Hyperbaric Chamber Therapy in Mount Pleasant, SC

If Mount Pleasant's proposed tourism development fee moves forward, it would push the town's sales tax rate to the highest in South Carolina.

Since the announcement of the 1 percent retail tax, residents have raised questions about what is and isn't included, along with lack of transparency and other concerns.

Town officials plan to use the estimated $17 million to be collected the first year for several big projects at Patriots Point, including funding the National Medal of Honor Center for Leadership, plus a convention center and more than $100 million in public infrastructure improvements also at Patriots Point.

Those additions will include a new town-owned, 1,000-space parking garage, an expansion of the waterfront boardwalk, new turf for the town's soccer fields and improvements to the College of Charleston's soccer stadium.

A 1 percent retail sales tax was originally established by state law in 2008 in order to fund out-of-market advertising to bring in more tourists. At the time, Myrtle Beach was the only municipality that passed such a tax. Mount Pleasant could be the second.

What exactly would the fee apply to?

It applies to most retail sales within the town, excluding groceries and other specified categories. Examples of taxable purchases include clothing and accessories, electronics and appliances, furniture and general retail items sold in stores.

It does extend to restaurant and dining purchases, including meals, beverages and other food and drink items.

What kind of purchase categories would be excluded?

Exclusions include essential categories like groceries, prescription medications, medical supplies, utilities and large-ticket items with capped tax rates, like vehicles.

What can the money be spent on?

The revenue is earmarked specifically for promoting tourism and hospitality, funding infrastructure improvements tied to tourism and offering property tax rebates to residents.

Unlike a general sales tax, the funds cannot be used for unrelated town expenses.

What is the backstory?

It's unclear exactly when discussions on the tax started.

The town states the idea was proposed as a tool to capitalize on Mount Pleasant’s growing tourism economy. Mayor Will Haynie said during the Dec. 2 special town council meeting where the idea was revealed that it was a sustainable way to fund critical infrastructure improvements at Patriots Point, support projects like the National Medal of Honor Center for Leadership, expand recreational facilities and improve waterfront access.

By law, the tax may only be imposed by a municipality located in a county where revenue from the state A​ccommodations Tax​ is at least $14 million in a fiscal year, according to state law.

Was there community input?

The Dec. 2 special meeting was the first public meeting where the fee had been discussed, followed by a press conference that detailed how the money could be spent.

It was somewhat of an unusual process for the town, with no advance public campaign on the matter, an unlinked ordinance on the agenda and a delay in a public news release.

Per state law, a second reading and vote are required to finalize the ordinance. The town expects it to be held in early January, at which time residents can speak during public comment.

To be adopted, the ordinance needs a supermajority of council or a referendum.

How does the tax work?

Estimations are based on the town's gross taxable sales in 2023, which amounted to $3.18 billion with net taxable sales totaling $1.808 billion, according to the South Carolina Department of Revenue. In the first year, more than $17 million is expected to be collected through the tax.

The 1 percent fee, if approved, would be added to consumer's retail bill. The retailer collects the tax and remits the total to the S.C. Department of Revenue. The state distributes the funds to Explore Charleston, which allocates funds to the town and designated organizations.

What kind of tax break do residents get?

A portion of what is collected would be set aside for property tax rebates for Mount Pleasant homeowners in the first year. A resident with a $500,000 home could expect a $38 rebate in the first year. In years 2-10, only owner-occupied homes will see an estimated $45 credit, for example.

While the property tax rebate is a direct way to target a portion of Mount Pleasant residents for relief to offset the burden of the additional tax, there is no framework in the state law to provide relief for other residents, like renters.

An Upstate food-and-beverage hub is one step closer to being duplicated near the coast.

Four Oaks Property Group, the firm behind Greenville's Gather GVL, received approval late last month from the Town of Mount Pleasant's Commercial Design Review Board to move forward with a 3-acre park with restaurants and retail tenants.

Gather MTP will be developed within the mostly residential Midtown development between Rifle Range Road and Hungryneck Boulevard.

Mack Cross, co-owner of Four Oaks Property Group with his father, Doug Cross, is leading the development. The Gather MTP building will be at Hancock Street and Midtown Avenue, and will include retail and office spaces in addition to food and beverage tenants.

A third phase of the project would include a 10,000-square-foot office that could potentially have medical tenants, though nothing is confirmed yet.

Business

"This is a place where our families can go outdoors and have fun in a family-friendly location," said Cross, a Mount Pleasant resident. "The kids can be kids, the adults can have a good time as well with a wide variety of food and beverages and a live music program."

The Crosses first brought plans before the board in April and had a history of success to boost their proposal. This year, Gather GVL was ranked the fifth-best food hall in America, according to the USA Today Readers’ Choice Awards.

The major difference between the concepts is the addition of more retail and office space in the East Cooper version.

Another Four Oaks Property Group development in Simpsonville has those components, and Cross said it's done so well he decided to include them to the Gather MTP plans. While he hasn't secured all the tenants, several have already expressed interest in joining the lineup.

Preston Wendell, a partner for the project through his Whitewater Property Ventures, said the key to Gather MTP is not just its outdoor focus, but its shade and rain cover so that it can be used and enjoyed year-round.

"If there's a light rain, you're going to be covered," Wendell said. "When it's hot, we're positioning a 55-foot oak tree to provide optimal shade for relief."

The next step for the developers is to submit the design and construction plans to the town to secure their building permits.

Cross hopes to break ground this spring or summer with a 12- to 15-month construction period.

"We've put attention into this space and it's going to be really cool," Wendell said. "This is a moment where people want to spend their time outside in a different kind of environment."

Crooked Hammock, a beach-style restaurant out of Delaware, also received approval from the DRB to design plans for the restaurant and brewery next to Gather MTP. It will be Crooked's fifth establishment, including an existing outpost in Myrtle Beach.

Raising Roper

Construction is underway on the new Roper St. Francis Healthcare medical complex in the Sawmill community of Summerville.

The site will include a two-story, 40,000-square-foot ambulatory building with a freestanding emergency room, imaging services, lab, surgery center and women’s imaging. A second 20,000-square-foot medical office building will offer specialized care services.

The new complex is near East 5th North Street and Berlin G. Myers Parkway.

The first building is expected to open in January 2026, with the second to follow a few months later.

Adding inventory

Nearly 300 apartments are underway in Flowertown.

Quarterra Multifamily has begun construction of the 288-unit Emblem Summerville rental community at 44000 Owl Wood Lane. The developer is a Texas-based development and management arm of homebuilding giant Lennar Corp.

Apartment floor plans will feature one- to three-bedroom options ranging from 783 to 1,434 square feet.

Business

Quarterra said the rentals would be priced to address the shortage of attainable housing for middle-income renters in the local market. It did not respond to requests for details.

Emblem Summerville is Quarterra’s third apartment community in South Carolina, following Emblem Cane Bay North, also in Summerville, and The Cormac in downtown Charleston.

To date, Quarterra has delivered eight Emblem communities nationwide with 20 more in the pipeline.

Business

Lofty move

Sharbell Nexton LLC's first 64-unit phase of its Lofts in Downtown Nexton has been completed.

The one- to two-bedroom layouts in the five-story mixed-use and multifamily development range from 760 to 1,541 square feet

Residents have access to a rooftop gathering space, a community entertainment kitchen, multiple game rooms and more than 24,000 square feet of ground-floor retail and restaurant space.

Downtown Nexton is a nearly 100-acre development between Sigma Drive and Brighton Park Boulevard, within walking distance of nearby residential neighborhoods.

At Seacoast Church in Mount Pleasant, which has emerged as the busiest early voting site in South Carolina this year, nearly 1,100 voters had cast their ballots by 11:30 a.m. Tuesday.

By lunchtime in downtown Charleston, the line to vote at the main branch of the Charleston County library was wrapping around the main lobby and stretching downstairs, some 880 ballots and counting.

And on James Island, election workers said their best advice for getting in and out quickly at Baxter-Patrick Library Branch on Grimball Road is to consider coming to vote after 9 a.m., when most people are already at work, or about an hour after the lunch crowd.

This year, statewide interest in early voting has reached new heights, smashing records on the very first day it was offered for the 2024 presidential election.

Almost one in four of South Carolina's 3.4 million registered voters have already cast their ballots early, according to the latest available data published daily by the S.C. Election Commission.

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And that's not including the 79,144 absentee ballots that had been returned when reports were run before 10 a.m. on Oct. 29.

By state law, counties must open at least one early voting center but they cannot open more than seven. So far, things are running smoothly, despite the surge in turnout.

"We are very happy with the way it's gone so far in the early voting period, and we only expect it to get busier," said John Michael Catalano, a spokesman for the state election commission.

Catalano said the election commission has encouraged counties to open as many early voting sites as they can.

"It's an 'If you build it, they will come' sort of thing," Catalano said, borrowing a line made famous in the 1989 baseball movie, "Field of Dreams."

"The more early voting centers you have," he said, "the more likely you're going to have a big turnout during early voting."

That adage has proved true in Charleston County, which is leading the state in early voting totals and opened the maximum seven early voting centers that are allowed under state law.

The interest in early voting this year has been so great in the Charleston area that some early voting sites have added more voting machines to help keep long lines moving.

After the first day of early voting at Seacoast Church, poll worker Kate Everingham said they added seven pieces of election equipment — four additional machines inside, and three for curbside voting.

She said countywide early voting data suggests there is a surge beginning at 9:30 a.m., and then another wave of voters head to early voting sites between 1 p.m.-2 p.m.

Her recommendation?

"Try to be here between 5:30 p.m. and 6 p.m.," she said, acknowledging that while many are stuck in lines of traffic, voters may experience the opposite at their early voting site.

Still, many voters said they were ready to wait as long as it took, accepting that a high-stakes presidential election comes with long lines.

Laurel Woods pulled into the busy parking lot at Seacoast Church with her two small children, hoping for a quick trip and enough patience to get through the early voting line as South Carolina's turnout numbers continue to rise.

"We get to vote," Woods told her kids with a smile, explaining democracy in the simplest terms she could find for her 3-year-old son, Rhett, and 1-year-old daughter, Maeve.

Her total time took 40 minutes, without any meltdowns from her kids.

It was her first time voting early in South Carolina, and she said she had no complaints.

Other voters, like James Island resident Anita Wommack sought to be intentional about when she voted early at the Baxter-Patrick Library Branch on Oct. 29, trying to anticipate a rhythm to the relatively new two-week, no-excuse early voting period in South Carolina.

She said her strategy was to wait a few days and not be among the first who hit the early voting lines in the kickoff week.

"Part of the strategy was to vote later in the early voting period," she said, "than when it just started."

Attendant Alfred Seabrook, who wore a green reflective vest as he directed voters and took questions, said early voting on James Island has been especially speedy.

"They’re in and out in seven-to-eight minutes," said Seabrook, who also said there have been no extended wait times during the week, and estimated that the best times to come in right now seem to be between 9 a.m.-10:30 a.m., when most of the county is at work.

Otherwise, the next best window is in the 2-3 p.m. hour when election workers say they've noticed a slowdown in the volume of cars coming into the parking lot.

In downtown Charleston, at the main branch of the Charleston County library, voters remarked on how quickly they had been able to vote, with many saying to took them less than 20 minutes.

When three members of the Utsey family left wearing their "I Voted" stickers, they stopped to celebrate the moment together. Voting had become a family tradition, with Judy Utsey and her husband Skip Utsey, taking their children with them.

Last year, both Judy and Skip said they voted early.

Their son, Thomas Utsey, did not hesitate when asked why he decided to vote early this year, his first time casting a ballot as a registered voter.

"I was planning on taking a trip later on so I figured I might as well get voting done early," the 18-year-old College of Charleston student said, adding, "I just appreciate having my voice heard."

Afterward, they posed for a photo together outside the library and smiled next to the "vote here" sign as the line inside the library grew longer.

The early voting period ends on Saturday, Nov. 2.

Schuyler Kropf contributed to this report.

Are you looking for a personalized touch when it comes to your tennis equipment and supplies? Holy City Tennis has all that you could want and more to aid in your tennis hours.

Daniel DiNardo opened this retail tennis shop over six years ago. He was working at a different tennis shop in town when it closed. He saw the need in the market and decided to open his own three months later in November 2017. While this is the sole location at the moment, talks of expansion are happening and on the horizon.

With a specialization in merchandise, DiNardo has created a space where tennis lovers and athletes can come to try things on and find the right fit before they purchase. Different brands range in sizing and it can be difficult to find the perfect fit if you are ordering online. The knowledgeable staff at Holy City Tennis are ready to offer expertise and knowledge about all the products offered.

As a customer, you are able to physically look at and try out all the racquets to find the best one for your game. The three-day racquet demo allows you to try out a racquet before you purchase. They also offer specialty services like racquet customizations and racquet stringing. DiNardo takes time to know the products that he stocks and wants to ensure the highest level of quality and customer service to the tri-county area. There is something for every age and skill level at the shop and the staff is eager to make your tennis experience an enjoyable one.

Offerings include racquets, shoes, strings, grips, footwear, apparel and an assortment of other accessories. If you are looking for lessons, they can help with local teaching with professional referrals. The one-on-one experience and dialogue that is offered from this small business is unlike other sporting goods stores.

A sport that is growing in popularity is Pickleball. Holy City Tennis also offers a variety of supplies for this sport. They have everything from paddles and balls to shoes and apparel. Because of its popularity, you may be able to find somewhere to play but it is harder to find somewhere to purchase quality materials for the game.

DiNardo attributes the success of Holy City Tennis to the referrals and reviews of customers. The amount of return as well as new customers is constantly growing. Word of mouth has helped the popularity of the shop increase and grow into a thriving hub for the tennis community. “I am proud that we’ve been here for closer to a decade than not. We stand by our referrals and reviews.”

Holy City Tennis is happy to assist in finding what is needed to help you become a pro in no time. Stop by and see them for all of your tennis and pickleball needs. They can’t wait to serve up a positive experience.

For more information, please visit www.facebook.com/HolyCityTennisShop/, or call 843-284-8977.

By Cari Lawson

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