Status: Photo taken by ©Toodleberry

What is the issue?

When we think of James Island, most people think of tree-lined corridors, historic sites like McLeod Plantation, and a spirit of independence. Some portions of James Island, such as Folly Road, were not necessarily planned with a sense of community or place. Each part of the Charleston area is unique, with characteristics and designs identifiable with that particular community. The comprehensive plans of various jurisdictions should be context-sensitive and portray the sense of place reflecting the history of the community, with a nod to appropriate development, and most importantly, in a direction that the majority of the residents actually want.

A myriad of issues have begun to frustrate James Islanders, but one development proposal in particular—the Maybank Apartments Gathering Place—spurred the realization that James Island truly needs a collaborative vision for its development future. That vision is one that all stakeholders, including the City of Charleston’s officials and residents of the James Island area, must reach together based on common ground.

The Maybank Apartments proposal is located in a district zoned Gathering Place by the City of Charleston, an appropriate site for such a district. A Gathering Place is a mixed-use town, village, or neighborhood center located at major intersections or along traditional commercial streets in suburban locations around the city. It incorporates diverse housing, mixed-use, and pedestrian-oriented development that is also supposed to be accessible by public transportation. Streets are to be connected both within the district and to surrounding neighborhoods and developments.

The property is 22 acres, but the developer is selling off parcels as the market demands, with the first 6 acres dedicated to an apartment complex. The developer also received permits from the City to remove a total of 60 grand trees from the entire property, to be removed in phases as the rest of the parcels are sold and designed. Very preliminary concept plans for the property include a large amount of surface parking, which is inappropriate for a Gathering Place design.

With the application for grand tree removal at a development site of 22 acres on Maybank Highway zoned Gathering Place in 2011, and the last public visioning meeting for this area held by the city 9 years ago, James Islanders are concerned and unsure about whether the Gathering Place zoning as written is appropriate for James Island’s character. After several meetings with concerned citizens and city planners, CCL staff realized the two sides need to discuss design options for the Maybank property, as well as several other pending developments, and also discuss how to tailor the Gathering Place zoning to become context-appropriate and promote connectivity on James Island. CCL staff met with active residents to get an idea of their vision for the community, and then met separately with city staff to get their ideas. We held a collaborative visioning session with the two groups together. In conjunction with city staff, CCL will organize 6-8 visioning sessions in various locations on James Island, and will gather the information conveyed from residents at those sessions in order to work with the city to implement those ideas into the comprehensive plan for James Island.

How would it affect South Carolina?

We are working to create a comprehensive plan for the future of major development projects on James Island. James Island deserves a coordinated plan that meets expectations and needs in order to achieve the best outcome for James Island related to land development, historic and natural resources, economics, island character, and quality of life. The end result should be agreement by the majority of stakeholders that the Gathering Place zoning concept fits the island’s character and meets current and new islanders’ needs and vision.

What can you do about it?

Contact Katie Zimmerman to stay updated on plans and community meetings.

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