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Keep up with the comings and goings in the region this week with a new gym, coffee shop, retail center and the return of the Charleston Farmers Market.

Greg Parker, owner of Parker's Kitchen was on hand to mark the opening of his company's latest West Ashley convenience store and service station this week. He cut the ribbon for the 1776 Ashley River Road location at the Sam Rittenberg Boulevard intersection, alongside his daughter Olivia Parker, employees and others.

The Savannah-based chain, which has opened more than dozen locations in the Charleston region, is also celebrating another milestone this week: advancing to the final round in Garden & Gun magazine's best biscuit competition. The retailer’s signature sausage, egg and cheese combo faced off against Tudor’s Biscuit "World Mountaineer," taking second place honors April 10.

Moving into Maybank

A build-to-suit development will provide even more business amenities to Johns Island.

The 55,000-square-foot Southside Station, formerly Maybank Station, is planned for Maybank Highway and Slack Tide Drive — the entrance to the future Lowtide Brewery.

The development by Greenville-based Fox Commercial Properties will be built in phases with two buildings for medical use set to break ground this summer. They will measure roughly 14,000 square feet and 18,000 square feet. Phase two will include four more buildings, as of now, designed for retail, restaurants and other services.

Burger bite

The sale of the former Laura Alberts Tasteful Options restaurant on Daniel Island has closed.

Carolina Burgers II LLC purchased the space at 891 Island Park Drive for $2.4 million from Leke Properties LLC, according to buyer representative Mandy Coleman of National Restaurant Properties. The seller was represented by Tim Rogers of The Peninsula Co.

Laura Alberts, which was opened by Laura Leppert and Karen Elsey in 2002, closed March 15.

The new property owner plans to open a second location of Heavy’s Barburger in the space this summer. The first opened at 1137 Morrison Drive on the peninsula in mid-2022.

In the market

The Charleston Farmers Market resumes operations this weekend at Marion Square in downtown Charleston.

Featuring fruits and produce from local growers, handcrafted drinks, prepared foods and locally made arts and crafts, the event runs from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Saturday through December.

Similarly, the West Ashley Farmers Market will pick back up on April 24 and run from 3 to 7 p.m. every Wednesday at 55 Sycamore Ave.

NY on King

Fashion label Rag & Bone New York will open its first South Carolina location in downtown Charleston next month.

The retail space at 363 King St. between George and Calhoun streets is currently under renovations.

Originated in England, the brand is sold in more than 700 shops around the world and roughly 50 namesake stores.

Free for all

Treat yourself to something sweet next week.

Ben & Jerry's annual cone giveaway takes place April 16, and one of its participating "scoop shops" is at Freshfields Village on Kiawah Island.

The ice cream giant's stated goal is to reach 1 million servings during the annual promotion. The company, now part of consumer-goods giant Unilever, started the one-day giveaway in 1979 to mark the first anniversary of its first store in Burlington, Vt.

Fill'er up

Grab a cup o' joe for the road at Monck Corner's newest coffee stop.

Bikerlife Coffee Haus at 1010 Old Highway 52 serves up hot drinks, sweet pastries, fresh doughnuts, mini cupcakes and more to sate your appetite. Hours are 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturdays.

Bikerlife is closed on Sundays.

Shaping up

New Year's Resolutions have probably long been forgotten, but there's no time like the present to focus on your health and join a new gym.

Audacity Fitness, recently opened at 4540 Rivers Ave. in North Charleston with a focus on group-class fitness. Class types include CrossFit, strength and conditioning and fitness for ages 50+. Personal training sessions are also an option.

Owner Katie Flaherty said she plans to expand offerings with skill clinics, community events, fundraisers, specialty courses and more at the gym.

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LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) - With a chance to get off to the best start in club history, Louisville City FC instead suffered its first loss of the season.

LouCity fell 3-2 on the road against the Charleston Battery on Tuesday night in a game where Louisville quickly took a lead. The problem was a goal in the opening 10 minutes was the only highlight from a first half that saw Charleston have 61.4% of the possession.

“I thought we were completely out-performed in the first half — nowhere near good enough,” LouCity head coach Cruz said. “I thought we made really good adjustments at halftime, got into the players a little bit and had an excellent response in the second half. I thought it was a tale of two halves. I thought we were the better team in the second half, and they certainly were the better team in the first half.”

This match marked the first time Louisville, who is now 4-1 on the year, had trailed all season. Jorge Gonzalez opened the scoring off a corner kick to give LouCity an 1-0 lead before MC Myers responded for Charleston a minute later. Nick Markanich's brace proved to be the difference, as his penalty kick gave the Battery the lead in the 22nd minute before he scored again on a rebound opportunity in the 30th minute to make it 3-1.

To Cruz's point, Louisville did respond well against a side that now sits atop the Eastern Conference standings in the USL Championship. He made three substitutions at halftime after trying a new lineup, since LouCity had a quick turnaround for an away match after just beating Indy Eleven at home on Saturday. A new face in midfielder Taylor Davila was able to pull Louisville within one goal by finding the back of the net in the 52nd minute.

“We knew when we came in at halftime it wasn’t good enough,” LouCity midfielder Taylor Davila said. “From an energy standpoint and from a technical standpoint, we just weren’t doing the little things we needed to do. At halftime we made changes, and we just really had energy. We looked confident. We were playing through them and dangerous.

“I definitely feel like we could have tied the game up or even won. That’s how well we played in the second half. I’m definitely bummed we didn’t come out like that in the first half, but it’s a good learning experience.”

Louisville gets some time off before returning to action on April 16 for a third-round match in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup vs. Greenville Triumph SC at Lynn Family Stadium. But Cruz wants his group to remember how it responded in this loss so LouCity can find the form from its first four matches again.

“We talked a ton, and have continued to talk a ton about complacency and making sure it doesn’t set in,” Cruz said. “I thought in the first half, it did. And I thought the response to the adversity from the first half to the second half was excellent.”

Copyright 2024 WDRB Media. All Rights Reserved.

Fayetteville, NC - A towering pop up fell between two Charleston RiverDogs infielders to begin the bottom of the second inning on Tuesday night at Segra Stadium. From that point forward, everything went downhill in the team’s first road game of the season. The Fayetteville Woodpeckers collected nine hits and their pitching staff piled up 16 strikeouts in a 9-3 win.

The previously mentioned second inning proved disastrous for the RiverDogs (2-2). The first pitch of the inning from T. J. Nichols was popped high into the air on the third base side. Ricardo Gonzalez crossed into foul territory only to have the ball drop behind him just inside the foul line for a base hit. Nichols was thrown off by the miscue, walking the next three hitters to force in the game’s first run. Will Bush and Kenni Gomez followed with consecutive RBI singles, expanding the lead to 3-0. Engert Garcia replaced the starter with the bases still loaded and induced a double play and a pop out to end the inning.

With the Charleston offense struggling to find its footing, Fayetteville (3-1) added to their advantage in the fourth. In his third inning on the mound, Garcia walked Alberto Hernandez to begin the stanza. Gomez singled with one out and a wild pitch advanced runners to second and third for Waner Luciano. The third baseman hooked a double down the left field line to score both and make it 6-0.

Failing to score with a bases loaded opportunity in the fifth inning, the RiverDogs cashed in for the first time in the sixth. Ricardo Gonzalez opened the inning with a solo home run over the right field wall. Tre’ Morgan immediately followed with a base hit and raced all the way to third on Raudelis Martinez’s double down the right field line. Carlos Colmenarez worked a walk to load the bases and Noah Myers drove in a second run with a fielder’s choice bouncer to second.

Fayetteville blew the game open against Gerlin Rosario in the seventh. The right-hander hit Xavier Casserilla with his first offering of the frame and followed that with a walk of Waner Luciano. An infield hit by Nehomar Ochoa loaded the bases with just one out. Hernandez took advantage by lining a two-run single into right field and the gap widened to 9-2.

Nichols took the loss after allowing four runs in the second inning without recording an out. He allowed three hits and also issued three free passes. Owen Stevenson was impressive bouncing back from a challenging first outing over the weekend. The reliever out of Arizona State worked 2.1 scoreless innings. Fayetteville starter Derek True was phenomenal, striking out seven over 4.2 innings.

Gomez paced the Woodpeckers from the top spot in their lineup, going 3-5 with two runs batted in. Hernandez chipped in three RBI with a single and two walks. The RiverDogs finished with seven hits, one each from seven different players.

Copyright 2024 WCSC. All rights reserved.

King Street in downtown Charleston, the site of Charleston Mayor William Cogswell's safety initiative plan to create a safer nightlife. March 6, 2024. (Claire Weber/WCIV)

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCIV) — Changes are coming to the City of Charleston’s zoning code.

The existing code affects all developments in the city: commercial and residential. However, it hasn’t been updated in more than five decades.

“Our existing zoning ordinance is many decades old, so the whole thing needs to be updated, brought into the 21st century, graphics added, make it much more user friendly,” said Christopher Morgan, planning manager for the city’s planning department.

Charleston has had the same city zoning code since 1966. Now, officials plan to make necessary changes focusing on the city’s future development.

“Most of this deals with when you're expanding your business or expanding your house,” Morgan explained. “Or building a new house, new business or a new neighborhood.”

Arguably the biggest change to the zoning code is one city leaders hope helps guide new development as sea levels continue to rise. The new code will include elevation-based zoning to combat increased flooding.

It comes less than a month after Mayor William Cogswell announced a new flooding plan to increase preparation ahead of severe weather.

“What this plan is, is an effort to put in some temporary solutions to allow us to frankly live with water for a little while until we get more permanent solutions in place,” Mayor Cogswell said in a press conference on March 13.

City officials hope these zoning changes will be one of those permanent solutions.

The updates call for less future development in areas of lower elevation or that are closer to sea level.

“There's very extensive mapping that's done in our comprehensive plan that shows the areas that have better elevation and worse elevation, and the worse elevation areas have more potential for impact by rising water,” Morgan said.

The updated code would push for higher-density development to strictly pop up in areas with better elevation. Morgan believes Charleston will be the first place to establish a city-wide elevation zoning code.

The city is hosting a public meeting on Wednesday at 5 p.m. at the International Longshoremen’s Association Hall on Morrison Drive to present the proposed changes and receive public feedback.

City officials don’t expect the new ordinance to reach the city council for a vote until the end of the year.

A recent editorial in The Post and Courier suggested it’s time for Charleston to start planning for what it called our eventual abandonment of the Columbus Street Terminal. We want to be clear: This does not align with our business goals, and we have no plans to sell this site.

At a time when port cities up and down the East Coast, including ours, are stepping up to handle additional business due to the Baltimore bridge tragedy, the editorial left the impression that we are lessening our commitment to our mission. Nothing could be further from the truth.

As the eighth largest port in the country, we consistently shift our operations to find creative solutions, which is exactly what we are doing with Columbus Street Terminal.

We are taking proactive steps to invest in infrastructure to strengthen our resiliency against rising sea levels and severe weather events. We are all learning to live with water in Charleston. It would be irresponsible to do otherwise.

The S.C. Ports Authority is a critical supply chain partner to our state’s automotive industry and has been for decades.

Since 2011, we have expertly handled nearly 3 million vehicles at Columbus Street Terminal for global automakers. We moved more than 200,000 vehicles last year alone. We are constantly evaluating our operations and infrastructure to ensure our shippers’ businesses succeed.

We have invested in modernizing the terminal over the years, including enhanced rail connections and raising the terminal’s height to better support the automotive sector’s supply chain. The automotive industry growth in our state was the catalyst for opening our first rail-served inland port in Greer.

Our many port investments have helped to facilitate South Carolina’s unmatched success in the nation as the top exporter of both vehicles and tires.

And we will always evaluate port infrastructure to best support port-dependent businesses and create jobs for South Carolinians, while also working alongside the communities and municipalities in which we reside.

As you have seen throughout the very public Union Pier process and pending sale to Charleston businessman Ben Navarro, we take our commitment to the Charleston community very seriously. We have demonstrated that we will work alongside the city of Charleston as our future needs present themselves and in a way that is mutually beneficial.

And that is exactly what our investment into Columbus Street Terminal is about: strengthening resiliency and planning for the future. That’s something to celebrate about one of our most critical assets.

Barbara Melvin is president and CEO of SC Ports, and Bill Stern is its board chair.