Junk Removal in Seabrook Island, SC

A longtime supermarket that serves shoppers of Kiawah, Seabrook and Johns islands could be relocated and enlarged under proposed plans.

The existing 38,000-square-foot Harris Teeter Village Market grocery store could expand to nearly 54,000 square feet in a newly built store as part of a proposed retail development on a nearly 22-acre parcel behind the existing Freshfields Village Shopping Center.

Property owner Riverstone Properties LLC of Richmond, Va., wants to rezone the undeveloped site on Kiawah Island Parkway from low-density residential use to a commercial planned development. The Charleston County Planning Commission recently deadlocked 4-4 on changing the land use and the effort failed.

County spokeswoman Kelsey Barlow said the commission only makes recommendations. The proposed change will now be considered by County Council’s Planning and Public Works Committee on Jan. 12.

Representatives of Riverstone Properties, which is affiliated with the owner of Kiawah Island Golf Resort, and Harris Teeter did not respond to requests for comment on the plans.

Planning commission member Logan Davis said developers indicated at an earlier meeting one reason the supermarket chain wants to relocate to a larger store is so the grocer will have better entry and exit space for deliveries.

Some planning board members wanted a new traffic study while others were concerned about a lack of clarity for the proposed connection to Freshfields Village. The shopping center is owned by Columbia-based Edens, which paid nearly $125 million for the property in June.

One board member expressed concerns that the connection to Freshfields appeared to be near the entrance to a convenience store off Hedgerow Lane and he was worried about the connection across a planted median on Freshfields Drive. He preferred a different connection point.

The development would allow drive-thrus for a pharmacy but not fast food under the current proposal.

The property proposed to be developed most recently was used as a parking area for people attending the PGA Championship Tournament at the Ocean Course on Kiawah Island in 2021.

Site plans also show 10,000 square feet of retail space set aside for future expansion of Harris Teeter and 10,000 additional square feet of other retail space on the opposite side of the planned grocery store.

Another 46,400 square feet of retail space would be clustered in seven smaller buildings while a gas station also is part of the site plan.

Chris Corrada of Riverstone Properties told commission members the fuel site would be set 100 feet off of Kiawah Island Parkway and would be buffered by trees and other foliage.

An additional entryway into the site is planned off the parkway. No homes are being proposed for the property.

By Theresa Stratford for The Island Connection

Under the existing contract, the franchise agreement fee is set at 3%, but Seabrook Island can go up to 5%. Berkeley Electric reached out to Seabrook earlier this year about adopting a new franchise agreement.

Town staff began that process and came up with the ordinance presented at the Dec. 13 Seabrook Island Town Council meeting for first reading. Berkeley Electric is the only electric company that services in the town limits of Seabrook Island.

Dominion Energy services some of the areas in the periphery of Johns Island. Since the state’s Public Service Commission has approved the service area maps, Berkeley Electric wanted municipalities to update their franchise agreements to reflect what has been adopted at the state level. Seabrook Island will need an agreement with Dominion Energy as well, even though Dominion Energy doesn’t service the Town of Seabrook Island. Town Administrator Joe Cronin said that he thinks the reason they need the agreement with Dominion Energy is so that both Berkeley Electric and Dominion Energy agree on the service area set by the S.C. Public Service Commission.

Cronin said that the franchise agreement in the new ordinance is pretty much a “boiler plate” with “no significant changes from what we have had for decades with Berkeley Electric.”

The minor revisions that Cronin and Town staff did recommended were:

• Should the Town install electric charging stations, Seabrook would have the ability to have a credit card swipe in order for users to recharge their vehicles.

• The Town will go up to 5% for their franchise agreement payment by Berkeley Electric.

Cronin also explained that the Town will start collecting the 5% fee in January 2023, but they wouldn’t receive the revenue until 2024 because it will be based on what was collected in 2023. The check in 2023 will be based on what was collected in 2022, which was at 3%. Cronin reiterated that this agreement is “nonexclusive” meaning that it is not limited to Berkeley Electric, however Dominion Energy would have to discuss adding infrastructure with Berkeley if they were to offer electric on the island as well. “By adopting that map, Dominion (Energy) is saying ‘we recognize it isn’t worth our time, money and effort to go into this area because we wouldn’t get the return on it,’” Cronin said. “If Dominion (Energy) were to offer electricity here, that would be something they would both have to agree to with the Town’s franchise agreements.”

This agreement with Berkeley Electric pertains to Seabrook Island town limits only and what is in the public right of ways. Everything inside the gate is private. SIPOA owns the property and therefore they pay for the private electric service inside the gates. In other words, Seabrook Island Town is not involved in the electric service inside the gates – they only deal with the service in town limits. Berkeley Electric owns the electric infrastructure built on the island.

The next step will be for the ordinance to go for second reading and then a public hearing after the first of the year.

SEABROOK ISLAND, S.C. (WCSC) - Seabrook Island neighbors are petitioning their leaders to cap the number of short-term rentals, stating there is overcrowding due to what they called over-tourism, but the mayor said the town has no plans to do so.

Seabrook Island homeowner Ted Flerlage says over 700 of his neighbors want to cap the number of short-term rentals on the island.

“What we’re trying to do is cap, not end the process of short-term rentals, cap at roughly the present numbers, evaluate what happens after that,” Flerlage said, “and then, determine whether or not we should lower the number of short-term rentals.”

As of June 19, there are 484 of these properties on the island, which residents said has led to overcrowding on the island’s streets and amenities.

Mayor John Gregg said for this year, data gathered over the past few months suggest otherwise.

“We’re not going to be looking at imposing limitations on the number of short-term rental units,” Gregg said.

Coastal Getaways owner Nancy Buck said more people are starting to call the island home, and good rentals are full for around 40% of the year.

She says all of her clients are property owners who rent to help offset the costs of the amenities, taxes and insurance.

“We’ve also gone from 35% permanent residents to 60% residents in the last two years,” Buck said. “Twenty-five percent of the properties have turned over since 2019.”

Buck also adds the majority of the amenities are mostly used by members and not rental guests.

However, the homeowners want the town’s government to hear them out.

“I’d like him to reconsider,” Flerlage said. “I’d like him to look at the reality and listen to the people who are property owners here, the residents on the island. You know, 700 people is a big number.”

“Let’s wait and see how this year goes,” Buck said. “They instituted the short-term rental ordinance couple of years ago, or actually, last year, so let’s give it a full year to see how it goes.”

Both Buck and the homeowners said they want to work out their differences over the next several months to come up with a solution that works for everyone.

Copyright 2022 WCSC. All rights reserved.

Charleston County Council’s Finance Committee had the common sense last week to defer action on the state’s request to allot $75 million of county money to continue design and engineering work on a plan to extend Interstate 526 from West Ashley to James Island.

With the project’s price tag ballooning to about $2.2 billion this year, far beyond the county’s current means, spending $75 million to continue such work — with no plan on how the project would be paid for — would have been, in the words of Councilman Dickie Schweers, “the most fiscally irresponsible action I have ever witnessed” in his 16 years on council.

We are hopeful Thursday’s decision, or lack of a decision, marks a turning point in the nearly two-decade saga of whether this project will be built.

Such a turning point is overdue. It has been clear since May that the county no longer has the ability to pay for this project, as required under its current deal with the state, but County Council has been hesitant to accept that reality. Instead, it sought a new cost estimate, which took six months and reduced the projected price from $2.35 billion to $2.2 billion, essentially changing nothing. The county’s $1.78 billion share of the revised cost estimate is still about five times its annual budget.

Meanwhile, the county continues to slow-walk smaller, more affordable projects that would improve traffic flow on and off Johns Island, particularly at its two biggest chokepoints.

As a new council meets for the first time next month, we hope it dispenses with any notion of placing Interstate 526 before voters, which would only waste more time. Instead, council should begin working to unravel the project and use the committed money to speed up work on assorted projects that we know will go a long way toward helping to relieve congestion on Johns Island. Vince Graham, a former chairman of the state Transportation Infrastructure Bank, sent council members a message last week urging them to do that, noting that fresh negotiations between the county, the bank and the S.C. Department of Transportation could bolster the county’s finances, in part by selling the right-of-way properties acquired for the project.

Wetland mitigation credits purchased for the 526 extension also could be used for other projects; ideally, the dissolution of the 526 project also would lead the county to walk away from an expensive and ill-conceived mitigation bank deal it made on Wadmalaw Island and allow it to proceed with a plan to build new access roads parallel to Maybank, one on the north and another on the south, to connect to River Road. It’s a sensible scheme that has taken an agonizing amount of time to get designed and built. A deal also could recognize that Charleston County already spent more than $100 million as a local match toward the 526 extension (back when its total price tag was $420 million). County and state officials should agree on finding an alternative project in Charleston County that the Infrastructure Bank could finance in coming years instead.

Some of the newly freed up money could go toward traffic improvements on and around Johns Island that we believe have been delayed partly in a futile attempt to maintain public support for the 526 extension. These include projects already in the works, such as the so-called “flyover” at U.S. Highway 17 and Main Road that will prevent southbound traffic on Highway 17 from having to wait at a traffic light to access Main Road toward Johns Island. On Johns Island, the flow of traffic along Main Road could be greatly helped by a few relatively minor and inexpensive improvements to certain intersections.

Other than U.S. 17 and Main Road, Johns Island’s other great chokepoint is the intersection of Maybank Highway and River Road. Again, this can and should be improved for only a tiny fraction of the cost of extending 526. Instead of widening Maybank to four lanes, a move that would claim several of the iconic live oaks marking the island’s front door, residents and environmentalists agreed to a pitchfork instead — a plan to build two new access roads parallel to Maybank from near the Stono River to River Road. The county finally awarded a $4.3 million contract to construct the northern pitchfork tine last month, but progress on the southern tine remains in limbo — despite a donation of the necessary right of way by a key landowner along the route. This inaction must cease.

There are important, doable steps County Council can and should take to reduce congestion for motorists heading to Johns, Wadmalaw, Kiawah and Seabrook islands, steps that have been partly shelved as the county pursued its overly ambitious and unworkable solution with Interstate 526. It’s time to turn the page.

...PRECIPITATION REPORTS...Location                     Amount                          Wadmalaw Island 4.1 NE       9.84 in                         Kiawah Island 1.0 SW         9.17 in                         Johns Island 3.3 WNW         8.78 in                         Isle Of Palms 0.1 E          8.72 in                         Hollywood 4.3 SE             8.51 in                         Mount Pleasant 7.5 NE        8.18 in                         Summerville                  7.88 in                         Mount Pleasant 8.2 NE        7.79 in                         Wadmalaw Island 2.3 SSW      7.63 in                         Mount Pleasant 0.4 E         7.49 in                         1 SE Edisto Island           7.34 in                         WADMALAW ISLAND              6.98 in                         Charleston 4.1 NW            6.98 in                         Charleston                   6.93 in                         Edisto Island 3.6 E          6.79 in                         Charleston 5.0 WNW           6.77 in                         Charleston 2.5 NNW           6.68 in                         Charleston 1.6 SSW           6.53 in                         Charleston 4.0 NW            6.44 in                         North Charleston 4.0 SSE     6.39 in                         Mount Pleasant 7.0 NE        6.22 in                         Charleston 6.1 WNW           6.20 in                         Charleston 4.0 NW            6.14 in                         Mount Pleasant               6.12 in                         Edisto Island 3.6 E          6.12 in                         Mount Pleasant 2.7 S         6.08 in                         1 E Johns Island             6.08 in                         Coffee Bluff                 6.04 in                         Johns Island 1.8 NE          5.97 in                         Savannah 5.9 SSW             5.95 in                         Charleston 3.8 NW            5.94 in                         Mount Pleasant               5.88 in                         Mount Pleasant 1.4 ENE       5.73 in                         Charleston 0.3 ESE           5.71 in                         Charleston 6.4 WNW           5.64 in                         Mount Pleasant 4.1 NE        5.60 in                         Kiawah Island 3.5 W          5.54 in                         Summerville 5.5 NNW          5.50 in                         Charleston                   5.49 in                         Mount Pleasant               5.44 in                         Mount Pleasant 6.4 NE        5.38 in                         Charleston 2.9 W             5.37 in                         Kiawah Island 1.5 NE         5.32 in                         Charleston 4.6 SSE           5.30 in                         Charleston 2.9 NNE           5.07 in                         Mount Pleasant 1.0 WSW       5.03 in                         Grover 4.4 SE                5.02 in                         Charleston                   4.99 in                         Meggett 1.8 W                4.96 in                         NWS Charleston SC            4.84 in                         Edisto Beach 5.4 NNW         4.79 in                         Mount Pleasant 8.1 NE        4.79 in                         Ridgeville 1.3 SSW           4.77 in                         Savannah 1.7 W               4.74 in                         Savannah 3.9 SSW             4.64 in                         Charleston 3.0 N             4.64 in                         Hollywood 2.3 W              4.61 in                         Charleston 5.4 SSE           4.59 in                         Daniel Island 1.0 SE         4.57 in                         Summerville                  4.56 in                         Mount Pleasant 1.7 N         4.44 in                         Mount Pleasant 1.7 NNW       4.35 in                         Snowden                      4.16 in                         Mount Pleasant               4.14 in                         Savannah 3.1 ENE             4.14 in                         Bennetts Point               4.12 in                         Charleston 6.8 NE            4.11 in                         Edisto Island 4.5 NNW        4.09 in                         North Charleston 3.1 ESE     4.09 in                         Beaufort 4.5 NE              4.03 in                         Ravenel                      4.02 in                         Hollywood 5.8 WSW            4.02 in                         Summerville 1.7 SSE          3.99 in                         Ridgeville 3.2 WSW           3.97 in                         North Charleston 3.1 E       3.88 in                         North Charleston 2.6 NW      3.82 in                         Hanahan 1.7 SE               3.81 in                         Daniel Island                3.75 in                         Seabrook Island 0.2 S        3.75 in                         Charleston Intl Airport      3.74 in                         Edisto Island 3.2 NNE        3.68 in                         Charleston 1.7 SE            3.65 in                         Mcclellanville 0.2 ESE       3.64 in                         Summerville 2.6 E            3.62 in                         North Charleston 3.5 ESE     3.56 in                         North Charleston 2.9 WNW     3.52 in                         Beaufort 3.5 N               3.50 in                         McClellanville 0.5 ESE       3.48 in                         SANTEE COAST MCCLELLANVILLE  3.48 in                         Seabrook Island              3.47 in                         Summerville 2.8 W            3.47 in                         Ravenel 2.0 WNW              3.44 in                         Beaufort 5.7 NE              3.40 in                         Summerville 5.0 NNE          3.39 in                         North Charleston 4.4 W       3.38 in                         Montgomery                   3.33 in                         Hanahan 1.1 N                3.32 in                         Edisto Beach 5.1 NNW         3.30 in                         Charleston                   3.29 in                         Charleston 5.2 ESE           3.26 in                         Burnside                     3.25 in                         Summerville                  3.21 in                         Summerville 5.3 SE           3.21 in                         Huger 7.7 S                  3.16 in                         Smoaks 0.1 ESE               3.12 in                         2 NNE Daniel Island          3.11 in                         Summerville 2.1 WSW          3.10 in                         Savannah 2.3 SSW             3.09 in                         Huger 3 ENE                  3.09 in                         St Helena Island 2.8 NE      3.09 in                         Riceboro 11.8 SE             3.08 in                         Blitchton 4 WSW              3.05 in                         Mount Pleasant 2.6 SW        3.05 in                         Mount Pleasant 2.1 SSE       3.04 in                         Huger 7.7S - Bridges at Seve 3.03 in                         Edisto Beach 2.7 N           2.99 in                         Savannah 7.9 SSE             2.98 in                         Summerville 5.7 SSE          2.97 in                         Beaufort MCAS                2.97 in                         Charleston 2.9 W             2.96 in                         Savannah 4.5 SSW             2.95 in                         Rincon 5.3 NNE               2.94 in                         Summerville 1.9 N            2.92 in                         Summerville 3.4 S            2.90 in                         Summerville 0.4 SE           2.90 in                         North Charleston 3.5 N       2.88 in                         Savannah 6.3 WNW             2.85 in                         Edisto Island 1.6 N          2.83 in                         Savannah 9.6 E               2.80 in                         Mount Pleasant 1.3 WSW       2.79 in                         Walterboro 1 SW              2.76 in                         Garden City 1.2 NNE          2.72 in                         Blitchton 4 WSW              2.70 in                         Summerville 4.8 WSW          2.69 in                         Charleston                   2.66 in                         Mount Pleasant 6.1 NNE       2.64 in                         Valona                       2.58 in                         Townsend 5.5 SE              2.56 in                         Summerville 5.8 NE           2.52 in                         Charleston 9.1 NE            2.49 in                         Wadmalaw Island 3.6 ENE      2.48 in                         Charleston                   2.47 in                         Savannah 10.4 E              2.44 in                         Hilton Head Island           2.42 in                         Savannah                     2.42 in                         Fripp Island 0.5 WSW         2.40 in                         Goose Creek 4.6 WNW          2.38 in                         Goose Creek 3.5 NW           2.37 in                         Hunter Army Air Field        2.35 in                         Midville 6.6 ESE             2.30 in                         1 NE Lawton                  2.30 in                         Moncks Corner 4 N            2.30 in                         Summerville 3.3 NE           2.30 in                         Walterboro 7.4 NNE           2.26 in                         Okatie 7.6 NE                2.25 in                         Beaufort 4.2 WSW             2.25 in                         Summerville 1.9 SSW          2.24 in                         Walterboro 3.0 NNW           2.21 in                         Summerville 3.2 WNW          2.18 in                         Hilton Head Island 4.7 NW    2.17 in                         Beaufort 3.6 SW              2.16 in                         Charleston                   2.12 in                         Bluffton 7.0 W               2.11 in                         Glennville 3 NW              2.10 in                         Green Pond 4.6 W             2.07 in                         Mount Pleasant 2.7 S         2.06 in                         Charleston 5.0 WNW           2.06 in                         Cottageville 5.8 WSW         2.04 in                         Summerville 2.0 SW           2.04 in                         Edisto Beach 5.4 NNW         2.03 in                         Burnside                     2.02 in                         Bonneau                      2.01 in                         Bluffton 2.9 ENE             2.01 in                         Newington 0.5 SSE            1.99 in                         Mount Pleasant 8.5 NE        1.97 in                         Rincon 4 SE                  1.96 in                         Summerville 0.2 N            1.96 in                         Parris Island 1.7 N          1.92 in                         Beaufort 1.6 SSW             1.92 in                         Cottageville 3.1 NNW         1.89 in                         Springfield 2.4 E            1.82 in                         Hilton Head Island 5.1 NW    1.80 in                         Moncks Corner 5.1 SSW        1.79 in                         Ravenel 2.0 WNW              1.79 in                         Lepageville                  1.79 in                         Mount Pleasant 1.9 ESE       1.77 in                         Hilton Head                  1.76 in                         Port Wentworth 6 N           1.76 in                         Hilton Head Island 4.7 ENE   1.76 in                         Ellabell 5.0 NNW             1.74 in                         Beaufort 6.5 NNW             1.74 in                         Saint Helena 7.0 E           1.73 in                         Walterboro 3.0 NNW           1.73 in                         Moncks Corner 8.9 S          1.72 in                         Parris Island 1.7 N          1.71 in                         Hilton Head Island 4.0 N     1.70 in                         Summerville 0.1 W            1.70 in                         Oliver 1 SW                  1.69 in                         Midway 12.7 ESE              1.66 in                         Beaufort 3.0 E               1.66 in                         Savannah 8.2 SSE             1.64 in                         Allendale 1.7 SE             1.62 in                         Allendale 1.7 SE             1.62 in                         Marlow 0.0 S                 1.60 in                         Hampton 0.8 SW               1.54 in                         Goose Creek 3.5 NW           1.53 in                         Summerville 4 W              1.51 in                         Kiawah Island 3.1 WSW        1.50 in                         Newington 0.5 SSE            1.49 in                         Charleston 6.6 NW            1.48 in                         Ridgeville 5.7 SSW           1.47 in                         SANTEE COAST MCCLELLANVILLE  1.46 in                         1 E Hilton Head Island       1.45 in                         Pineville 0.3 SSE            1.44 in                         Bluffton 0.7 NNW             1.43 in                         11 SE Raccoon Bluff          1.42 in                         Charleston 5.6 SE            1.42 in                         Folly Beach 4.5 N            1.41 in                         1 ESE Canaan                 1.41 in                         Port Wentworth 1 NE          1.40 in                         Summerville 1.4 SSW          1.40 in                         Millen Airport               1.39 in                         Charleston 5.4 SSE           1.39 in                         Richmond Hill 7.0 ESE        1.38 in                         Mount Pleasant 1.9 N         1.38 in                         Eden                         1.33 in                         Okatie 7.2 ENE               1.33 in                         Burtons Ferry                1.31 in                         Reidsville                   1.31 in                         Hampton 0.3 WSW              1.30 in                         Moncks Corner 0.9 WSW        1.28 in                         Goose Creek                  1.26 in                         Moncks Corner 1.2 NW         1.26 in                         Savannah Intl Airport        1.26 in                         Hampton                      1.25 in                         Summerville                  1.24 in                         Charleston                   1.24 in                         Summerville                  1.22 in                         Kiawah Island 3.1 WSW        1.22 in                         Bluffton                     1.21 in                         Charleston 5.6 SE            1.15 in                         Limehouse                    1.13 in                         Moncks Corner 0.8 ESE        1.13 in                         Midway 3.8 NE                1.12 in                         Guyton 11.1 SE               1.09 in                         Sylvania 0.8 W               1.09 in                         Ludowici                     1.08 in                         Limehouse 4 SW               1.08 in                         MONCKS CORNER                1.08 in                         Hampton 0.2 SW               1.07 in                         Hilton Head Island           1.06 in                         Claxton 0.5 WSW              1.06 in                         Richmond Hill 9 WNW          1.05 in                         Fort Stewart                 1.04 in                         Elba Island                  1.03 in                         Bluffton 1.7 S               1.01 in                         Moncks Corner 1.2 NW         1.00 in                         &&Observations are collected from a variety of sources with varyingequipment and exposures. We thank all volunteer weather observers for their dedication. Not all data listed are considered official.$$