizens opposing the Union Pier site have proposed an elementary solution: Locate the new cruise terminal away from historic downtown. Potential sites include the underused 110-acre Veterans Terminal at the old Navy base near highways and able to handle cruise traffic without creating congestion.
But the SPA has repulsed every suggestion to mitigate the negative impacts on Charleston, including moving it, adding shore power, adding a passenger fee to aid the city, developing off-site parking to reduce cruise traffic congestion, and returning some of the world's most valuable waterfront parking lot to the city for taxable housing and development.
Carnival is no prize either. Since 2017, Carnival ships have been on probation by the federal government after the company admitted to "record falsification and numerous instances of prohibited discharge," including multiple violations in Charleston waters.
The SPA can't be left unleashed. Residents must have legal rights to protect their health and property, and any cruise terminal permit must include key restrictions to protect our city. This Supreme Court hearing could not be more important.
# # #
CHS | A blog commentary about Charleston. Please share with friends. Comments are always welcome – please click on the reply button. Comments, if published, will be posted anonymously.
This column appears as "The Advocate" on page 2 of The Charleston Mercury.
By Jay Williams, Jr.
As Venice, Italy plans a multi-billion dollar mainland cruise terminal in response to cruise ship damage to the historic island city, the South Carolina State Ports Authority (SPA) is fixated on opening a new cruise terminal as close as possible to Charleston's Historic District.
As Venetian officials voted to divert large cruise ships weighing over 96,000 tons away from St. Mark's Square, the Grand Canal and the Ducal Palace, Carnival Cruise Lines announced that the 103,000 ton Carnival Sunshine will be home-ported near the end of Market Street.
As "Venice has faced an onslaught of tourism that has challenged the city's character, clogged its narrow waterways and chased its local population away," reports The New York Times, "There emerged no clearer symbol for the invasion of tourists than the cruise ships drifting, lunar-like, through the lagoon. They eclipsed church towers, famous views and, occasionally, the sun."
Ironically, it's the Sunshine, the largest Carnival ship ever home-ported here, that will block our sun and views. She accommodates 3,002 passengers, 50 percent more than the Ecstasy she'll replace.
Charleston is sailing backwards, refusing to grasp the enormous damage the worldwide cruise industry has inflicted on historic port cities. We must confront the issue of a downtown cruise terminal head on.
Since 2011, citizens opposing the Union Pier site have proposed an elementary solution: Locate the new cruise terminal away from historic downtown. Potential sites include the Columbus Street Terminal, now mostly used as a parking lot and a shipping site for BMWs and the 110-acre Veterans Terminal at the old Navy base, not used for much of anything, yet near highways and able to handle cruise traffic without creating congestion.
Predictably, the SPA has repulsed every suggestion offered to mitigate the impacts of a cruise terminal downtown, including shore power and that includes moving it.
Now there's a new question: Is the SPA attempting to ensure that it can't be moved?
Last December, the SPA announced that it was selling 7.2 acres along with a 9,100 square foot building on Morrison Drive at the entrance to the Columbus Street Terminal. This on-street parcel, well away from downtown, would have provided an ideal entry for cruise terminal traffic.
Then last month, the SPA announced that it's been negotiating a land swap that would hand over the Veterans Terminal to the Coast Guard and Homeland Security. Yet "in 2016," reported the Post and Courier, "the SPA objected to a proposal to locate a new cruise ship facility at Veterans Terminal, saying that repairs would cost too much and that the terminal would play a key role in supporting a new cargo terminal being built at the nearby former Navy Base."
The explosive growth in cruise travel
In May, 2015, SPA CEO James Newsome told city council that the "one sector that has not grown at all is the cruise sector" citing similar passenger counts of 186,000 for both 2011 and 2015. "It's not a growth industry, we've said that from the start." He added, "The market for cruise ships in this port is not that big, it will never be that big."
Later in that speech, Newsome said that "In 2010 … we had 67 cruise ships." What he didn't say was that in 2015, Charleston would host 93 ships.
This year we've reached the SPA's voluntary annual limit of 104 ships, for the second year in a row. And starting next year, Carnival predicts that the Sunshine alone will carry 220,000 passengers annually — "roughly matching the total number of passengers all ships brought to Charleston last year." That's a significant jump, because an additional 28 non-Carnival ships will visit Charleston this year.
Worldwide, cruise passengers soared from 4 million in 1990 to 25 million today.
Cruise passenger growth troubles many downtown residents. Although the SPA voluntarily agreed to limits of 104 ships annually with a maximum of 3,500 passengers per ship, those limits aren't binding. A much-heralded city ordinance didn't codify those limits as many thought; it only obligated the SPA notify the city a year in advance if it wants to break through those limits.
So far, the SPA has lived up to its voluntary limits and claims that will continue. Yet the SPA is still awaiting permission to build a terminal downtown at Union Pier, with an existing 1800-foot pier that can dock the world's biggest ships.
If the SPA's terminal application survives a citizens' appeal in the S.C. Supreme Court and if its application is approved by the Army Corps of Engineers — in other words, if the SPA gets everything it wants — what will happen to those voluntary limits?
It's not just the added traffic, noise, pollution, the high potential for irreversible environmental damage to the Historic District and the ever-growing discharge of cruise passengers onto our small-scale city that so strongly argues against a downtown cruise terminal. It's economics and common sense.
That 63-acres on Union Pier may represent the most prized undeveloped waterfront property in the Southeast.
"It's quite valuable," one prominent commercial broker said, "it would depend on building heights and zoning allowed, of course, but harbor and waterfront property is very, very hard to come by. And private development is certainly a higher and better use than industrial or a cruise terminal."
Hard evidence supports that opinion — the SPA's 3.5-acre Concord Street waterfront headquarters sold for $38 million.
The lowest and worst use
The SPA plans to develop the southern 40 acres of the property. But using the remaining 23 prime acres for a cruise terminal, especially with nine acres of paved surface parking for cruise passengers, must be the lowest and worst use for this exceptional property.
"Acres of land for surface parking there is illogical," said Jason Crowley, director of Communities and Transportation for the Coastal Conservation League, "and it doesn't make any sense to sell any SPA property until we have a solution to the cruise terminal location that the city is involved in."
"We should be addressing our resilience issues and restoring the shoreline back to a spongy, natural state that can absorb the velocity of water as it comes in," Crowley said. Union Pier's "hard edge" and acres of pavement that allows the water to "run off and flood our streets," is inimical to resilience planning.
The SPA's Newsome, quoted about an entirely different parcel, said selling off that property "will allow us to focus on our business as well as benefit the economy by returning public property to the local tax base."
Union Pier is also "public property," and the SPA can no longer stonewall public involvement. And the terminal's "hard edge" with nine acres of paved parking is inexcusable and unacceptable.
Cruise ships represent just five percent of SPA revenues, the city receives no passenger revenue whatsoever and because Carnival passengers sail to become tourists in Nassau or Freeport, they don't spend much money here.
A cruise terminal at Union Pier would constitute a misuse of this exceptional property, yet a planned 63-acre downtown development would transform the city, adding millions in tax revenues.
Charleston can't afford this terminal plan. And if we don't stop it, Venice won't be the only city under water.
Jay Williams, Jr. arrived in Charleston in 2001 to escape the cold and relax in the warmth of a better culture and climate. This all worked well until May of 2011 when he attended a cruise terminal discussion at Physicians Hall.
Click to view article in full.
Citizens' groups act to defend our legal rights
Could anything impact Charleston's future more than the proposed new 100,000 sq. ft. cruise terminal at Union Pier?
Yes. There's the possibility that citizens' rights to protest any public controversy could be diminished in the legal process. There may be a trend in the South Carolina courts to do just that.
The appeal was scheduled to be heard on Election Day, but at the last minute, for the seventh time, the the SC Court of Appeals postponed oral arguments in an appeal arising from DHEC's issuance of permits to the State Ports Authority (SPA) for a new cruise terminal. The case is now likely to be heard early next year. That appeal involves the denial of legal standing of several groups that had challenged the issuance of those permits and the imposition of sanctions on those groups by Administrative Law Judge Ralph King Anderson III.
The judge ruled that all these citizens' groups, the Coastal Conservation League, The Preservation Society of Charleston, Historic Charleston Foundation, The Charlestowne Neighborhood Association, Historic Ansonborough Neighborhood Association, The Charleston Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation, and The Charleston Communities for Cruise Control had no right to challenge DHEC's approval of those permits. DHEC is the SC Department of Health & Environmental Control.
You're not to be blamed if you've lost track of the process, it's been a long slough.
Five pilings, five years of history
The SPA has relentlessly pursued the construction of a new cruise terminal for five years declaring that the existing terminal is inadequate and doesn't meet Homeland Security requirements. But to build anything on the harbor, it needs both state and federal permits.
Back then, the SPA applied for and received a federal permit hoping for quick approval. But three years ago, after opponents filed a suit to oppose it, United States District Court Judge Richard Gergel tossed the SPA's federal permit to build the proposed $35 million terminal at Union Pier and blasted the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for failing to adequately review the project's effects as mandated by Congress. "I think you did an end run," he told the Army Corps lawyers. "You gave this permit the bum's rush."
The Corps had determined that installing five clusters of pilings beneath the building would have little impact, but that didn't satisfy Judge Gergel. "You have an obligation to look at the entire project," Gergel told their attorneys. "You haven't done what the law requires you to do by reducing a 108,000 square-foot project to 41-square feet of pilings." The federal judge also referenced evidence contained in a 1,200-page filing that the new terminal is being designed for larger ships than now call here, and that the new terminal could more than triple the number of cruise passengers visiting the city.
Any potential surge of cruise passenger traffic strikes fear in the hearts of many downtown residents. Those fears are hardly placated by SPA CEO Jim Newsome's assertions that cruise ships are "maritime commerce," and that cruise passengers aren't tourists that can be regulated by the City.
The SPA has put "voluntary limits" on the size, number and frequency of visits for cruise ships. That limit is 104 ships a year with a 3,500-passenger maximum. But the SPA can unilaterally exceed these "voluntary limits" simply by issuing a notice to the City of Charleston one year in advance.
Following Judge Gergel's rebuke, the Army Corps has held citizen input sessions and conducted studies of the terminal area. Next week, it will bring the parties together to discuss the proposed Area of Potential Effect (APE), the geographic area that would be impacted by the new cruise terminal. As you might imagine, determining those APE boundaries has been a contentious process.
It will be critical SC Appeals Court decision
The State has a parallel role, and DHEC has issued the necessary permits for a new terminal. Those permits also were challenged in the Administrative Law Court, but Judge Anderson ruled that those groups did not have standing. That ruling brings us to that appeal at the SC Court of Appeals in Columbia.
"The Administrative Law Court said you don't have the right to bring this lawsuit," Southern Environmental Law Center attorney Blan Holman explained, "but the law says 'any affected person' can challenge bureaucratic action, and these people living next to a cruise terminal are injured," as shown in affidavits, by noise, soot, pollution, traffic, congestion, and other effects. The judge made other errors, at least according to the Appellants, including "refusing to expand discovery."
Holman, representing two of the groups appealing the ruling, added, "You can love or hate cruise ships, that doesn't mater. You should agree that these people who are affected have the right to challenge unlawful government action." He said, "The ruling applied the wrong legal test, ignored evidence, and shouldn't have even reached the conclusion it did as the federal courts already determined that we had standing."
Citizens' rights are on trial
This appeal is not merely about objecting to impacts from the cruise operations in Charleston, although that's what brought us here. The core issue is bigger–it's about citizen's rights. Attorney Holman argues that, "It's about families and property owners across the state having the right to challenge injurious government action.
"Some in South Carolina want to take those rights away," Holman submits, "and they are pursuing that agenda aggressively in the Legislature and the courts. We are fighting to defend and restore a right established with the founding of the nation and South Carolina — the right to petition against the government. Upholding that right doesn't mean we will necessarily win on the merits of the permit challenge itself. But it ensures the merits of that challenge see the light of day. Justice demands no less."
When the appeal is rescheduled, "It would be good for the people to see the Court in action. The arguments aren't long, and it's a pretty formalized process," Holman says. "Our side and the SPA will each have their say, interspersed by the judges' questions. It should only take about 45 minutes. But the Court's answer to the questions raised in this case will carry statewide importance in terms of citizens' rights."
Kristopher King, Executive Director of the Preservation Society, underscored the importance of the SC Appeals Court date, "We'll be pleased to finally have our day in court. We maintain that the community [organizations] has standing in this issue. The outcome could result in a significant negative impact to the historic district and its residents, and this is exactly what these processes are meant to prevent. We certainly hope they do in this case."
Dana Beach, Executive Director of the Coastal Conservation League, added this suggestion: "There is a growing consensus that the terminal is not appropriate or acceptable in this historic part of the city. On top of the explosion of hotel rooms downtown, the congestion and visual impacts are simply too great. Charleston's new mayor, John Tecklenberg, campaigned on reconsidering and revising the project. Now it's time for the SPA to do its part to sustain the economy and the quality of life of Charleston by revisiting this harmful proposal."
# # #
Jay Williams Jr.
The Advocate
By Jay Williams, Jr.
There's good reason for the cruise terminal controversy. Union Pier may be the worst place to put it.
There must be a balance between residents' quality of life and the cruise ship tourism that Jonathon B. Tourtellot, a National Geographic Fellow, once called "the strip mine of tourism."
On April 12, more than 125 citizens attended an Army Corps of Engineers public hearing as part of a process to decide if the South Carolina State Ports Authority (SPA) should be given a permit to build a new terminal at Union Pier. (See many comments on our letters to the editor section on pages 14 and 15.) Col. Matthew Luzzatto, commander of the Army Corps' Charleston office, stood as he listened to two hours of public comments. Most speakers highlighted the negative impacts from cruise ships and respectfully offered options to reduce them. Before making its decision to approve the permit, approve it with special conditions or deny it, the Corps will review all comments submitted by May 12, 2016.
The Corps previously approved a "maintenance" permit with no public comment, but citizens appealed. In 2013, U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel tossed that permit and chastised the Corps' review process saying, "The Army Corps of Engineers, unreasonably and unlawfully, restricted its 'scope of analysis' to an insignificant fraction of the project that lay within the agency's jurisdiction."
Real growth, real issues
The SPA submitted revealing information to the court. Quoting from the ruling, "The Ports Authority has acknowledged that a cruise ship terminal can 'present special challenges' in 'managing automobile and pedestrian traffic,' 'protecting the environment,' 'and preserving Charleston's unique character' and 'there are still lingering questions about how well the cruise ship business will fit into the context of this diverse, world class city.'" "Evidence provided by the Ports Authority supports the [opponents] claim … that the number of cruise ships and passengers has increased in recent years and the proposed new and larger passenger terminal would likely significantly increase the number and size of cruise ships visiting Charleston and the volume of cruise passengers in the historic Charleston waterfront."
From 2000 to 2013, the number of Charleston's cruise ship passengers increased by 547 percent. So with a new 100,000 sq.-ft. terminal featuring an 1800' pier, the home-ported 2,056-passenger Carnival Ecstasy could be replaced with a 3,450-passenger ship, creating new impacts even under current limits. In that 2013 ruling, the Court, citing SPA data, concluded that simply to service this increased volume of passengers on an average cruise day, "up to 20 tractor trailers, 16 small trucks, 32 busses, 90 taxis and 1600-passenger vehicles would need access to the very confined" terminal area that "lies immediately adjacent to the Charleston Historic District and the Ansonborough neighborhood."
What about even more ships, traffic and impacts? In January, Cruise Industry News Quarterly wrote, "While Carnival remains the port's number one customer, there is the potential for another home-ported line, as the city recently completed doubling the size of its airport." And the new Union Pier cruise terminal would be much larger, able to berth two ships simultaneously.
Last May at Charleston City Council, Jim Newsome, the SPA's CEO, asserted that Charleston's cruise business "is not a growth industry," noting that in 2010, "we had 67 cruise ships." He didn't say that Charleston would host 93 port calls in 2015. This year, Charleston will host 100 ships. That sure looks like growth.
That ordinance doesn't limit anything
We're now just a few ships short of the SPA's own voluntary limit of 104 ships per year. No worries, right, because of that much-heralded City Council ordinance passed to address to cruise concerns. But that ordinance didn't limit anything. It only requires the SPA to notify the city one year in advance when plans to exceed the voluntary limits of 104 cruise ship visits or the 3,500-passenger maximum. So if the promise isn't kept, there are no consequences.
On the night the ordinance passed, the SPA's public relations director, Byron Miller, sent an email confirming the ordinance's irrelevancy: "As you'll recall, this ordinance does not limit or impact in any way the cruise business in Charleston."
At last May's City Council meeting, SPA CEO Jim Newsome, mostly reaffirmed this earlier quotation: "In my view, cruising is a maritime commerce business, not a tourism business," he said. "It's more like an airport. Sure they may stay a night or two before or after the cruise, but for us it's about the maritime commerce." That night he said, "Most of the cruise passengers … board the Carnival Fantasy to become tourists, but in Nassau and Freeport."
Carnival cruisers are not coming to Charleston; they're going through Charleston. So much for those touted economic benefits.
This time, it's a different process
This time, the Corps must abide by the congressionally mandated Section 106 process to assess all environmental and historic impacts.
So it was confusing to hear Army Corps' project manager Nat I. Ball's opening at the hearing when he said that as a terminal was already in Charleston, "We're focused on the changes that would occur … From what occurs at Union Pier today, we're looking at that increment of change."
That sparked a response from Blan Holman, managing attorney at the Charleston office of the Southern Environmental Law Center: "The Corps needs to consider this for what it is — a brand new and much larger cruise terminal in the heart of Charleston's historic downtown. Calling a $35-million-dollar terminal 'maintenance' or treating this project as a nip and tuck takes us back to 2013 when we should be moving forward."
Besides ship limits and alternate terminal locations, other issues beg for solutions, but the SPA hasn't offered a single concession on any of them:
Shore power. The Coastal Conservation League's Katie Zimmerman says that "nitrogen oxides and carbon oxides are not addressed by scrubbers" but that shore power virtually eliminates them, noting that the SPA's "air quality monitor measures regional impacts, not localized hot spots." "Additionally," she said, "tests of scrubbers have shown possible increases in high concentrations of a number of harmful compounds in the water around the ships.
Though shore power will cost $4-5 million, that's minor compared to the terminal's $35 million price tag and the federal government has paid much of this cost at other ports.
Parking and traffic. Unbelievably, the SPA is planning for nine acres of surface parking at Union Pier on perhaps the most valuable undeveloped waterfront property in America. And even with a rail line available, the SPA has rebuffed remote parking solutions.
The Corps' October 21-22 traffic study drew skepticism as it was done so soon after major flooding dampened tourism. The study showed increased cruise day traffic, but questions of validity suggest that it should be repeated this month.
Asymmetrical impacts. Charleston gets no revenue from cruise ships. No berthing fees, no head taxes and no property taxes — every dime goes to the SPA. Yet the city and its citizens bear all the heavy impacts of managing tourists driving in and spewing out from the terminal.
The concerns above help explain why some cities, after being badly damaged by cruise ship tourism like Venice and Hamilton, Bermuda, are moving cruise terminals away from the historic districts and city centers. Although Key West is now trying to limit cruise operations, it's already too late to preserve what was there.
The vast majority of cruise critics are not seeking to end all cruises; however, noise, soot, traffic, water quality and ship and passenger scale must be regulated as any tourist business. Many citizens are saddened by the visual pollution of colossal modern cruise ships towering over iconic church steeples, shattering the ambiance and patina of this historic city; but, the noise, smells, traffic and pollution make them angry.
The SPA owns the Veterans and Columbus Street terminals, closer to highways and with more space. Given that the SPA considers a cruise terminal to be like an airport and refuses any tourism regulation or compromise on any issue, denying the permit at Union Pier may be only sensible solution.
Voice your opinion: Written comments on the proposed Union Pier cruise terminal must be received by May 12, 2016:
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Regulatory Division
Attn: Nat Ball
69-A Hagood Ave.
Charleston, S.C. 29403
Two years ago, United States District Court Judge Richard Gergel handed the cruise terminal opponents their first victory, tossing the SPA's federal permit to build a proposed $35 million terminal at Union Pier and blasting the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for failing to adequately review the project's effects on the area saying, "I think you did an end run. You gave this permit a bum's rush."
This time around, the Corps promises a thorough job.
The battle lines are being drawn. At the first "consultation process" hearing on October 22, the APE, or "Area of Potential Effects," became the focus. Participants responded to a series of questions about the impacts on Charleston's buildings on the National Historic Register and its National Historic Landmark status.
The SPA argued that the APE must be tightly drawn around the terminal property. "Not so fast," opponents say. Cars, buses and taxis must travel through the Historic District creating immense traffic just to transport passengers to the terminal; the smog, soot and noise drifts well beyond the terminal compromising homes and human health; and cruise passengers swarm like ants over the City causing congestion and impacts well beyond the terminal area.
Yet SPA CEO Jim Newsome reiterated his claim that cruise ships are part of Charleston's history. He said that cruise ships are "maritime commerce," meaning that passengers aren't tourists and can't be regulated. If they visit the Historic District, he asserted, that's just incidental. The SPA's contracted study claims that only four to six percent of tourism comes from cruise passengers.
Meanwhile, Mayor Joseph Riley professed that cruise ships are good for Charleston, that redevelopment of the Southern portion of Union Pier would be a boon to the City.
Opponents of these assertions were ready.
Historic Charleston Foundation's Christopher Cody showed historic photos of ships in the harbor and said "it's improbable that historically more than a few hundred passengers per day would have used Charleston's port." Thousands of cruise passengers, "potentially over 7,000 at a time, represent a new use of the harbor and a concentrated intrusion that's inappropriate for our historic district's scale and layout. Just because cruise ships are boats doesn't automatically make them related to our traditions of maritime commerce."
"We believe the impacts cannot be limited to the fence line of the Port property," said Kristopher King, Executive Director of The Preservation Society, because the court directed the Corps to "consider both the direct and indirect effects on historic properties within and outside the permit area." King also cited the SPA's own Brockington Associates study that admits that "cruise passengers will represent 25-40 percent of vehicular traffic in the Historic District" when those ships are in town.
Interviewed later, King added, "The Corps must consider direct and indirect impacts on the use and character of our National Landmark District consisting mainly of single family dwellings which the SPA's historic assessment admits may be impacted."
Other meetings will be scheduled, and we will update you.
Written by jwilliams
The Charleston Cruise Control Blog, written by Jay Williams, Jr., published periodically since May, 2011, consists of opinions and discussions about cruise ship tourism. Although Jay is involved with various local organizations, the opinions he expresses are solely his; they do not represent the views of any organization or other individual. Mr. Williams is an independent blogger/writer. We present these blogs for C4 website visitors as an information source and as an additional way to chronologically follow the debates, commentaries and discussions about cruise tourism in Charleston.
Done! … This is quite a hard hitting blog…Interestingly, [my wife] and I were in both Dubrovnik and Venice and it was quite evident that Venice was in the midst of a massive plan of moving the cruise ships away from the city itself. I will be sending an e-mail voicing my objection to leaving the terminal where it is. Keep up the good work. … Already sent it in!
Today, we are also posting two signed reader comments, one with pictures:
Perhaps in response to SPA CEO Jim Newsome's comments in 2012, "In my view, cruising is a maritime commerce business, not a tourism business. It's more like an airport. Sure they may stay a night or two before or after the cruise, but for us it's about the maritime commerce." we received this comment:
I would make the case that carriages are not really tourism. They are equestrian activities, and thus should be under control of the US Equestrian Commission.
— Dana Beach
Liz and I are wrapping up our anniversary trip which included a stop in Venice for a few days, departing back to Charleston tomorrow. During our visit, the gridlocked masses grouped in and around points of "cruise ship" embarkation reminded us of the possible future Charleston will likely face if we are not careful.
Sitting in our hotel room this afternoon, we were shocked by a 10 story ship completely packed with thousands of tourists floating by our hotel window "taking a photo op." See the second and third photos (posted below). This massive ship did two laps around the lagoon so both sides of the vessel could view Venice before setting sail to another port.
Venice is very much designed on a human scale, like Charleston. The sheer size of the ship was stunning. Once here, you realize the need to completely avoid areas where the ship tourists are released at cretain times of the day, much like a tidal wave of humans covering every square inch of free space.
After my third day here I started thinking what if they had a few paved streets and then tried to imagine cars and carriages in the mix?
Scary stuff, no doubt.
—Chuck and Liz Sullivan
(pictures and follow up comment follow)
Tried to get the buildings in the shot to show scale.
Thank you all for your comments on Thursday's blog. Note that the two pictures just above are of the Norwegian "Jade," a 2400-passenger ship that's smaller than many other ships that visit Venice. The top picture appears to be that of the larger MSC "Poesia," a 16-deck, 3,000-passenger ship. Please note that even the SPA's voluntary limits permit ships up to 3,500 passengers, larger than either of these two ships, into Charleston.
Written by jwilliams
The Charleston Cruise Control Blog, written by Jay Williams, Jr., published periodically since May, 2011, consists of opinions and discussions about cruise ship tourism. Although Jay is involved with various local organizations, the opinions he expresses are solely his; they do not represent the views of any organization or other individual. Mr. Williams is an independent blogger/writer. We present these blogs for C4 website visitors as an information source and as an additional way to chronologically follow the debates, commentaries and discussions about cruise tourism in Charleston.
If you think sending a letter to the Army Corps of Engineers regarding the proposed giant cruise terminal isn't important, please consider the events of May 12, 2015. This was the day the City Council was to vote on implementing the Tourism Management Committee's recommendations for Charleston. At that meeting, Mayor Joseph P. Riley introduced SC State Ports Authority's CEO Jim Newsome as the "world's greatest port manager." That set the stage for two bizarre occurrences.
The Tourism Management Committee, led by Kitty Robinson, President of Historic Charleston Foundation, was comprised of 27 individuals connected with or impacted by tourism. Members of the Committee included transportation companies, hoteliers, retailers, neighborhood representatives, preservationists, City staffers and more who worked diligently for well over a year to revise a tourism management plan that hadn't been updated since 1998. On May 12th at City Hall their recommendations were handed out to every City Council member to vote on. Then the first bizarre incident occurred.
The last page of recommendations was missing. The report "…didn't include recommendations from the city's Planning Commission that city and SPA leaders look for an alternative site for the [cruise] terminal," said the Post and Courier(1) How could that possibly happen? That page featured the Tourism Management Committee's final recommendation to study of alternate cruise terminal locations. That same recommendation previously passed the Planning Commission by an 8-1 vote.(2) Remember, this recommendation was to "study alternate sites" for a terminal, it was not a motion to move the proposed terminal location. Surprisingly, the missing page featured the one recommendation both the mayor and the CEO of the SPA opposed.
The second bizarre incident occurred when the SPA's CEO Jim Newsome spoke to City Council and enumerated several key points. One was bizarre. He said that cruise ships aren't "tourism" that can be regulated by any Tourism Management Plan, that this is a "maritime" activity. It was consistent with his assertion back in 2012, "In my view, cruising is a maritime commerce business, not a tourism business. It's more like an airport. Sure they may stay a night or two before or after the cruise, but for us it's about the maritime commerce."(3) Not only was this a contridiction of the early promise of the millions of dollars the cruise business would inject into the City's economy, but it's bizarre to think that those thousands of passengers disgorged onto the City's streets are somehow not tourists but "maritime commerce." Then what are all those people doing out on land, littering the place with paper cups, and causing gridlock on our streets?
It's not just the soot, the noise, the traffic, or the "maritime commerce" people aimlessly wondering the streets eating ice cream that you should consider. It is that "airport" that Mr. Newsome says it is…a hub, a border crossing…a giant terminal with people coming and going everywhere, mostly not to Charleston. And all too soon, those cruise passengers will be going to Cuba, and with the newly widened Panama Canal, huge ships will be coming in from China, too. And with the 1800' pier already at Union Pier, there's plenty of room for any giant ship afloat. Yes, the SPA has agreed to "voluntary limits" on cruise ship sizes and visits, but the SPA refuses to make those limits mandatory or enforceable.
Jonathan B. Tourtellot, a National Geographic fellow and founding director of the Center for Sustainable Destinations, says that a new Union Pier terminal may ultimately diminish and damage Charleston's attractiveness labeling cruising "the strip mine of tourism." "Cruise ships can flood a city with people who are not necessarily interested in the place, and it becomes a turn-off to other tourists and locals. The most egregious case in the U.S. is Key West, but it's a pattern we've seen repeated in Dubrovnik and Venice," Tourtellot said, adding, "Charleston has a strong history of fine-tuning the balance of tourism, but if the [cruise] volume turns up and that balance tilts, it's very hard to back out. In Dubrovnik, it's forever changed the nature of the place."(3) Is this what lies ahead for Charleston?
So on May 12th, how do you think the City Council voted on the Tourism Committee's final (missing) recommendation to simply "study" alternate cruise terminal locations?
Write your letter TODAY.
—Jay Williams Jr.
# # #
1) Charleston, State Ports Authority scuttle talk of alternative Cruise Terminal Site, Post and Courier
2) Planning Commission wants City to find an alternative site for cruise terminal – Post and Courier
3) Community: All Aboard – Charleston Magazine
Here is a link to the Charleston Communities for Cruise Control that enumerates the top concerns to include in your letter; please be sure to note that this terminal should be moved away from the historic district and downtown.
Letters should be received by September 23rd mailed to this address:
Permit Number SAC-2003-13026
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Regulatory Division
Attn: Mr. Nat Ball
69A Hagood Avenue
Charleston, SC 29403
You may also email your comments to the Coastal Conservation League by noon on September 22nd at this link and they will hand deliver your comments to the Army Corps by the 23rd:
Ah, the Tourism Management Plan. Well, that got slightly derailed when Historic Charleston Foundation decided it could, in spite of the 2014 moratorium, add candlelight tours in February.(1) Now the plan is beginning to leave the tracks…before it's released.
Carnival has announced that a second cruise ship will make five visits to Charleston next year. That's in addition to calls by the Fantasy, Carnival's ship that's already home-ported here. According to the Post and Courier, "the Carnival Sunshine is a larger ship than the Fantasy, carrying about 1,000 more passengers and crew."(2) According to Carnival's website, The Sunshine "has been doused with an extra dose of fun" to accompany her 3000 passengers and 1040 crew.(3) One wonders if this extra dose of fun was brought to the attention of the Tourism Management Committee?
There can't be a trend here, because according to State Ports Authority's CEO Jim Newsome, the port will maintain its level of fewer than 104 cruise ship departures per year. Remember that's one of the voluntary limits that the SC Ports Authority (SPA) agreed to. Mayor Joseph Riley said recently that there was a signed agreement with the SPA limiting cruise ship tourism. Except that we don't know of one. Perhaps, Mr. Mayor, you could forward that signed agreement to us, and we'll publish it with our next blog? But "no worries," as the kids would say. Because there was that much-touted City Council resolution passed in response to cruise ship concerns. Except that that resolution doesn't limit anything. It only requires the SPA to notify the City a year in advance if those voluntary limits of 104 cruise ship visits and a maximum of 3500 passengers per ship would be exceeded. What a happy coincidence, it turns out, that cruise ship schedules are created a year in advance. Notification should be no problem; the problem will arise when that notification occurs.
The Post and Courier editorial board is on top of this problem. Yesterday's editorial, "More Cruises, More Questions," asks the penultimate question. "What might come next? The passenger terminal that the SPA wants to build would accommodate even larger ships."(4) Yes, it would. Union Pier is over 1800 feet long—enough to accommodate both the Fantasy and the Sunshine at the same time—although we've been promised that two cruise ships would never be in port at the same time. However, Union Pier also can accommodate the largest ship now afloat. No worries…
Except that the Panama Canal is being widened and, in anticipation, giant Post-Panamax cargo ships are already entering our port. Add in that the Chinese middle class, the ideal target for cruise travel, is growing rapidly. So bigger, wider cruise ships are sure to follow. And that's still not the worst problem. That problem is President Obama's unilateral gift to the ruthless, despotic Castro brothers—opening American tourism to siphon American dollars to prop up their dictatorship. If Carnival Cruise Lines wanted a big gift, they got it. Ironically, one of the Sunshine's bars is "the already classic Havana Bar." So this is the ultimate question—what city do you think will be hosting some of those ships headed for Cuba? Carnival's ready, Charleston isn't. We'll soon be "doused with an extra dose of fun."
And what about those voluntary, unenforceable cruise ship limits?
There's only one solution. It's not just shore power; shore power isn't going to slow the rising tide of cruise ship tourism. It's not a head tax, although money to offset the cost for police, fire and rescue equipment required for every ship visit could really help. The only permanent solution is to move the proposed cruise terminal away from the Historic Districts and downtown, farther north to the Columbus Street Terminal closer to major highways, so that passengers who are destined for the Bahamas or Cuba don't overrun and kill what remains of Charleston's charm and quality of life. If they want to see and appreciate Charleston's history and culture, they're welcome. But for those cruisers who just want an ice cream and a t-shirt, they certainly don't need to drive through town and park on valuable waterfront land to get them. Then Union Pier could be sold at a much greater profit to the SPA and prudently developed to provide a breathtaking enhancement to downtown Charleston.
We're certain the recommendation to move the cruise terminal away from downtown will be a key component of that Tourism Management Plan.
—Jay Williams, Jr
# # #
Written by jwilliams
The Charleston Cruise Control Blog, written by Jay Williams, Jr., published periodically since May, 2011, consists of opinions and discussions about cruise ship tourism. Although Jay is involved with various local organizations, the opinions he expresses are solely his; they do not represent the views of any organization or other individual. Mr. Williams is an independent blogger/writer. We present these blogs for C4 website visitors as an information source and as an additional way to chronologically follow the debates, commentaries and discussions about cruise tourism in Charleston.
1) Historic Charleston website – candlelight tours
2) More container volume, new cruise ship for Port of Charleston – Post and Courier
3) Carnival Sunshine – Carnival website
4) "More cruises, more questions" – Post and Courier editorial
It's Raining in Charleston
So Brian Hicks, a Post and Courier columnist, took this opportunity to rain down on the Board of Zoning Appeals' decision to deny a condo conversion for 1 Meeting Street. We didn't see him at the ZBA-Z meeting to have heard the hour-long discussion about this iconic home; was he there? And he didn't mention that the Preservation Society, the Charlestowne Neighborhood Association as well as Historic Charleston Foundation all opposed converting 1 Meeting Street into three condominiums, or that all the neighbors save one, a real estate agent, were also against chopping 1 Meeting into condos. He's still entitled to his own opinion, though.(1)
But to paraphrase the late Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, he's not entitled to his own facts. The fact is that 1 Meeting Street, in need of $2-3 million in structural repairs and remodeling to make it livable, was rolled out for sale three years ago at an unbelievable $8 million price; that initial price, in a bad economy, tainted any appetite for buyers. A $4.4 million price, even now, is more realistic. Yet the Hawks want $5.4 for it.
Let's take two other Brian Hick's "facts." The house, when you delete the piazzas (that the applicant's architect actually included in his calculation of the total square feet of the property during the BAR meeting), the "unuseable" attic, and the "dungeon-like" basement section with the boiler and mechanical equipment–could any of the basement actually be used for "condo" living space given the current flood zone restrictions?–1 Meeting Street is closer to 8,000 not 12,000 sq. feet. A new single-family home was just built a block away that's larger than that. And if columnist Hicks thinks "29401 is going to have to be the richest zip code in the country," he needs to get out more…to say, Sullivan's Island. Or Kiawah. Or many other far more prosperous cities with far more expensive houses.(2)
More troubling is Hick's characterization of these downtown neighbors: "All that talk of historical integrity went out the window when these folks said they were fine with two condos. But make it three and, well, there goes ye olde neighborhood." Because, you see, 1 Meeting Street's owners have held a city permit for a basement apartment since 1990, so they already have permission for two units, and "these folks" knew that. But "these folks" also knew that turning this stately home into three condos was a different issue entirely, a point that Mr. Hicks missed.
Brian Hicks added, "….you just can't trust those shifty bottom-feeders who buy $2 million condos." So does he want to see historic Charleston chopped into a maze of $2 million condos?
Mr. Hicks writes, "Charleston isn't Colonial Williamsburg, it's a working, living city," yet he seems clueless about what makes Charleston a "working, living city." A living, working city is about diversity, and diversity isn't just about hard-working middle class families, singles, students, people of color, retirees, subsidized housing, bartenders and waiters, a "working, living city" also must include the wealthy people who can afford, and afford to maintain, these expensive single-family homes, who are committed to the city's preserved history, and who generously support the charities, museums, arts, and events that propel downtown life. These are the people who put their homes on tour that fund the historic and preservation societies that attract the most valuable tourists who drive our city's economy and provide jobs for thousands. And these are the people that increasingly sacrifice their quality of life to accommodate the expanding hordes of these tourists who endlessly and noisily parade down their streets and, and all too often, uninvited, wade into their gardens and private spaces.
Yet, contrary to his rhetoric, Mr. Hicks' advances ideas that are likely to choke the life out of our "working, living city," and turn it into a Colonial Williamsburg theme park. The large historic single-family homes he'd chop into "$2 million condos" would more than limit the upper tier of Charleston's economic and social diversity, a key cohort that has sustained this city since before the Revolution; it would poison the life of the neighborhood. At that meeting, one neighbor said, "Condominiums are anonymous. It loses its personality in the neighborhood."(3) She might have added that many who live in condos have a home or homes in other cities and use their condos as glorified hotel rooms. And there's evidence that most condo owners don't engage with either the neighbors or the neighborhood, and they don't contribute to Charleston socially or civically–because their real lives are elsewhere.
So what does Mr. Hicks think will happen to "these folks" who turned out in mass at that Zoning Board meeting to defend their "working, living" neighborhood and their neighbors? Does he think "these folks" will stay in their old neighborhood if it's overrun by cut up mansions used only by occasionally-in-residence, anonymous condo owners?
It takes more than tourists and $2 million condos to make a city. And there are certainly easier, less congested, and less expensive places for real residents to live other than downtown Charleston if that's all that remains there.
The city is interesting and vital because of the interesting and vital Charlestonians who live in these great homes. But given the geometrically expanding tourism and traffic, hotels, tour busses, carriages and pedicabs, bars, noise, cruise ships, and taxes, the "living" part and the "Charleston" part of our historic city may be coming to an end. That point Mr. Hicks misses entirely.
# # #
–Jay Williams, Jr.
26 November 14
Footnotes and links
1) A City or a Museum, 1 Meeting Street controversy… Brian Hicks – Post and Courier
2) New York Dominates the 2014 List of Most Expensive Zip Codes – Forbes
3) Condos at 1 Meeting Street Defeated by Preservationists – Robert Behre – Post and Courier


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Immunizations and Autism: Is there a relationship between them?
Corey Golden
September 22, 2010
At birth, infants have protection against some diseases through both antibodies that pass through the placenta from mother to child and from breastfeeding. However, this protection is only temporary—therefore doctors utilize immunizations. Immunizations use small amounts of killed or weakened microorganisms that cause certain diseases to prompt the immune system to fight off the infection. This prompts the body recognize the disease so that it can fight off the disease if it were to reappear later. The vaccines work on 85-99% of cases, and include four types: attenuated (weakened) live viruses, killed (inactivated) viruses or bacteria, toxoid, and conjugate. (http://kidshealth.org/parent/infections/immunizations/vaccine.html) Immunization is considered to be one of the greatest triumphs of public health, preventing approximately 10.5 million diseases each year and saving three million lives around the world. The immunizations have successfully eradicated smallpox and nearly eliminated polio, measles, pertussis, diphtheria, and Hib. (http://www.ecbt.org/advocates/immunizationsuccess.cfm)
Autism, discovered by psychiatrist Leo Kanner in 1943, is a developmental disability that affects a person's ability to communicate and interact with others. The disorder affects 1 in 150 children, and usually emerges within the first three years of life. Autism is known as a "Spectrum Disorder," due to the fact that it affects every person differently (Viejo, 2008). But, some of the most common symptoms include delayed speaking, repetitive use of language and mannerisms, little eye contact, lack of interest in relationships with peers, lessened desire to play, and fixation on parts of objects. (http://www.autism-society.org/site/PageServer?pagename=about_home)
The Controversy
Immunizations, though beneficial to your health, have been linked to the causations of autism. The MMR vaccine causes an antibody response that inflames the gut to increase the chance that toxic substances seep into the blood, whereas Thimerosal—organic Mercury—contains a compound that could affect brain development. Both the MMR vaccine and Thimerosal have been linked to the causes of Autism. Though most vaccines have been free of Thimerosal since 1999, parents have been reluctant to immunize their children with Thimerosal, posing potential health risks. However, they feel as though the risks outweigh the benefits. Others feel that these immunizations are necessary to prevent the spreading of very threatening and sometimes deadly illnesses (De los Reyes, 2010).
Immunization Increases Autism Risk
One theory about the possible correlation between immunizations and autism is that children with slowly maturing immune systems develop autism when given too many immunizations at one time, especially when the immunizations contain Thimerosal. In the well-known case of Hannah Poling, a child who was speaking 20 words at the age of 19 months and appeared to be developing normally was diagnosed with autism immediately after receiving nine immunizations at one time. She lost her words, eye contact, and demonstrated repetitive and withdrawn behavior. After further research, psychologists concluded that Hannah had a pre-existing mitochondrial disorder that the vaccines aggravated, resulting in brain damage triggering autism. Even so, specialists question whether the disorder developed before or simultaneously with the autism. Unsurprisingly, Hannah's family decided to pursue their case in court in 2008, eventually winning compensation for the damages. (http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1721109,00.html)
A similar case involves Evan McCarthy, the son of celebrity Jenny McCarthy. Evan began his life as a vivacious child who made eye contact and smiled frequently. But the MMR vaccine stripped him of his personality. As heart breaking as it was for Jenny to see her child transform so suddenly, she is not against vaccinations. She argues that we need a safer vaccine schedule, since some children cannot handle as many vaccinations as others at such a young age. When Oprah contacted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about the McCarthy case, they responded, "We are currently conducting additional studies to further determine what role, if any, Thimerosal in vaccines may play in the development of autism. It is important to remember, vaccines protect and save lives. Vaccines protect infants, children and adults from the unnecessary harm and premature death caused by vaccine-preventable diseases." As shown by this response, it appears that there is a definite possibility that Thimerosal is related to autism. Doctors still feel that these risks are small in comparison to the threats of the diseases that immunizations prevent. (http://www.oprah.com/oprahshow/Mothers-Battle-Autism/5#slide)
Bradstreet (2003) executed a case control study in which he treated autistic children with a mercury detoxifier called dimercaptosuccinic acid. Following the detoxification, Bradstreet compared the urine of autistic children with the control group and found significantly higher levels of mercury in the urine of the autistic children. This supported previous findings of an efflux problem of mercury in autistic children, explaining the link between Thimerosal and autism. Soon after, James (2006) performed multiple studies on autistic children, finding that a problem with their glutathione production leaves them susceptible to brain damage from toxic substances and heavy metals such as mercury. In conclusion, an efflux problem combined with this susceptibility could be the explanation for the link between immunizations and autism.
No Link Between Immunization and Autism
Andrew Wakefield, the infamous British researcher, was the first to form the connection between the MMR vaccination and autism. In his 1998 study published by the British paper The Lancet, Wakefield claimed that in a case study of 12 children who received the MMR vaccine, 8 developed autism. He suggested that the vaccine caused intestinal inflammation, which triggered the onset of autism. Since then, 10 of the 12 authors of the study withdrew their support, along with the AAP, NIH, CDC, WHO. Then in 2004, The Lancet retracted the study for dishonesty. (http://www.aafp.org/online/en/home/publications/news/news-now/clinical-care-research/20100210lancet-retracts.html)
Rates of MMR vaccination in London have not increased since 1988, yet diagnoses of autism have been increasing since 1979. In addition, the average age of diagnosis for autism is the same in MMR vaccinated children and non-vaccinated children. (http://www.thechildrenshospital.org/wellness/info/news/36030.aspx) To support this research, Hviid (2003) compared children in Denmark who were vaccinated with Thimerosal to those vaccinated without it, and found that the risk of autism was the same for both groups. Similarly, Mrozek-Budzyn, Kieltyka, and Majewska (2009) performed a case-control study in Poland, in which they studied 96 children with autism and 192 children whom they matched to those that were autistic. They were matched to the autistic children by their birth year, sex, and physician. After studying the children via questionnaires and vaccination histories, the researchers found that the risk for autism was lower for the children who received the MMR vaccine than for those who had not been vaccinated.
The Effects of the Controversy
The Fear of Parents
Emily C. de los Reyes (2009) found that immunization rates dropped to 80%, placing children and society as a whole at risk for contracting potentially deadly diseases. As a result, 131 cases of Measles were reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the US during the first 7 months of 2008—the highest outbreak of the disease since 1996. Luthy, Beckstrand, and Callister (2010) investigated the decrease in rates of immunization in a group of parents from Utah. 86 parents of under-immunized children took a survey about their concerns and the advice that they would give to friends and family about immunizations. Unsurprisingly, the results showed concerns about autism, overloading the fragile immune systems of children, and other possible reactions to the vaccines. The parents felt the risks were too great, and did not consider the immunizations to be necessary. This study illustrates how, on a broader scale, concerns about the possible dangers of vaccinations are most likely a major source of the extremely low vaccination rate and increased disease incidence.
Conclusions and Recommendations
Because it is more common for parents to know an autistic child than anyone with one of the diseases immunizations attempt to prevent, it becomes difficult to justify the risks involved with the vaccines. Many doctors explain that the increased rate of autism is due to a greater awareness and broader definition of the disorder. Even though there is plenty of evidence against any association between vaccinations and autism, a single case study is not very strong proof. Many parents rightfully question whether or not the benefits of immunizations outweigh the risks, especially when the media brings cases such as Hannah Poling and Evan McCarthy to parents' attention. Significant research is necessary to assess a child's pre-existing conditions in order to prevent a possible aggravation by a vaccination. In addition, because the immune systems of infants are still developing and each could react differently to vaccinations, precautions should be taken through a limited number and slower schedule of vaccines. However, immunizations protect us against deadly diseases, and eliminating them is not an option.
About Autism. (2008). Autism Society. Retrieved from
Cave, S. (2008). The history of vaccinations in the light of the autism epidemic.
Altern Ther Health Med, 14(6), 54-7.
De Los Reyes, E. (2010). Autism and immunizations: separating fact from fiction.
Arch Neurol, 67(4), 490-2.
Frequently Asked Questions About Immunizations. (2009). Kids Health. Retrieved
from http://kidshealth.org/parent/general/body/fact_myth_immunizations.html#
Immunization Success. (2010). Every Child by Two. Retrieved from
Landmark Report Says Vaccines Do Not Cause Autism. (2004). The Children's
Hospital. Retrieved from http://www.thechildrenshospital.org/wellness/info/news/36030.aspx
Luthy, K., Beckstrand, R., & Callister, L. (2010). Parental hesitation in immunizing
children in Utah. Public Health Nursing, 27(1), 25-31.
Mothers Battle Autism. (2007). The Oprah Winfrey Show. Retrieved from
Mrozek-Budzyn, D., Kieltyka, A., & Majewska, R. (2010). Lack of association
between measles-mumps-rubella vaccination and autism in children: a case-control study. Pediatr Infect Dis J, 29(5), 397-400.
Novella, S. The Lancet retracts Andrew Wakefield's article. (2010). Science-Based
Medicine. Retrieved from http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/?p=3716
Paul, R. (2009). Parents ask: am I risking autism if I vaccinate my children? J Autism
Dev Disord, 39(6), 962-3.
Wallis, C. Case Study: Autism and Vaccines. (2008). Time. Retrieved from
Your Child's Immunizations. (2010). Kids Health. Retrieved from
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998 Levi Jackson Road - Search Nearby - Added by Jean-Claude Linossi
Levi Jackson State Park offers the beauty of rolling wooded hills and an historic site honoring the pioneers who settled Kentucky
This park is small but has about 8.5 miles of hiking trails. I hiked section of the Wilderness Trail and section of the Boone Trace trail. Visited the Defeated Camp Burial Grounds and spent a good amount of time in the pioneer museum looking at all the artifacts. Also visited Mc Hargues Mill which is along the Laurel river.
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Hike to Dog Slaughter Falls
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Explore Flat Lick Falls
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This is a passage from a teaching by Master Han Shan called "The Maxims."
What, ultimately, is the difference between hardship and pleasure? A hardship is an obstacle and an obstacle is a challenge and a challenge is a way to use one's Dharma strength. What is more pleasurable than that?
People are always so afraid of hardship. They go through life trying to avoid the difficult and embrace the easy. For me, it's just the opposite. I don't discriminate at all between hardship and pleasure. Whether the path ahead of me is difficult or easy, I don't hesitate to follow it.
Just let life unfold. Don't worry about what good or bad things happen, just let the universe unfold. That's a really simple thing to say, but of course it's not easy.
This about equanimity, having an even mind regardless of circumstances. It's really hard and not something we will always succeed at, but it's something we are cultivating.
Here's a zen story about equanimity.
There was this Zen Master named Hakuin. who lived alone. He was well respected in the community. One day, a young woman became pregnant and claimed Hakuin was the father. After she had the baby, her parents delivered him to Hakuin and said, "You have to raise this child because you did this. Shame on you!"
Hakuin was unperturbed. He just said, "Is that so?" and accepted the child.
He took really good care of this child, raising him as his own. They bonded.
Years went by and the mother of this child felt bad for lying. She told her parents who the real father was. So, they went to Hakuin and said, "We're very sorry. We believed a lie about you. We will take the child back now, we will relieve you of this responsibility."
So, this story is telling us that in what should have been an emotional series of events, Hakuin kept an even mind. Even when they were taking away the child he had raised, who he had taken the time to bond with, he still just let it happen.
I'm sure I would have fallen apart in this series of events, but Hakuin was calm and collected. That's how we want to be. A lot of the time things are going to just happen. We worry so much about things we have no control over. We want to change the things we can and work toward happiness.
But in the case of things we can't change, it helps to just say, "Is that so?"


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Capital city — Bucharest
Picture galleries
Experience our photographers' unique views on detention by browsing the picture gallery below. These photographers have shared their portfolios with us.
Camera intimă
I realized that these rooms represented an institutionalization of love, a cancellation of tenderness
Camera intimă
I started photographing the intimate rooms in 2008, when I was documenting the everyday life of the Romanian prisoners in Aiud for my photo album, Bumbata.
Once Romania joined the European Union, in 2007, the whole prison system went through a major revamp. The biggest reform was to introduce the right to private visits. Meaning that a prisoner who is married or in a relationship has the right to receive, every three months, a two-hour private visit which takes place in a separate room inside the prison compound.
In 2008 I took the first photos inside the intimate room with an inmate and his wife after their private visit. I realized that these rooms represented an institutionalization of love, a cancellation of tenderness. In this cold space, with information about STDs and safety information hung on the walls, two people meet their loved ones, after months of waiting.
In 2011, I started photographing the intimate rooms systematically until 2014. I photographed the rooms, the absurd details; I filmed the rooms from the point of view of the inmate who was lying on the bed.
The safety checks inside a prison take a lot of time, so I reduced my equipment to a camera, a lens, a SD card and a spare card. Once, a guardian asked me: "What do you need a spare card for?" "In case the SD from the camera is full." "Why can't you delete some?"
— Cosmin Bumbuț
Cosmin Bumbuț
Cosmin Bumbuț worked as a fashion and advertising photographer for 15 years.
His pictorials were published in magazines like Elle, Tabu or Esquire.
In 2013, he launched Bumbata, an album illustrating the day-to-day life of prisoners in the Aiud penitentiary; the book received awards in the National Design Competition and in the Bun de Tipar Gala. Bumbuț has won several photography awards, including the Sony World Photography Award in 2015, for his project Camera intimă.
In November 2013, Cosmin Bumbuț moved into a motor home with his girlfriend, journalist Elena Stancu, and started roaming to understand modern Romania. They created a multimedia project on domestic violence and a series of articles on prison life in Romania. They lived among the Kalderash Roma in Corcova and filmed a documentary about a young local family seeking its fortune in landfills in France. The film gained awards in several festivals, including TIFF, Docuart, Urban Eye and the Millenium Film Festival in Brussels.
In 2017, they published their book Acasă, pedrum [At Home on the Road] (Humanitas), about their travels in the heart of Romania.


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It's Thursday and time for me to share a project made with stamps you can find at Loves Rubberstamps.
wow does time fly seems like I just shared a card with you.
Today's card is a pick me up for a friend. You can find this stamp and many more at Loves Rubberstamps
Stamp: Stamping Bella
Design Paper: Basic Grey


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Dallas Video Festival guru Bart Weiss stopped by the office this week to talk about the 20th DVF, which gets underway next week and promises a meaty schedule -- and I don't just mean the '70s porn homage Viva, which screens ... um ... look, the DVF's site isn't exactly the easiest to negotiate.
Anyway, we do know when The Trials of Law School screens: August 5 at 4:30 p.m. at the Kalita Humphreys Theater. It's of some interest to locals, as well: It was directed by an Oklahoma filmmaker and attorney named Porter Heath Morgan, who attended S.M.U. -- which is where some of the documentary was shot. And Texas Law Blog pointed out a couple of weeks back that, "Of the students featured [in the movie], four now practice in the Dallas area." We're in the middle of watching it, and so far, so pretty danged good. Tix are available here. --Robert Wilonsky
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The Creative Craft Show
22-25 October 2020 · SEC · Glasgow
Opening times 10am - 4.30pm (4pm Sun)
Discover all the ideas, inspiration and supplies you could ever dream of! Knitters, stitchers, hobbyists and crafters will be in their element with endless supplies, innovations, new product launches, demonstrations and workshops designed to encourage and inspire your creativity – there's no better place to stock up and revel in creative craft inspiration!
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At the show
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Make & Takes
Get hands-on at a Make & Take and create your own crafty masterpiece! There's a wide range of creative crafts to try, with lots of help and encouragement from the experts.
Make & Takes can only be booked at the show – on the day you attend visit the stand number of the workshop you wish to book.
J P Crafts – Pixel Hobby UK · ART & CRAFT GLITTER GREETINGS
J P Crafts – Pixel Hobby UK
Create a pixel mosaic key ring or fridge magnet! Suitable for any experience level and for ages 5+. Come and try this exciting technique! £2.50 per person.
Decorate a selection of acetates using a range of glitters! Choose from unicorns, cup cakes and owls. Very cute, easy to do, and look absolutely gorgeous.
Adults and children welcome.
Cost £2.00. No need to book.
Stalls & Shopping
Browse aisle and aisles of stalls and stands packed with brand-new crafting innovations, classic tools and products and accessories in every colour of the rainbow!
With experts manning each stall – you'll be sure to find exactly what you need!
Getting There
SEC, Glasgow · G3 8YW
By Rail
Exhibition Centre is SEC's own dedicated railway station allowing easy access from the city centre and the suburbs. Six trains an hour from Central Station (Platform 17) will bring you to Exhibition Centre station in a journey time of just three minutes.
By Bus
Buses can be accessed from George Square (near Queen Street Station) and Union Street (near Central Station). For timetable visit www.firstglasgow.com
By Foot
The Clyde Walkway runs right past the SEC. There are two footbridges which cross the Clydeside Express Way (dual carriageway connecting the west end to Glasgow city centre) at both the front and rear of the campus.
By Road
Leave the M8 at Junction 19 and follow the signs for the SEC. Entry is off Finnieston Street.
The SEC multi-storey car park is at 10 Stobcross Road, Glasgow, G3 8YW. Parking is also available at The Science Centre – 50 Pacific Quay, Glasgow, G51 1EA. Disabled visitors wanting to catch the buggy to The SEC will need to park at the SEC.


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Salt-Water are the perfect summer choice for both adults and children. Fully flexible, the ever popular original salt water sandal starts in small sizes and goes right through to Ladies size UK 8. You can even wear them in the sea - hence the name!
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New Yam Festival:The Nigerian Igbo Union(NIU) in Stockholm, Sweden held their New Yam Festival (IRIJI NDI IGBO) 2016 on 22nd October, 2016, at the SUBTOPIA ALBY: ROTEMANNAVAGEN, NORSBORG in Stockholm Sweden. The event was attended by dignitaries, friends and well-wishers of members of the Union.
Also Read: 2Face Named Youth Ambassador For NYCN
Details:After the arrival and settlement of guests, some dignitaries were invited to the High Table. There was opening prayer and presentation of Kolanuts. Chairman of the Union, Chief Charles Onuora (Ochiri-Ozuo 1 of Sweden) gave the welcome address.
The blessing and eating of the new yam was observed according to Igbo tradition with elders and traditional leaders presenting the new yam to the audience. Dinner was served followed by entertainment and cultural performances by the Youths and by the Ladies/wives of the members led by Lolo Ify Onuoha (of Ify fashion world & African butik Sweden).


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News from Mathnasium of Aledo
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January 19, 2020
Our daughter was starting to not like math as she felt she was struggling to keep up and wasn't good with math. She went to Mathnasium over the summer and continued into the school year. She enjoys math again, and her grades have been increasing.
January 18, 2020
Terry Propps
Confidence and grades soared....Makes for a happy child
January 15, 2020
Kassandra Kubes
you have done exactly what you said you would you would do with my son. I am very pleased at his progress and how he will be ready for Algebra 2 and he can go into it with confidence!
Mathnasium of Aledo Reviews
January 19, 2020
Our daughter was starting to not like math as she felt she was struggling to keep up and wasn't good with math. She went to Mathnasium over the summer and continued into the school year. She enjoys math again, and her grades have been increasing.
January 18, 2020
Terry Propps
Confidence and grades soared....Makes for a happy child
January 15, 2020
Kassandra Kubes
you have done exactly what you said you would you would do with my son. I am very pleased at his progress and how he will be ready for Algebra 2 and he can go into it with confidence!
December 4, 2019
Mathnasium has been instrumental to my daughter and to our lives. I was at a loss in how to help my daughter, and unfortunately, the school wasn't helping. Mathnasium was able to fill in my child's missing learning gaps and then continue that enrichment. The staff is incredible, especially Christy. I would highly recommend this place.
November 26, 2019
November 1, 2019
Adrianna Vega
Math was such a daunting task for my daughter and caused her and I a great deal of stress. It just wasn't clicking for her and she desperately wanted to excel at it. She was scraping by for an entire school year getting by with a 70 average the entire year. She now has been getting nothing short of a B+ and it has done a great deal for her confidence! This is the best investment my husband and I have made for her.
October 26, 2019
Teresa Curnutt
Kayla is more confident and I know she understands so much more than she ever has. Thank you!
October 25, 2019
Kelly Wilkins
Gaz looks forward to his sessions every week.
October 19, 2019
Nicole Purdom
We love it! My daughters grades have improved so much in such a short amount of time!! The teachers are so amazing, caring and helpful!!!
October 13, 2019
We started our daughter at Mathnasium following the 2[PHONE NUMBER REMOVED] school year. She was a bit behind and through the summer as well as the first few months of the school year, the work she was doing at Mathnasium, the work being done at home and the work he school teacher had put in, has allowed her to be ahead of schedule. My daughter went from thinking she wasn't good at math and not wanting to do anything to enjoying her time at Mathnasium. The Instructors at Mathnasium have made learning math fun for my daughter.
October 2, 2019
Teri Dilling-Peterson
My Granddaughter brought up her grades within a month! From a low D to a B!! Thank You Again & Again!
September 26, 2019
We've been going for about a month & I see a difference in my kids math. The staff is awesome & my kids like working with them. Any concerns I have are addressed immediately by the director & I'm excited to see our first evaluation of progress. The flexibility in times to attend are awesome. They help with school homework & keep our at home fights to a minimum by helping my daughter when she brings her homework for clarification on rules. Love the program so far.
September 9, 2019
We have only been with Mathnasium for a month. We are hoping you all will be able to help him stay in track this year in Math. So far, we are pleased that he is not reluctant to attend Mathnasium and we are happy with the homework help he receives. Math homework has been a real struggle at our house. We are also relieved that Mathnasium is working with him to strengthen his basic math skills.
September 5, 2019
Ashlie Gutierrez
Mathnasium had made a huge impact on my child outlook of life towards school has definitely been a great impact on my child attitude I have already referred one person they have signed their Child up at Aledo Mathnasium's as well
August 30, 2019
You guys have been great! Our daughter has gained more confidence since she started attending Mathnasium!! Excited for this school year!
August 26, 2019
Ashley Landers
We love Mathnasium! Our daughter has gained so much confidence from going and is now an A student in Math. Her state test scores showed just how much mathnasium has helped her. Thanks!!
August 3, 2019
They have really helped to build a better foundation that will help my kids as they move on to the next grades.
July 18, 2019
Heather Kunert
I see great improvement in my daughter, shes excited about math now. She loves her time at Mathnasium with Richard, Christy and the rest of the staff. My daughter is like a whole new child when it comes to dealing with math. Shes confident, bright and has a good attitude about it now.
July 2, 2019
My boys have learned so much and got ahead of the game. Awesome!
May 16, 2019
Lisa Beto
We love mathnasium! The instructors are great. It's been so nice to see my child gain confidence in her math skills. Thus being able to improve daily math scores, test scores and star results. She even enjoys going.
May 15, 2019
Megan Mcclenden
They are incredibly helpful and take their passion to teach kids to the limit. I am so honored to have my daughter in this awesome learning center. She is already showing vast improvement and a desire to learn and it's only been a month. Can't wait to see where they take her!!!!
May 13, 2019
Amy Rowlings
I love this place. The fact that they provided me with a plan to get my high schooler on track and will help him to prep for the ACT is amazing. Up until then I had assumed he would take the SAT's. I was unaware of exactly what my son needed. Whenever I go in, someone comes over to greet me and immediately asks if I need help. Joe doesn't complain about math in school and he doesn't complain about his tutoring sessions with you which means less strife at the house. I only wish I had done it sooner.
May 9, 2019
Diana Wier
I've already referred Mathnasium to a friend!
April 19, 2019
Bobbie Crosslin
My daughter is in Algebra II at AHS. She has attended Mathnasiun for help with homework and before a few tests. She is able to drop in at her convience and there is always someone to patiently help her. Bobbie Crosslin
April 17, 2019
My Son has had a difficult time retaining different math concepts all the way up through middle school. This program has improved his ability to perform closer to his grade level.
April 13, 2019
Nicole Hunter
Our kiddo has been with Mathnesium for a year and we love and she loves it. She used to dislike math now she loves it. The staff is kind, patient, very knowledgeable and extremely effective based on the result we have seen. We love this place.
April 6, 2019
My kids have really come a long way in their math journey. They are both much more confident in school.
March 15, 2019
Stephanie Turk
Mathnasium has been awesome and very helpful for my 15 yr old son! He was reluctant to try it but actually loves going.
March 14, 2019
Miranda Phillips
We love it! So excited to see how much further my child will advance in the next months. My daughter loves going and begs me to take her. You know you're doing something right when the kid begs to go to their tutor!
March 4, 2019
Beth Scott
The staff is wonderful. I have seen a vast improvement in my daughter's confidence and attitude about learning and math!
March 2, 2019
Jeff Finley
I enrolled one of my grandsons after he was struggling in a new school. He had gaps that needed to be filled. The program has filled those gaps and he will soon be caught up. The results are showing in his grades and confidence. I have another grandson who has recently entered the program. I expect to hear of similar results from him. I also appreciate the caring attitude exhibited by Richard and Christy. They care about student success and that includes holding the student accountable for attitude, behavior, and effort. Thank you! Jeff Finley
February 25, 2019
Bethany Steele
Amazing staff! They truly care about your student and want them to be successful!
February 23, 2019
You've done a good job with my 15 year old daughter, so when my 13 year old daughter needed help, Mathnasium was my first choice.
February 12, 2019
Friendly, professional staff! Welcoming environment and my son is improving his math skills after 1 month of consistently attending 2 times a week. Incentives are great! Thank you all!
February 4, 2019
Hardy Mills
Richard has gone above and beyond to help our daughter. She started off the year two grade levels behind. The teachers map there skill levels every quarter an average students gains 10 points per a year and she gained 15 points in one semester. Very pleased with our service.
January 12, 2019
Danielle Owen
Since my daughter has started with Mathnasium her confidence has become stronger and she is very excited everytime to go to tutoring. Her stress level about learning math has decreased and she is ready to learn.
January 11, 2019
Denise Smalley
Brayden has built confidence through Mathnasium and is doing great his freshman year at TCA! Thank you! I am sure we will be back though :)
January 10, 2019
Joshua Porter
The Mathnasium approach has taken my son in a positive direction, improving his ability to perform at grade level.
January 5, 2019
My son came there the summer and finished 4 months later. Drastic improvement from making Ds in preA to A's in Alegebra.
December 16, 2018
Ricky Hood
My daughter is progressing and no longer scared to work on her math. Love the ease of setting appointments. Richard and the staff are amazing.
December 12, 2018
Billy James
The staff is kind, knowledgeable, and do their job to perfection. The schools could take some pointers from Mathnasium.
November 30, 2018
I appreciate the personal touch. My kid is not just another head in the class. They really care about his personal progress and attitude toward learning.
November 14, 2018
Tyler Birkeland
Had a very great experience with Mathnasium in Fort Worth and Mathnasium in Aledo. They truly care about helping you with your math problems and helped my daughter so much! Thank you Mathnasium staff!
October 25, 2018
Peter Haley
We like the convenience of drop in times and professionalism of the staff. My daughter has been going twice a week for a month and we can see the difference. A lot less counting on her fingers and more figuring out in her head.
October 15, 2018
Merla Zielinski
The fact you truly care about the students and provide excellent status reports. Cost is reasonable and location in Willow Park is great.
October 12, 2018
Lori Schwab Burk
Firstly, proof this program works happened for us when our student received above average on 3 of the 4 areas of aimsweb when the year prior she was testing at grade level, barely. Secondly, the staff was amazing. Thank you for what you have done for my daughter.
October 12, 2018
Mark Johnson
My sister and I both send our kids. You are saving my sanity and my child's gpa!! Thank you!! Amanda Johnson
October 11, 2018
I really like Mathnasium's approach of taking a step back and filling in missing information before moving forward. In the big picture, this is a much better approach to have lasting improvement.
October 6, 2018
Ronda Crowder
My daughter went from C's and D'a to an A+ ! Can't say enough good things about this place ! So easy to work with !!
October 5, 2018
Kenneth Zielinski
They helped my granddaughter not only with math skills but also built up her confidence which improved her other school subjects skills. Thank you very much.
October 4, 2018
Melissa Thieme
We love mathnasium and refer to everyone needing assistance in math.


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September of 480 BC After the battle of Salamis, and destruction of the Persian fleet. General, and leader of Greek forces Themistocles proposed that the remaining Persian ships who run away must be hunted down and the Greek Army must cut down their passage to Asia who was at a place named Hellespont. Spartan Admiral Euriviades totally opposed to the proposition of Themistocles because if the bridge of the Persian army will be burned, this will be a big danger for Europe and the European Nations as the Asiatics will flood Europe. This proves that the Greeks of that time was fully aware for what their were fighting for, and that was not only for Hellas but also for the rest of Europe as well.
"Next day the Greeks, seeing the land force of the barbarians encamped in the same place, thought that their ships must still be lying at Phalerum; and, expecting another attack from that quarter, made preparations to defend themselves. Soon however news came that the ships were all departed and gone away; whereupon it was instantly resolved to make sail in pursuit. They went as far as Andros; but, seeing nothing of the Persian fleet, they stopped at that place, and held a council of war. At this council Themistocles advised that the Greeks should follow on through the islands, still pressing the pursuit, and making all haste to the Hellespont, there to break down the bridges. Eurybiades, however, delivered a contrary opinion. "If," he said, "the Greeks should break down the bridges, it would be the worst thing that could possibly happen for Greece. The Persian, supposing that his retreat were cut off, and he compelled to remain in Europe, would be sure never to give them any peace. Inaction on his part would ruin all his affairs, and leave him no chance of ever getting back to Asia - nay, would even cause his army to perish by famine: whereas, if he bestirred himself, and acted vigorously, it was likely that the whole of Europe would in course of time become subject to him; since, by degrees, the various towns and tribes would either fall before his arms, or else agree to terms of submission; and in this way, his troops would find food sufficient for them, since each year the Greek harvest would be theirs. As it was, the Persian, because he had lost the sea-fight, intended evidently to remain no longer in Europe. The Greeks ought to let him depart; and when he was gone from among them, and had returned into his own country, then would be the time for them to contend with him for the possession of that."
The other captains of the Peloponnesians declared themselves of the same mind."
HERODOTUS Book VIII , Chapter 108
P.S. Note that here in the English translation of Herodotus it writes "Tribes". In the original text Herodotus use the word "Εθνεα" which in English translation means "Nations". So thats a mistake by the translator. But wait! Its not the European Nations a fabricated term that maded after the so-called "French" Revolution and the "enlightment"? Remind that next time to your marxist teachers in schools and universities.
(Themistocles, the heart and soul of the battle of Salamis. If Europe was truly European, big streets of many European cities had to bear his name as a saviour of Europe.)


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We have listed below the documents that are required in order to have a legal wedding in French Polynesia.
Legal Wedding Checklist
"Marriage of Foreign Citizens in French Polynesia" Application
"Certificate of Non-Marital Status" - please note that this document needs to be signed by a lawyer, translated into French by an approved translator and legalized by the French Consulate
Letter to the Mayor of the chosen commune
Download the required documents here:
Legal Wedding Checklist
"Marriage of Foreign Citizens in French Polynesia"
Application Certificate of Non-Marital Status
Letter to the Mayor
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