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Towne Centre's future uncertain as Mount Pleasant denies rezoning request (WCIV)

MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. (WCIV) — After months of back-and-forth discussion, Mount Pleasant town leaders have denied a rezoning request for Towne Centre.

Discussions surrounding the future of the space first started when Bed, Bath & Beyond shut down.

“There were real concerns about some of those large buildings could someday be vacant, so they wanted to kind of think ahead and plan for different redevelopment scenarios,” said Michele Reed, the town’s director of planning.

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Continental Realty Corp., which owns the property, shared an original proposal with the Town Council in April to add apartments, a hotel, and more retail space. Overall, it consisted of buildings that would stand at 75 feet tall.

“I think that like maybe a hotel might be a bit too much because we already have that big hotel over there and I know around like the slow seasons now it's pretty much useless,” said Benjamin Marhefka, who works at TCBY in Towne Centre.

In a series of ten meetings and public hearings with residents, town leaders asked for adjustments to the plan; some of which were made, like lowering building height and adding greenspace.

However, some residents still worry about the possible issues new development could bring to Mount Pleasant.

“If they completely erase all the parking spots for like other businesses, I think that's going to be a big problem because I’ll see the parking lot like jam-packed on Saturdays,” Marhefka said.

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While parking isn’t a main area of concern with the proposal, the majority of council and Mayor Will Haynie still have reservations about the plan, saying it needs to be done right.

“Council really wants to see a solid plan that they know exactly what they're getting so that the people of the town know what they're getting, and they can really make a sound vote on this proposal,” Reed said.

The request has been shut down for now but a new version of it could be before Town Council in the next few months.

David Donato with Continental Realty Corp. sent News 4 the following statement after the original story aired:

“The next steps for CRC are to work on integrating the feedback from Council Members and the Mayor into a revised amendment that can garner Council support the next time through. The good news is that nearly everyone in this process sees the logic of doing what we can to improve Towne Centre. We knew this would not be a straight line to a PD Amendment - that is why we approached Town of Mt. Pleasant proactively. At the end of the day, I believe we will reach an outcome that keeps Towne Centre vibrant for years to come."

Updated: Oct. 2, 2024 at 5:03 PM PDT

MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. (WCSC) - If you’ve been out on Shem Creek, you may have noticed some noise and the appearance of tall scaffoldings and metal scraps.

These are the building blocks for a dock and shrimp processing building repair project on Haddrell Street. This is the home base of Tarvin Seafood, a shrimping company that has provided the domestic delicacy to Lowcountry businesses since 2011.

“They take a lot of pride in the product and they make our product look better,” owner Cindy Tarvin says. “They’re rebuilding the back half of this building and the dock surrounding it. When it’s completed, it’ll be a really nice space.”

The town of Mount Pleasant purchased the property after noticing the dock was deteriorating and causing safety hazards.

Leaders described the metal building as rusted, the dock wood uprooted and unevenly spaced. The building and dock are estimated to be around 60 years old.

“It was important we didn’t close them down to rebuild the dock,” Deputy Director of Engineering and Development Services Kevin Mitchell says. “It’ll help with the seafood processing itself and preserve the historical character of what the creek was all about.”

The phased project is estimated to be around $4 million. It started in the spring of 2024 with the repair of a nearby ramp and dock, and now it is in the second phase. Leaders say this is the most complicated as it involves the cementing and full rebuild of both dock wood and the metal building itself.

It would extend the building out to the water, several feet away from where it currently sits.

The group says their goal is to return the dock and processing center to its former glory, so the finished product will aim to look exactly as the original setup.

“It is going to benefit whoever’s here. whether it’s us or a future owner. It’s the last space on the creek large enough to anchor a fishing fleet,” Tarvin says. “That’s the important part. Not that it’s helping Tarvin Seafood, but it’s helping the creek.”

The project is expected to be finished within the next four to six months.

Copyright 2024 WCSC. All rights reserved.

With Travel + Leisure and Conde Nast Traveler naming Charleston the No. 1 vacation destination in the world year after year, developing Patriots Point demanded a clearly defined master plan, according to Ian Duncan, development director of the Bennett Hospitality Group. Having updated sketches of the vision for the project continuously over the last 10 years, Duncan said the plans for a blend of commercial and residential properties that have been in place since 2011 have since evolved into an upscale, world class mixed-use 6.2-acre development called Seafair Village, located within the 30.32-acre Patriots Annex development.

Additionally, Jake Carter, planner for the Town of Mount Pleasant, shared that the site as it exists today consists of the current entrance drive to the Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum, parking lot area and existing underground utilities adjacent to the critical line against the Cooper River. According to Duncan, the Bennett Hospitality Group is collaborating with the USS Yorktown to ensure that the first phase will not interfere with operations at Patriots Point.

“As the Yorktown brings thousands of visitors each year, we have been working closely together to make sure we are good neighbors,” Duncan said.

Working hand in hand with high-profile and seasoned Atlanta-based Rabun Architects, Duncan said that Phase One of the long-term project includes a top-of-the-line resort boasting a three-story hotel with 105 rooms, as well as an adjacent 12 cottages, each of which are outfitted with a kitchenette, living room and covered porch. Amenities will include a pool, bar, spa, fitness facility and conference center. Further, outdoor areas incorporating gazebos, tiki huts, fire pits, open areas with views of the harbor, marinas and the Battery along with parks and an interactive fountain resembling the pineapple at downtown Charleston’s Waterfront Park will lend a family dynamic to the property.

Additionally, high-end boutiques and restaurants will give Seafair Village a vibe like that of Kiawah’s Freshfields Village, Wild Dunes or Nexton. And as Duncan said, due to its convenient location, Seafair is geared to become the heart of Mount Pleasant where residents and visitors can bike or drive. With convenient perimeter parking, a vacation or day trip to Seafair will offer something for everyone, whether hiking a waterside trail connecting to Hog Island, kayaking, playing a round at the Patriots Point Links course, relaxing during a massage, taking a harbor cruise or spending the day shopping while lingering to enjoy dinner.

“It’s so exciting to see the plans coming to fruition,” Duncan said. He added that this fall, before ground can be broken for construction of the hotel and cottages, a land disturbing activity, work on the first phase of the Seafair Village development will require the enormous endeavor of verifying existing conditions, including but not limited to topographic, tree, storm drainage facilities and all exact vertical and horizontal locations of all existing utilities. Duncan estimated that this intricate work, along with building the hotel and cottages, will take approximately 12-18 months to complete Phase One to the Bennett Hospitality Group’s high standards, with the grand opening slated for some time in 2026.

The next steps, according to Duncan, will include Bennett Hospitality finalizing landscaping, as well as interior packages with Atlanta-based Design Continuum, Inc.’s lead designer Karen Jenkins, who is in the preliminary phases of conceptualizing the coastal contemporary look that will pull neutral colors from the outdoors to mirror surrounding nature. As Duncan said, this streamlined and timeless style fits beautifully with Mount Pleasant’s vernacular.

Future phases include developing hundreds of thousands of additional square feet allocated for upwards of 500 hotel rooms, a conference facility, boutique second-story office spaces, residential components, as well as a sports and entertainment venue.

“This project is already attracting national attention,” Duncan said, adding that market demand will ultimately determine final plans for other long-term phases of Seafair Village. “I’ll still be drawing for several months,” Duncan said with a chuckle. “In fact, I’ll never stop drawing.”

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Following a previous Mount Pleasant Planning Commission meeting advising the selection of a designated overseer of tree regulations, locals recently cited the need for more trees in the community.

Long-time resident and former president of Wild Dunes Resort Mike Tinkey appeared at the Nov. 4 Mount Pleasant Planning Committee meeting to inform lawmakers about the area's diminished tree canopy.

While referencing a 200-page urban forestry document, Tinkey stated that Mount Pleasant's tree canopy is 27 percent as of 2019, which falls shy of the 40 percent coverage seen in most urban areas.

"Clearly, we've lost a lot more in the last five years and we'll need to plant, per the document, 4,300 trees annually over 30 years to reach that 40 percent," he cautioned.

In order to accomplish that goal, he suggested the Town draft a comprehensive plan and form a tree task force to examine multiple aspects of the urban forest, including wildlife, recreation and resiliency.

Further, Tinkey supported an ordinance incentivizing tree preservation in light of several healthy trees that have been eliminated over the years simply because they're in the way.

But a successful master plan, he added, will only be possible by implementing a tree inventory process.

Mount Pleasant Green Commission Chairperson David Quick also spoke on the subject, indicating that zoning changes currently in the works would require in-depth study insofar as understanding what other towns are doing.

He agreed with the Mount Pleasant Planning Commission's endorsement of a dedicated task force that would establish a baseline and help gather data on the issuance of tree-cutting permits.

"What's the level of illegal tree cutting going on in Mount Pleasant? ... We had someone from Andrus Tree Service, who's in the business of tree cutting, saying there's an immense amount of illegal tree cutting going on in Mount Pleasant. We need to crack down on that," affirmed Quick.

Other nearby towns, he continued, have "much stronger" protection. Quick further championed the thought of ramping up enforcement of tree removals.

The role of protection, noted the one-time Post and Courier scribe, ought to be transferred from the purview of engineering departments and the like, and into the hands of tree experts.

Others voicing similar views included Michelle Stress and Lisa Schnipke, both of whom made a case for the restoration of tree canopy throughout Mount Pleasant.

"The frivolous cutting down of trees is also theft. This is theft from an entire community," opined Stress. "When you cut down a tree, you exhaust that resource, the community's resource.

Schnipke, on the other hand, recommended the appointment of "qualified and passionate" Town Urban Forester Eddie Bernard as the person entrusted with reviewing tree permit applications.

Too many trees, she reasoned, are being lost due to understaffing in Town government.

With a laundry list of agenda items before them, however, Mount Pleasant Planning Committee members opted not to take action on voting on a tree-related task force.

The tree "issue," maintained planning committee member Howard Chapman, would probably necessitate at least an hour of discussion.

Chapman also questioned if creating a new task force would be warranted given the fact that a green commission is already in place.

During the Monday morning session, attendees were reminded that to date, a Town Community Forest Master Plan (CFMP) was created in December, featuring 59 recommendations to current tree protection regulations. The draft Zoning Code incorporates nearly all of these proposals, according to Town Planning Director Michele Reed, which were addressed by the planning commission on Oct. 23.

Reed mentioned that the Town recently received a grant for the inventory of public trees, but not ones on private properties. The tree count will begin once the grant is funded, she added.

Committee Chairperson G.M. Whitley put a bow on tree talk by commenting: "I mean, for me, tree recommendations ... I'm still not comfortable with pine trees. They snap during hurricanes is what I heard ... and then doubling the tree protection zone ratio. I've had multiple citizens reach out to me with incredible concerns about that. I mean, you double that radius, you can't do anything with that property, right?"

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - Lowcountry voters are urged to come to the polls prepared as Tuesday marks Election Day for the anticipated 2024 Presidential Election.

The South Carolina Election Commission saw record numbers during the early voting period. Over 1.47 million early voters turned out ahead of Election Day.

Voters who plan to cast their ballots Tuesday are urged to arrive at the polls prepared. The state Election Commission states campaign material is not allowed within 500 feet of the entrance to the polling place. That includes clothing, pamphlets, posters and small objects like pins or buttons.

The Charleston County Board of Voter Registration and Elections Executive Director Isaac Cramer says the unacceptable materials are for current candidates. Cramer says poll workers will remove any campaign material within the 500-foot zone.

“If you’re wearing a shirt, they’ll be like, ‘wear it inside out,’ you’ll probably go to the bathroom or back to your car…If you’re wearing a hat, we’ll probably ask you to go back to your vehicle or put that piece of literature away,” Cramer says, “We know people are passing out pamphlets, we know that you might bring a pamphlet with you but we just ask that, that will be put in your purse, put in your pocket or brought back to your vehicle.”

Cramer urges voters to preview their sample ballot before heading to the ballot box. He says looking at the sample ballot online helps with speeding up the voting process.

“The ballot will contain president, Congress, you got local elections as well as the constitutional amendment, local county questions and those will just be longer for voters to review,” Cramer says.

Election officials recommend voters to be voter-ready by knowing any poll location changes. Voters can find their location online on the state election commission website.

Charleston County voters will see permanent location changes starting Election Day. Officials say residents received change via notification cards. County board officials say the changes to better serve voters with fewer lines, quicker voter experience and more disability access.

The affected areas are:

Berkeley County voters will also see changes. Voters in Hanahan 3, 5 and Yeamans Club will vote at Hanahan High School auditorium. Hanahan 4 voters will vote in the high school gym.

County officials say voters affected by the change received notification ahead of this year’s voting period.

Polls open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Voters need a valid photo identification to enter the polls. Election officials say voters are eligible to vote as long as they are in line by 7 p.m.

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