James Island loses 1st round with city of Charleston.

Byline: JASON HARDIN

The town of James Island lost its first tangle with the city of Charleston Wednesday, as the city's planning commission rejected requests to delay action on a recently annexed parcel of waterfront property the town claims as its own.

The commission agreed to give the nearly 1,000-acre Grimball Farms property a zoning for conservation, which is the city's least dense zoning category, allowing one house per 1.5 acres.

But town representatives, including Mayor Mary Clark, questioned whether the city should zone the property at all. They say the tract is within town borders.

The land, which lies between Grimball Road and …