Axe throwing in Isle of Palms SC

ISLE OF PALMS — On a barrier island that months ago planned to eliminate 200 beach parking spots, the state Department of Transportation has asserted its authority and instead increased the amount of free parking.

Described as a win-win solution by Isle of Palms’ mayor because other city parking restrictions will remain, the hard-fought compromise ends months of dispute over where cars can go at one of the Charleston area’s most popular beaches.

“The issue of parking and beach access is greater than the Isle of Palms and affects the state as a whole,” DOT Secretary Christy Hall said in joining the mayor and city officials to discuss the work April 19.

They talked as highway department crews laid out more than 200 angled parking spots along one side of Palm Boulevard, a state-owned road closest to the beach.

Hall also announced that the speed limit on Palm Boulevard will be reduced to 30 mph, down from 35.

Opinions on the island were mixed.

“Stupidity!” yelled a man on a bike, riding past as Hall, Mayor Jimmy Carroll and others explained the plan to reporters on Palm Boulevard near 27th Avenue.

Resident Tamara Burrell, who was walking a dog on 27th Avenue, said the plan is a good compromise because parking on residential side streets like 27th will remain limited to residents.

“We’ve gone from no parking, to some parking, to more parking,” she said, giving a shorthand summary of the back-and-forth over what to do with the summer influx of cars that began to increase in rhetoric in 2020.

In 2020, the island restricted nonresident parking in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Then, later in the year, officials announced plans to permanently reduce parking near the beach and charge for what remained.

It all came to a head in September when the Isle of Palms City Council approved a plan to eliminate about 200 parking spaces near the beach.

For the DOT, which has authority over parking along state-owned roads, the barrier island had pushed the issue too far.

Hall immediately rejected the plan to eliminate parking and in February threatened to revoke approval of the city’s entire 2015 parking plan.

“We were getting ready to go into a battle with them revoking our parking plan,” Carroll said. “Luckily, at the last minute, both Secretary Hall and Administrator (Desiree) Fragoso worked well together.”

The compromise that appears to have now ended the dispute adds more free parking along Palm Boulevard by installing angled parking where only parallel parking had existed. All the angled spaces are on the land side of the road where there’s a large right-of-way, while the beach side of the road will continue to have parallel parking.

“This is going to be so much better,” said Carroll. “It’s going to be organized parking on Palm Boulevard.” He added, “it increases parking on Palm Boulevard, but protects the neighborhoods and our parking plan. It’s a win-win for everybody.”

Police Chief Kevin Cornett said the new layout should improve public safety because it leaves a large shoulder area between the parking spots and Palm Boulevard.

State workers were still laying out the spaces late on April 19 but the final result is expected to be between 220 and 260 parking spots where there used to be 190, Hall said.

No palmetto trees were removed as part of the plan.

City Councilman Randy Bell said Isle of Palms had worked with DOT on the dimensions of the parking spots to assure they are large enough to handle even generously sized pickup trucks, while allowing 12 feet between the road and the back of the parked cars.

“The city’s goal is safe parking, not to keep people out of here,” he said.

That’s not the perception thousands of people had in 2020 when the city talked about eliminating parking and charging for what remained. Aggrieved residents of Mount Pleasant formed a Facebook group that later became an organized nonprofit, which filed suit against the city.

With the parking dispute seemingly resolved, Isle of Palms and DOT are still in disagreement over recent changes to the Isle of Palms Connector, the main bridge to the island. DOT recently added bicycle and pedestrian lanes to the causeway at the expense of a center lane reserved for emergency vehicles.

Both the city and SCDOT plan to conduct traffic studies to evaluate the results.

In a move that puts a South Carolina beach community at odds with both its neighbors and the state legislature, Isle of Palms voted Friday to oppose a state bill that would require free and unrestricted beach parking along state highways.

The city’s resolution, which passed 7-0 during a special City Council meeting, carries no weight of law, but it does express the city’s disapproval of a bill introduced by state Sen. Larry Grooms, R-Berkeley.

The legislation would require South Carolina’s beach communities to provide at least some free parking on state roads.

It also would give towns the authority to include paid public beach parking and to use those funds to maintain, operate and preserve things like beach parking facilities; beach access, maintenance, and renourishment; traffic and parking enforcement; first responders; sanitation; and litter control and removal.

The Isle of Palms council meeting Friday morning took all of 3 minutes and 12 seconds. Two council members, Ryan Buchannon and Phillip Pounds, did not attend.

Mayor Jimmy Carroll, reading from the resolution, said the goal was to express the city’s opposition to the implementation of the legislation “by all lawful means necessary.”

It also urges S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster to veto the bill when it gets to his desk.

The resolution also claims the legislation “clearly discloses that barrier island communities, including the Isle of Palms, are being singled out and treated differently from other municipal entities in this state in a politically motivated, unconstitutional response to the City’s actions taken in the interest of public health and safety.”

It continues, alleging the bill “violates The Home Rule Act, which explicitly gives municipalities the sole power to control roads and streets within the municipality for the public health.”

“Home rule has always been a fundamental part of why South Carolina is so wonderful,” Councilman John Moye said in an emailed statement following the vote. “When home rule is threatened at this scale, issues that local leaders and communities know how to best address are suddenly being managed by politicians in Columbia.”

Isle of Palms, which is located across the Intracoastal Waterway from Mount Pleasant, has become the nexus of South Carolina’s beach parking drama. The back-and-forth over free versus paid parking has sparked debates over who deserves access to state’s public sands.

The debate intensified last year when South Carolina closed public access to its beaches, all of which the state owns, at the start of the pandemic in an attempt to slow the spread of COVID-19. After McMaster reopened the beaches in late April, Isle of Palms, Sullivan’s Island and Folly Beach took a more gradual approach, issuing their own emergency orders to restrict public beach access and reduce the number of nonresidents coming in at the time.

Isle of Palms is facing a lawsuit over its 2020 decision to temporarily block nonresidents from using more than 750 parking spots near the beach, leaving just 10 free spaces for visitors.

All beaches are now open to the public.

Recently, ahead of the busy summer tourist season, the S.C. Department of Transportation installed approximately 240 angled spaces on the land side of the state-owned Palm Boulevard, stretching from 22nd to 40th Ave.

State Rep. Joe Bustos, R-Charleston, argued on the House floor last week that the bill was not ready for a vote and urged further debate.

“This is not a beach access bill. This is a beach parking bill, and we need to understand that,” Bustos said.

His attempts to table the bill were unsuccessful.

The local resolution that passed Friday now puts Isle of Palms at odds with Mount Pleasant, a neighboring town that in January passed a resolution to show public support for Grooms’ bill.

The bill, S. 40, passed its final reading May 13 in a 102-10 vote in the state House. It now heads to McMaster’s desk.

It is still unclear whether McMaster will sign the bill into law.

“Governor McMaster is still in the process of reviewing the bill and greatly appreciates all input,” said Brandon Charochak, a spokesman for the governor. “He will make a final decision in the coming days.”

Memorial Day weekend, considered the unofficial start of the summer tourist season, is next week.

A group calling themselves the Barrier Island Preservation Alliance welcomed the move by Isle of Palms on Friday.

The group’s stated mission is to foster dialogue and community engagement to address the unique challenges of barrier island beaches.

Morgan Harris, an Isle of Palms resident and member of the alliance, said council members share their goals.

“They, like we, want Isle of Palms to continue to be an open and welcoming community that is safe for families, businesses and visitors alike. And they believe, as so many of us do, that we, rather than Columbia bureaucrats and politicians, are best equipped to make decisions about parking in Isle of Palms,” Harris said.

This story was originally published May 21, 2021 2:12 PM.

The first signs of development could soon blossom to reclaim a large contaminated industrial site on Charleston’s upper peninsula, nearly two decades after the process began.

Highland Resources is expected to begin construction on the first phase of roads and underground utilities by the spring in the long-anticipated Magnolia project.

The Houston-based developer completed the purchase of the 190-acre site in 2018 for $52 million through a bankruptcy auction after the previous owners faltered in the aftermath of the crippling recession in 2008.

Highland invested another $35 million in environmental remediation that included laying down a fabric-like barrier and adding at least another foot of dirt on top of it.

“We remediated a lot of the contaminated soil, put down the barrier and added 1.6 million cubic feet of clean fill dirt,” Highland Resources CEO Clark Davis said.

The remediation work is the unsexy part of the project, Magnolia spokesman Jonathan Scott said.

“Once you see streets and sidewalks, it becomes apparent they are starting to build out this property,” he added.

The site, with much of it marsh, features 81 developable acres. The project will be divided into three phases with buildout over more than 15 years.

Street talk

The first 20-acre development project will include office, retail and apartments on the south end of the Magnolia site near an $8 million bridge built in 2010 as a connection from Heriot Street.

It has long been dubbed the “Bridge to Nowhere,” a label frowned upon by the developer. The first phase of vertical construction, set to begin in 2023 and two decades in the making, could undo the infamous moniker.

The 1,400-foot-long span is open to pedestrians but closed to vehicular traffic.

The second and third phases will include a mix of uses on the rest of the property, with plans for waterfront offices and possibly a hotel near the Ashley River.

A storm drain has been installed down the center of the site leading to the river.

“It’s large enough to put a small SUV through,” Davis said.

The site has been approved for 4,080 housing units, 1.05 million square feet of office space, 200,000 square feet of retail space and 1,040 hotel rooms.

At full buildout, Magnolia will add more than 10,000 residents to Charleston, already the largest city in South Carolina. At least 15 percent of the housing will be set aside as workforce units.

Building heights will range from three to nine stories with the tallest buildings concentrated in the middle of the development and five stories near the marsh.

The plan sets aside 24 acres of public parks, and it preserves more than 49 acres of marsh.

Most of the usable open space will be along the waterfront, creating a continuous park that will stretch into the marsh and include at least two public access points. The plan also includes neighborhood greens, parks, plazas and public squares as well as entertainment venues.

Construction on a waterfront park will occur along with development of the first 20 acres, Scott said.

Once one phase is completed, work on the next one will begin within 18-24 months under the current development plan, Davis said.

“We have a lot of interest from people who want to build out here,” Davis said. “We want something top quality and generational. … We are trying to find one master developer to come in and work on the project.”

The Highland CEO also pointed out the company has made its investment in the project for the long haul.

“We really believe in the project and intend to make a long-term commitment,” Davis said.

One tenant remains on the site. Parker Marine sits on the waterfront but is expected to vacate the property by the end of 2022.

History of contamination

Decades ago, the site was a heavy-industrial zone that housed fertilizer factories, a lumber-treatment plant and other businesses. Those former tenants left behind a legacy of lead, arsenic, creosote and other contaminants in the soil.

The first reuse plan began to emerge about 20 years ago. Led by Raleigh-based Cherokee Investment Partners, the Magnolia backers set out to scrub the dirt clean so it could be built upon, describing the big infill project as the largest redevelopment of polluted land in South Carolina.

The original investors formed two companies, Ashley I and Ashley II, which began buying up property in 2002. Over time, they closed 33 deals and amassed nearly 200 contiguous acres around Braswell and Milford streets. Their master plan called for a small city to rise from the former industrial wasteland.

But the ambitious deal faltered and never regained its footing. Hobbled by the 2008 downturn, cleanup expenses and litigation costs, Ashley I and Ashley II filed for bankruptcy in 2016, listing debts of more than $23 million. They also disclosed they had invested nearly $50 million in the Magnolia deal.

When Highland prevailed as the winning bidder, its then-CEO said the privately held firm cited years of experience dealing with contaminated real estate and successfully working with environmental regulators.

More than half of the land the company acquired was so contaminated that it was designated a federal “Superfund” site in 1994 by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Paperwork has now been filed to have that portion of the site taken off the EPA’s “National Priority List” in September.

ISLE OF PALMS, S.C. (WCIV) — The South Carolina Professional Firefighters Association said the wages for the Isle of Palm Fire Department are not high enough.

The city of Isle of Palms said the lowest paid firefighter earns $12.55 an hour.

"They are not paying well. And they are not paying down the road, people are realizing it," said William Pesature, Vice President of the SC Professional Firefighter Association.

Pesature said in the firefighting world you want to build a team that has experience, training and standing.

He said the Isle of Palms is not doing that for their firefighters and a change needs to be made when it comes to pay.

He said the department has two problems: no fire chief for the last eight months and the firefighter pay rate.

"You should be able to afford a decent wage for your firefighters so that they want to stay there. If you have one of the richest cities in the state, and you are not taking care of your first responders? What's going to happen to your in an emergency situation?" he said.

Pesature said the issue should concern taxpayers on the island because when someone leaves the department the city has to pay to train a new employee.

"Training is very expensive. Because they have to pay for a person to go to school and then when they are supposed to be in the fire house (and) they have to pay someone overtime to cover their spot to maintain the standards of staffing," he said.

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ABC News 4 reached out to the city for comment. Desiree Farago, the city administrator said in part, "The City is in the process of finalizing a wage and compensation analysis with the goal of identifying market based and competitive wages for all City positions. We expect the report and recommendations for adjustments will be in place before the end of the year."

"We have also collected feedback from every member of the fire department regarding how we reward high performance and increase wages throughout their tenure with the city that will be incorporated into new compensation policies," John Moye, an IOP councilman, said.

Moye said the consultant's leading the wage compensation plan should be presenting to council sometime in September.

MOUNT PLEASANT — A summer weekend shuttle bus from Mount Pleasant to the Isle of Palms beachfront will start running May 29, and thanks to just-announced funding from the two municipalities it will be free to ride.

The shuttle will run hourly on Saturdays and Sundays through Sept. 6 from a stop at the Towne Centre shopping area in Mount Pleasant to the Isle of Palms beach access at Ocean Boulevard and 9th Avenue.

The shuttle will also run on Memorial Day and on Labor Day.

“With this service in place for the season, access to the ocean has never been greater for residents of the region,” said Mike Seekings, chairman of CARTA’s board.

When the Charleston Area Regional Transportation Authority originally announced updated plans for the shuttle May 19, the short trip from Towne Centre to the Isle of Palms beach was going to cost riders $4 round-trip.

That’s because IOP at that time hadn’t committed to contribute funding.

“To date, the City of Isle of Palms has declined to contribute any funding to the Beach Reach shuttle service, which the city requested,” CARTA spokesman Daniel Brock said.

The transit advocacy group Best Friends of Lowcountry Transit also criticized the lack of financial support from Isle of Palms needed to make the shuttle free for riders.

But the following morning, May 20, Isle of Palms agreed to contribute $8,000 toward the cost of the shuttle — matching an equal contribution from Mount Pleasant — and CARTA said the shuttle would be free.

“We’ll definitely match Mount Pleasant’s because we want this to be successful,” said IOP Administrator Desiree Fragoso. “It’s something the city has been advocating and we’re happy that people are embracing different modes of transportation.”

She said the funding issue had been a miscommunication.

The summer shuttle will cost an estimated $24,000 to run, with CARTA, Mount Pleasant and Isle of Palms each paying $8,000.

CARTA did a test-run of the beach shuttle in the fall. It was prompted, in part, by Isle of Palms’ plan to eliminate much of the free parking at the beach — a plan that was later quashed by the S.C. Department of Transportation.

Brock said that although there’s more free parking at the beach than expected, the Beach Reach shuttle still serves an important need by increasing access to the beach for the area’s growing population.

William Hamilton, executive director of Best Friends of Lowcountry Transit, said the connection will allow some area residents to visit the beach for the first time. The shuttle will be coordinated with the existing Route 40 and Route 42 buses.

“Before this summer is over, we’ll be taking families with children to the beach on this bus who have never seen the ocean,” he said.

Hamilton noted that the bus stop on Isle of Palms has no seating or shade, and said he hopes the city will work on that.

Fragoso said the city will “be looking at what can be done to address that.”

The 9th Avenue beach access is two blocks south of the island’s beachfront commercial area, where there are shops, restrooms and beach showers.

The hourly shuttle will depart Towne Centre, from a stop on Market Center Boulevard near the Belk Men’s store starting at 9:15 a.m. The last return bus from Isle of Palms will leave at 5:35 p.m.

Riders will need to wear masks, shoes, shirt and pants, or beach cover-ups. Coolers will be allowed, but not bulky items such as surfboards or large beach umbrellas.

Route details and bus tracking will be available on the free Transit App, which can be downloaded from Apple’s App Store or Google Play.