Junk Removal in Johns Island, SC

A Johns Island brewery is planning to set up a new operation on a 10-acre parcel south of its current operation.

Low Tide Brewing is seeking approval from the city of Charleston to set up a beer-making operation along with a a bar and restaurant next to Trophy Lake off Maybank Highway.

Brewery founder Mike Fielding bought the site on the west side of Maybank Highway through affiliate Beer Baron LLC last January for $600,000, according to Charleston County land records.

Access to the property will be across from Meeks Farm Road, Fielding said.

He said it’s too early to pinpoint when the new operation will open since the city review process is just starting.

“It won’t be before 2025,” he said.

Low Tide Brewing currently operates in a 7,500-square-foot facility at 2863 Maybank Highway. It started serving beer in 2016.

The size of the new project has not been finalized, but Fielding said it will be much bigger than the current operation since the new site will be “a forever place for us.”

He also would like to see the city put in a public greenway path around the nearby water feature.

Fielding said the current operation on leased property is not affected by plans for the new facility.

What’s cooking?

A new dining and drinking venue is in the works for the former Caroline’s Aloha Bar in West Ashley.

Loving Cup Consulting LLC, an affiliate of downtown Charleston’s Proof bar operator Craig Nelson, recently applied for a license to sell beer, wine and liquor at 15 Magnolia Road in Avondale.

Nelson doesn’t have a name or menu for the new operation yet, but he is hoping to open by the end of February or by the spring at the latest.

The windows are papered over in what was once Voodoo Tiki Bar & Lounge for nearly two decades until 2020 when Caroline’s opened. Some cosmetic work is underway inside the roughly 2,700-square-foot site, which sits between restaurants Verde and Mellow Mushroom.

Nelson’s partners in the new venue are Celeste James and Sam Pisasale.

Nelson launched craft cocktail bar Proof on King Street in 2012. He said the new bar will be more casual than the downtown site.

New perk

Bad Bunnies Coffee plans to open soon at 116 Spring St. in the space formerly occupied by Sunrise Bistro Xpress.

Stepping in

A new retail shop that incorporates a clothing item in all of its wares is coming to downtown Charleston.

Respoke plans to open soon at 377 King St. in the former location of Simply J Boutique.

The shop will offer shoes, clothing and other items that are made in part by using different sections of scarves.

On the way

An affiliate of Valvoline bought a 1-acre site on Faison Road in northern Mount Pleasant for $850,000 in December. The wooded parcel is across the street from Costco Wholesale and next to a planned Bubbie’s Cookies and Treats shop, previously known as King Street Cookies.

After a decade of booming population growth, Johns Island may get its own representative on Charleston City Council.

But making that change could cost a sitting council member their seat.

The island is now in District 5, which also spans much of outer West Ashley. It is represented by Councilman Karl Brady, who lives in West Ashley.

Two newly proposed City Council district maps make Johns Island its own district without any extension into West Ashley. That means the City Council member to represent it would have to live on Johns Island.

“There is no one on council right now that drives our roads every day, sends their kids to school here, works here or lives here,” said John Zlogar, chairman of the Johns Island Task Force.

The group was established in 2013 to bring together residents and local officials to address Johns Island-specific issues.

While Zlogar said he has no issue with Brady, he said he would like to have a council member who can put their sole focus on the island.

“We will feel like we have someone that has our voice,” he said.

The island, which is partially within the city of Charleston and partially within unincorporated Charleston County, has deep roots in agriculture and the city’s Black history. Several Black family farms have run their businesses on the island since Reconstruction, when formerly enslaved laborers took over former plantations.

An “urban growth boundary,” established across the island limits where agricultural land must be protected and where development is allowed. Most of the city’s side of the island is located within the urban growth boundary and as a result has seen a massive influx of residents looking for a lower cost of living than the city’s core. Between 2010 and 2020, District 5, the district with Johns Island and West Ashley, grew a staggering 154 percent.

The redistricting process

Charleston Chief Innovation Officer Tracy McKee has led the city through the redistricting process three times in her career. Factoring in population growth between 2010 and 2020, McKee and city staff have been in the process of redrawing the council district boundaries for months.

“Four council members live on the peninsula, but we’ve had more growth in Berkeley County on Daniel Island and on Johns Island,” McKee said.

Every 10 years, the U.S. Census Bureau releases new population and demographic data that governments use to redraw voting districts. In 2020, it was delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

City Council voted last summer to delay redistricting until after the fall 2021 election.

Officials try to balance the population size of each district as well as their geographic spread. In Charleston, for example, it would be impractical to include Daniel Island and outer West Ashley in the same district.

Initially, city staff put out one proposal in July. That plan kept all sitting council members within their current districts. None of them were at risk of losing their seat or having to run against each other to keep their seat. But the proposal split Johns island into three districts that included other areas of the city as well.

The map was met with some criticism for the wide span of geography each district covered. Districts were stretched from the peninsula far into West Ashley and District 11, covered parts of West Ashley, James Island and Johns Island.

The League of Women Voters published a commentary in The Post and Courier calling for more compact districts.

“Drawing districts to protect incumbents means the maps defy logic in many places. James Island remains divided into three different districts, one with very dubious contiguity as it crosses briefly over West Ashley and onto the peninsula. Johns Island, now all in District 5, will be divided into three different districts, diluting the voices of those residents,” the league wrote.

The league now supports the new proposals, mainly because the districts don’t stretch as far across the city.

“They keep communities together. These really prioritize citizen interests,” said Leslie Skardon, the director of advocacy for the League of Women Voters.

Impact to incumbents

On Aug. 28, city staff unveiled two alternative maps that took some of that feedback into consideration. The two new maps, referred to as 1A and 1B, are almost identical except for their effects on two current peninsula districts.

Both maps make Johns Island its own district.

To create the Johns Island district, city staff proposed two options. They can move District 3 or District 6 off of the West Side of the peninsula to only cover West Ashley. If District 3 moves off, District 6 will absorb the portion of the West Side that is currently in District 3.

Because District 3 Councilman Jason Sakran lives on the peninsula, he would be drawn out of his district. He would have to run for District 6 against fellow Councilman William Dudley Gregorie. But that seat is not up for election until 2025. In the meantime, depending on when council decides to make the maps effective, a special election would determine who represents the new West Ashley-only version of District 3.

The other scenario would be that District 6 would move off of its portion of the West Side of the peninsula. In that case, Gregorie, who lives also in the West Side, would be drawn into Councilman Sakran’s District 3. Because District 3 is up for election in 2023, the two would face off sooner.

Sakran said he would be OK with running against Gregorie in 2023, but he is most favorable of the original map that keeps all council members in their respective districts.

“You are overhauling peoples’ elected representatives to the tune of 40 percent of the city’s population,” Sakran said of the new proposals.

According to the city, if the original proposal is accepted, about 30 percent of the city’s population will end up in new council districts. If either of the alternatives are chosen, that number will move up to 39 percent.

Another factor in the process is the establishment of minority-majority districts. Districts 4 and 7 on the all three map proposals are majority-minority districts. They cover the upper peninsula and part of West Ashley, respectively. When the maps were last redrawn in 2010, the city went from having five majority-minority districts to three. Now the city is guaranteed to have two. As demographics shift, it’s difficult to group minority voters together and ensure their voice is in the majority in any part of the city, McKee said.

City Council will review the map proposals at its Sept. 13 meeting. No action will be taken. A public hearing will be held in the fall. Residents can view the maps and leave comments online the city’s redistricting “Open Town Hall” webpage at www.charleston-sc.gov/Redistricting2020. Email comments are accepted at redistricting@charleston-sc.gov.

Reach Emma Whalen at 843-708-5837. Follow her on Twitter @_emma_whalen.

MCCLELLANVILLE — A centuries-old oak tree spanning about 30 feet in circumference at its trunk has become an iconic landmark in McClellanville.

Plans are underway to place the property under a conservation easement so the town can own it.

The Lowcountry Land Trust acquired the single-acre parcel this fall that holds the Deerhead Oak. Its base sits at the intersection of Pinckney and Oak streets.

Funds from the Charleston County Greenbelt Program and the landowner made the arrangement possible.

Named for an image formed by its branches, this special tree is the subject of artwork, murals and poetry in McClellanville, a news release said. The massive Deerhead Oak is bigger-bellied than the Angel Oak on Johns Island and taller too.

William Peter Beckman, a Confederate soldier who was stationed in McClellanville, opened a store in the tree’s shade at the close of the Civil War, according to reports. The town grew from his door.

The Deerhead Oak never stopped growing, either.

McClellanville Mayor Rutledge B. Leland III said the land has been passed down by members of the Beckman family since they opened the the town’s first store.

The Martin family in McClellanville has owned the property since the 1870s and has welcomed generations of residents and visitors to the tree.

“We are grateful for their (Beckman/Martin family) stewardship of the land and are honored to continue to preserve the park for generations to come,” Leland said in a news release.

In 2007, the Deerhead was named Heritage Tree of the Year by the S.C. Urban and Community Forestry Council for its cultural significance.

East Cooper Land Trust, now merged with Lowcountry Land Trust, started the work with the Martins years ago to conserve the Deerhead Oak property. Its former board chair, Justin Craig, recognizes the land as an area that brings people together and “defines our sense of place.”

“Land holds stories and connects people,” said Lowcountry Land Trust president and CEO Ashley Demosthenes. “Nowhere does that hold truer than a place like the Deer Head Oak.”

The land trust expects to transfer ownership of the property to the town in early 2023.

NORTH CHARLESTON — A man provided Charleston County deputies with a different name before he took off running across several lanes of a major road and jumping from an overpass.

Kelvin Cole, 56, died Oct. 28 after being struck by multiple cars on Interstate 26. Investigators later determined he had active arrest warrants from Charleston County’s Family Court and the S.C. Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services.

Cole, who lived and worked as a welder in Johns Island, was riding in the passenger seat of a car when a deputy stopped it for alleged traffic violations. The car’s 31-year-old driver was ultimately given a warning.

Attempts to reach Cole’s family Nov. 2 were unsuccessful.

The Charleston County Sheriff’s Office released an incident report Nov. 2, several days after Cole’s death. It provides new details on what preceded the moment he ran from the deputy.

Deputy Tanner Buller was patrolling around 10:30 p.m. near Stall and Mazyck roads in North Charleston when he noticed a white SUV swerve several times from its lane, the report states. The driver also failed to use a turn signal when changing lanes.

Buller, who has worked in law enforcement for five years, had a deputy-in-training with him during the stop. He flipped on his blue lights and the SUV pulled over onto the Ashley Phosphate Road overpass, which sits atop I-26.

Buller spoke with the car’s driver through the passenger-side window. The driver denied he had been drinking, but Buller wrote he could smell marijuana and alcohol coming from the vehicle’s passenger side. The car’s passenger, later identified as Cole, told the deputy his name was Raymond Brown.

Buller had both men get out of their car so he could search them. The driver admitted he’d smoked marijuana earlier in the day, the report states.

When Cole exited the car, Buller saw a beer can near the passenger seat. Buller found Cole’s driver’s license and noticed it did not match the name he’d provided the deputy.

Buller tried to detain Cole “but he pulled away and fled on foot” across Ashley Phosphate Road, the report states. The deputy chased Cole while trying to avoid traffic.

He repeatedly asked Cole to stop but the man “eventually jumped over the guardrail,” the report states. Buller saw Cole’s hands “grabbing the rail for a brief period” before he appeared to let go and fall onto I-26, the report states.

Buller never drew his weapon, said Andrew Knapp, a Sheriff’s Office spokesman. The deputy remains on duty. In addition to conducting its own internal review, the Sheriff’s Office also requested State Law Enforcement Division investigate the incident, Knapp said.

Investigators searched Cole’s name in a federal database and found he had an active warrant with the probation department, as well as three bench warrants with Charleston County’s Family Court.

Cole was the defendant in an ongoing child support case filed in 2016, court records show.

He was placed on a year of probation in February 2020 after pleading guilty in Charleston County to a forgery charge. Cole’s probation sentence would not be terminated until he paid all associated fees, said Anita Dantzler, a department spokeswoman.

Cole owed nearly $2,500 to the department, records show.

Johns Island is much more than a traffic jam: It is a collection of people with deep connections to place and community. Many have been here for generations and have roots in the island’s agricultural history. More are new neighbors who moved to this beautiful Sea Island seeking a purposeful way of life.

The island’s roads are in dire need of improvement, which is one reason Charleston County residents voted for the 2016 half-cent sales tax to fund necessary upgrades, such as improvements along the Main Road Corridor. Work on Segment A, or the flyover at U.S. Highway 17 and Main Road, is moving forward, and now the county is considering Segment C: improvements to Bohicket Road, from Maybank Highway to Betsy Kerrison Parkway.

All five alternative proposed designs create four- and five-lane highways through the southern portion of Johns Island, drastically changing its character.

Hence the formation of Rational Roads, a nonprofit advocacy group whose goal is to develop a more effective, less destructive solution to the five unacceptable options provided in 2020 for the Main Road Segment C project.

Change is hard. New ideas are often deemed “radical” or even “irrational.” But change is necessary. Too many highways in Charleston have cut through and destroyed communities due to a lack of creative visioning. Better, more local solutions for road improvements exist, and to get there, the community must be engaged. Because who understands the safety concerns and chokepoints better than the local community? Transportation planners, engineers and elected officials should rely on community members’ insight from the beginning.

Our grassroots methodology is steeped in community feedback and data. Rational Roads has hosted more than a dozen meetings in the past year via Zoom and at churches, breweries, community gatherings and farmers markets. We’ve engaged developers, conservationists, pastors, students, farmers and more. We have found that Johns Islanders are deeply connected to the soul and preservation of this island. And we know that 21st century problems can’t be solved with 20th century solutions, especially when it comes to road building.

At Rational Roads, we are asking County Council to update the “purpose and need” for the Main Road Segment C project; that’s what will guide the direction of the Segment C project. We feel strongly that the purpose and need should include safety. Johns Island needs a customized approach for our community that goes beyond a five-lane road from point A to point B, stripping our community of its character and missing a critical opportunity to address safety concerns and create a connected sense of place.

The holiday season is upon us, and that means it’s time to continue our beloved holiday traditions that have been passed on to us by our loved ones.

We raised funds to work with traffic engineers to develop a sixth alternative, one that addresses our island’s traffic needs by adding left-turn lanes, roundabouts and intersection improvements at key locations where accidents are happening and congestion is occurring. Our local traffic data revealed that the worst safety and congestion issues exist between Mary Ann Point and Edenvale roads.

Through our conversations with residents across the island, we heard loud and clear that the road should be aligned with the island’s rural character, so Alternative 6 includes safe and connected streets with infrastructure for all road users, including people on foot and on a bike.

These types of improvements, combined with upgrades to Johns Island’s community center, would improve our sense of place, reflect our community values and enhance our quality of life.

Choosing inclusivity over divisiveness, we have engaged County Council members, elected leaders at the city of Charleston, state lawmakers and county staff, and we are finding renewed hope that collaboration can lead to bold improvements. Our plan can be adapted to avoid wetlands, home relocations and trees. Working with County Council and staff, we will keep improving Alternative 6 to ensure that it is the least-destructive and most cost-effective approach.

As we update our design based on recent feedback, we ask County Council to include safety and context-based designs in the project’s stated purpose and need. We can either have a road that looks like Highway 17 cutting through our island’s rural heart or a series of street and traffic upgrades that work together to enhance safety and incorporate localized designs based on a cohesive community vision.

We have the tools to build better roads. Rational Roads is showing that working together every step of the way will help us do just that.

Kate Nevin is a co-founder of Rational Roads for Johns Island and a Johns Island resident.