Mattress storein James Island, SC

Residents of Beefield on James Island want their community placed on the Charleston County Historic District.

JAMES ISLAND, S.C. (WCSC) - The Beefield community on James Island is small, but the people make up a tight-knit and passionate neighborhood with a lot of stories.

Community president George Richardson says between the military events, a sense of community and peaceful nature, it’s more important than ever to preserve Beefield’s history. To that end, he and his neighbors came out to a county meeting Tuesday night to make their voice heard.

“Because when you start walking the dirt road, we’re all in the woods or the trees. It’s almost like you’re in another world. And just beyond that, the Folly Road we’re all in traffic running up and down Folly Beach, you forget all about that is like stepping into another time is peaceful. And that’s what my community loves,” Richardson says.

The “Bee Tract” is almost 60 acres of land on James Island off Folly Road at Battery Island Drive. Richardson says it is the site of important Civil War history including the 1862 Battle of Secessionville and an 1864 third Assault on James Island.

It is also part of an African American remnant freedman community.

“You drive down battery Island drive, which is along the stream, you’ll notice that every house has at least two oak trees in the front yard, and they’re draped in one straight line from one end to the other end,” he says. “You know, and we like that. We sit on our porch and we yell over to each other and that kind of thing.”

The South Carolina Battleground Preservation Trust says the archeological significance from battles is there and has been well preserved so far. Most of the land has been passed down to family members since they bought it in 1872.

Justin Schwebler, property manager for the Historic Charleston Foundation, says the status is an extra layer of protection and recognition for the people and their land.

“Basically, what that does is creating a process properties boundary around these original parcels of the historic district gives them an extra layer of protection against inappropriate development, things like that. So if anybody wants to come into the community change uses build a highway or something or build a hotel or restaurants,” Schwebler says.

The planning and public works committee will have a meeting about the Beefield land on April 21 and a proposal will come back for Charleston County Council to consider on April 26.

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JAMES ISLAND, S.C. (WCSC) - A Facebook post got a lot of attention after making false claims about the Fort Johnson and May Forest renovation project.

The post, which was created on Friday, got over 400 comments from upset and confused residents. It was created by the group “Charleston Municipality,” they made claims that the project is about international shipping and passenger cruise ships. They said on Saturday in a statement that “the post was obviously very satirical.”

State Representative Spencer Wetmore says seeing the Facebook post and reactions from the public was heartbreaking.

“This is a project that we were really proud of,” Wetmore says. “I sort of understood the assignment here that people do not want to see a whole bunch of new development. People are concerned about flooding or concerned about traffic. To me, I certainly don’t want to see a bunch of houses and development there either. The people that made this post are obviously playing on people’s fears of that.”

The real Fort Johnson and May Forest renovation project started in March of 2022 and its goal is to tie together history, nature, research and environmental preservation.

The land on James Island is home to many different historical artifacts dating back to the late 1700′s. For the project to take place, a few old buildings will be torn down to make room for the renovations.

James Island Town Councilman Garrett Milliken says the stakeholders worked hard to keep history and rising sea levels in mind during the planning process.

“While the public might have been restricted with access to these locations in the past, the future will actually invite the public to enjoy the rich history of this location that will be in concordance with the research mission of this area as well,” Milliken says. “Both things are going to happen simultaneously at this location. So, I think it’s a win, win for both perspectives, history and research.”

Currently, the area is home to research for the Department of Natural Resources, the College of Charleston and the Marine Research Institute. All of their work will continue to move forward at the location after renovations take place.

“It really is the jewel of James Island,” Milliken says. “It has so much history, so much ecological significance. And frankly, the views are spectacular.”

The project website contains detailed maps and plans of what the entire area of Fort Johnson and May Forest should look like in the future. Despite the drama surrounding the Facebook post, Wetmore hopes the community becomes more aware about the actual project taking place.

“I just hope people will get excited about the park,” she says. “I know this Facebook post is just, honestly, just a mean joke.”

The “Charleston Municipality” Facebook group released the following statement on the post:

The post regarding the James Island Global Gateway Terminal was obviously very satirical, as it was intended being that Charleston Municipality is a satirical Facebook page. The main goal behind the post was to bring awareness to the rampant overdevelopment of not only James Island, but the entire Lowcountry, largely at the hands of our local elected officials and review boards. The post angered so many people, and those people are ready to put up a fight against this project. We want the same collective passion from everyone for all the development that is ACTUALLY taking place all around us. This “huge” and impactful project easily got peoples attention, but everyone needs to pay attention to all the projects that take place, as they are directly and negatively impacting our daily lives, largely due to a seemingly lack of oversight and shady deals being given to developers on a daily basis. Everyone must stay vigilant, and fight to preserve what we have before we have no more.

Copyright 2022 WCSC. All rights reserved.

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - The redistricting process for the city of Charleston is well underway, and Tuesday night the City Council and the public will review potential renderings for the new districts.

Some Johns Islanders are advocating for Johns Island to be all one district, and for the first time in Charleston’s history, there is a potential it could be.

Peter Rubino, a resident of Johns Island, says the original draft from the city split Johns Island into three districts.

Through email campaigns and spreading awareness, he and other advocates were able to get it down to two districts, and after tonight, hopefully, one.

“If you don’t speak up, then you’re not going to get what you need,” Rubino said.

He said having all of Johns Island in one district would give Johns Islanders a real say in their future, and true influence in city decisions.

He said he wants the person who represents Johns Island to live on Johns Island, with the hope that the shared experiences of the island will lead to more impactful decision making.

“We want someone who’s going to live here, and understands the issues, what the desires are of the people who live here and have to put up with the traffic and the growth and all of those things. Because if you don’t live here, you don’t see all those things that are going on,” Rubino said.

Tuesday night, he, along with other advocates, plan to attend the City Council Meeting to continue the fight for one district.

The city of Charleston’s Chief Innovation Officer Tracy Mckee said two scenarios will be presented tonight.

She said the first one prioritizes minimizing change, but splits Johns Island into two districts.

“In that scenario, Johns Island has two representatives, but each of those representatives also represent parts of West Ashley as well as James Island,” McKee said.

She said the second, which keeps Johns Island under one district, prioritizes compactness and communities of interest.

In that scenario, Johns Island has only one representative.

Regardless, Mckee says the City is doing its best to listen to the public and accommodate their desires.

“We have made a really good effort to get public opinion this time and bake that opinion into our plans as much as possible,” Mckee said.

As of now, Johns Island is a part of a larger district in West Ashley. Up until this redistricting, it did not have the population to be its own district.

Tuesday’s meeting is at 5 p.m. at the Charleston City Hall at 80 Broad Street. Rubino encourages those passionate about redistricting on Johns Island to sign up to speak.

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CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - Back in 2014, Charleston County committed more than $108 million toward building new and renovating old libraries in the county.

Years later, this commitment is continuing to come to fruition with the latest portion of the project focused on renovations.

Over the next few weeks, three library branches will either be opening or closing for remodeling.

Toni Lombardozzi, the Charleston County Public Libraries’ Project Manager, said the county not only wants to improve the buildings themselves but redesign them to stay up to date with the needs of the community.

Lombardozzi said at the renovated facilities, visitors will still find a large physical collection of books and DVDs, but they will also find digital options.

She said they have focused on bringing technology into the libraries, like laptop checkouts, e-books, and digital access to newspapers and magazines.

By reworking layouts at some of the branches, they’ve been able to create separate areas for young adults and children, meaning quiet during story times will no longer be an issue.

She said these new designs create a more welcoming space for everyone and cater to the specific community the library is located in. But, those who love traditional books do not need to fear, Lombardozzi says they’re not going anywhere anytime soon.

“I’m one of those people, I love to have my book. Whenever I travel, I bring two or three with me.. people say kindle is easier, but I like the actual pages.” Lombardozzi said. “There is still a huge demand for that, we don’t think that’s going to go away anytime soon, we just want to make sure we are providing the collections that the communities are looking for.”

So far, money from the multi-million dollar referendum has built five new library branches.

Wando Mount Pleasant Library opened in June 2019, the Baxter-Patrick James Island Library opened in November 2019, the St. Paul’s Hollywood Library opened on June 8, 2020, and the Bees Ferry West Ashley Library opened on Nov. 2, 2020. Construction on the Keith Summey North Charleston Library is currently underway with an anticipated opening in 2023.

The Village Library in Mount Pleasant closes for renovation on Oct. 1, the John Dart Library in downtown Charleston closes on Oct. 15, and the Dorchester Road Regional Library opens on Oct. 3.

For more information about the library branch updates, click here.

Copyright 2022 WCSC. All rights reserved.

198 Competitors raced in the UKLA Noble Marine & Vaikobi Autumn ILCA 4, 6 and 7 Qualifier event at Hayling Island SC.

Six races were completed over the two days for each of the ILCA 4, 6 and 7 classes.

Winner of the ILCA 4 class overall was Noah Evans, second Leo Yates and third Archie Munro-Price (1st Under 16). First female was Kaitlyn Wyatt (9th overall).

Winner of the ILCA 6 (Radial) class overall was Daisy Collingridge, second Matilda Nicholls and third James Curtis (1st male &1st Under 19)

Winner of the ILCA 7 (Laser) class overall was Michael Beckett, second Sam Whaley and third Arthur Farley (1st under 19)

UKLA Noble Marine & Vaikobi ILCA 4 Qualifier 2 – Final Leaders (52 entries)

1st ILCA 4 Noah Evans – Royal Victoria YC 1 3 2 1 -8 1 – – 8 pts 2nd ILCA 4 Leo Yates – Island Barn SC -9 8 1 2 1 4 – – 16 pts 3rd ILCA 4 Archie Munro-Price – CCSC 5 1 5 -18 2 17 – – 30 pts 4th ILCA 4 Angus Beale – Corinthian Otters 7 5 6 -15 12 2 – – 32 pts 5th ILCA 4 Toby Smith – Rutland SC -28 13 4 10 3 7 – – 37 pts 6th ILCA 4 Tom Rawlings – Lyme Regis SC 16 -53 3 9 4 8 – – 40 pts 7th ILCA 4 Samson Cross – Shoreham -25 4 10 20 10 3 – – 47 pts 8th ILCA 4 Cameron Bignold-Kyles – RLymYC -53 12 7 7 18 6 – – 50 pts 9th ILCA 4 Kaitlyn Wyatt – Shoreham SC 20 7 22 5 -25 5 – – 59 pts 10th ILCA 4 Thomas Davey – Royal Harwich YC 13 17 -31 4 15 18 – – 67 pts

UKLA Noble Marine & Vaikobi ILCA 6 Qualifier 2 – Final Leaders (95 entries)

1st ILCA 6 Daisy Collingridge – Waldringfield SC 1 1 3 -9 1 1 – – 7 pts 2nd ILCA 6 Matilda Nicholls – Aldeburgh YC 2 -22 1 2 2 2 – – 9 pts 3rd ILCA 6 James Curtis – Bosham SC -41 5 8 6 6 7 – – 32 pts 4th ILCA 6 Jack Graham-Troll – Royal Lymington YC 7 3 2 -25 17 5 – – 34 pts 5th ILCA 6 Anya Haji-Michael – Redesmere SC -28 7 6 8 7 6 – – 34 pts 6th ILCA 6 Molly Sacker – TBA 3 -40 4 14 10.5 3 – – 34.5 pts 7th ILCA 6 Ben Elvin – Stokes Bay SC 21 10 (96 BFD) 1 4 4 – – 40 pts 8th ILCA 6 Chloe Elvin – Stokes Bay SC 12 9 -16 5 3 16 – – 45 pts 9th ILCA 6 Paige Caldecoat – CVT 9 -27 9 3 15 10 – – 46 pts 10th ILCA 6 Adriana Penruddocke – RBYC 6 13 -21 4 8 19 – – 50 pts

UKLA Noble Marine & Vaikobi ILCA 7 Qualifier 2 – Final Leaders (51 entries)

1st ILCA 7 Michael Beckett – Solva SC -3 1 1 1 1 1 – – 5 pts 2nd ILCA 7 Sam Whaley – Swanage SC 1 -8 2 3 4 3 – – 13 pts 3rd ILCA 7 Arthur Farley – BHYC 2 -12 3 4 2 6 – – 17 pts 4th ILCA 7 Sebastian Kempe – Royal Bermuda YC 4 4 -52 2 6 7 – – 23 pts 5th ILCA 7 James Percival-Cooke – Norfolk Broads YC 7 6 6 -8 3 2 – – 24 pts 6th ILCA 7 Jacob Farren-Price – Warsash SC -15 2 5 10 5 8 – – 30 pts 7th ILCA 7 Norman Struthers – Stokes Bay SC 5 -10 4 5 7 10 – – 31 pts 8th ILCA 7 James Foster – Poole YC 6 7 8 9 -10 5 – – 35 pts 9th ILCA 7 Finley Dickinson – Hayling Island SC 23 3 7 11 11 -52 – – 55 pts 10th ILCA 7 Luke Anstey – Frensham Pond SC 10 11 13 14 8 -52 – – 56 pts