Chimney Sweep in James Island, SC

JAMES ISLAND — The town is continuing to add community spaces that will improve the quality of life for its residents, including its newest green space — Mill Point Park.

The 6.6-acre park, on Mill Pond Road off Fort Johnson Road a few minutes away from Town Hall, opened in early April and cost a little over $2.7 million with help from Charleston County greenbelt funds.

Mayor Brook Lyon told The Post and Courier it's part of an effort to preserve more green space on the island.

“People are just sick of all the traffic and overdevelopment, and this place is so unique because it’s so peaceful and so quiet,” Lyon said. “I just have to pinch myself and realize it really is real.”

After she was given a tour of the land, Lyon previously told The Post and Courier she showed each Town Council member the property and they all fell in love with it.

There's not a lot at the park besides picnic tables, a wooden pirate ship that gives a great vantage point and a house the Agricultural Society of South Carolina built. The island used to grow Sea Island cotton, according to Lyon, and the house was built at a time people were trying to figure out how to eradicate the boll weevil. The land is meant to be a passive park, meaning it is more oriented toward enjoying nature rather than structured activities.

The site used to be home to a tidal creek mill, which is where the name of the park came from, Lyon said.

Brooke Blosser, who is the land, water and wildlife project manager at the Coastal Conservation League, helped Lyon secure greenbelt funding by writing a letter in support of the park.

Blosser wasn’t able to visit the park until Earth Day. She was able to count the seven different species of birds she heard and took note of the several different insects and snakes.

“We all put in so much time and effort to conserve our natural spaces,” she said. “To see one in person on Earth Day was really sweet.”

Blosser said she’s happy she was able to help not only preserve land on James Island but invite the public to enjoy it when there might not have been the chance to do that before.

“I think that James Island has a very rich cultural and ecological heritage, and by protecting some of these lands along the coastal regions, particularly on James Island, it helps preserve some of that cultural and historical ecological heritage and allows the public to be able to enjoy that as well,” she said.

While the park has only just opened, the town is still figuring out what to do with it. Lyon said the town sent out a public input survey to gather residents’ thoughts on what they should add to the park. While they’re not collecting the survey until sometime in June, she said she’s heard that some people would want a dock and kayaks because of the waterfront access on the property.

There are also plans to plant cotton around the park, Lyon said. The town plans to include signage to educate people about the island’s history of growing Sea Island cotton — a soft and strong long-fibered cotton variety that was introduced to the Lowcountry in the late 1700s. Its bolls popped open to palmfuls of silken fiber so tough that thread from a pound of it was said to be able to stretch 160 miles. And it only grew on the Sea Islands of South Carolina and Georgia.

JAMES ISLAND, S.C. (WCSC) - The making of a new multi-use path along portions of Riverland Drive on James Island as part of an effort to create more connectivity for walkers and cyclists is nearly done.

County officials recently completed a new five-foot-wide sidewalk along Riverland Drive. The new multi-use path runs about 300 feet down Riverland Drive to meet the existing sidewalk from Crape Myrtle Drive to Camp Road.

Work on the project began in 2023 after a submission for funding from the Charleston County Parks and Recreation Committee. About $100,000 in funds from the Charleston Transportation Committee went toward the new multi-use path.

County officials say the issue in the area was the lack of pedestrian and cyclist safety without a sidewalk. County transportation program manager Alex Owsiak says the new safety addition gives area neighbors more secure access to nearby county facilities like the James Island County Park.

“Residents, in order to access the park or [who] were doing recreational walking had to walk in the street,” Owsiak says. “Riverland Drive is a pretty narrow roadway and cars don’t always obey… the speed limits through there. So, we’re helping; Providing this dedicated sidewalk that’s behind the ditches provides that additional offset, safety away from the edge of the roadway and provides that connectivity.”

The 300-foot-long path is set to be a part of a greater connectivity plan for the area. Owsiak says the new addition will connect to over 5 miles of existing projects, such as Camp Road, Woodland Shores and the Maybank Highway Midblock Crossing and other upcoming pathway projects.

“We’re hoping to go to advertising later this year with our Folly Road Bike and Pedestrian Improvements, which would provide an increased bike and pedestrian path width from Ellis Creek down to George Griffith Boulevard,” Owsiak says. “And then we have our Central Park and Riverland Drive project which would provide increased turn lanes at Central Park and then that pedestrian sidewalk network along Riverland Drive to the James Island County Park.”

Final touches, including beautification, will seal the deal on the pathway. The pathway is expected to be fully completed within the next 30 days.

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The North Carolina-based grocer confirmed May 23 it will take over its current Kj’s Market at Maybank Highway and Bohicket Road on Johns Island.

Both chains are owned by Alex Lee Inc. of Hickory, N.C.

"We're confident Lowes Foods will offer an experience more tailored to this area's unique demographic," Tim Lowe, company president, said in a written statement.

The current Kj’s Market will remain open during the remodel and brand conversion.

Customers are already seeing areas of the store under construction, including at the entrance.

The conversion is expected to be completed by next year, according to Kelly Davis, senior director of guest engagement with Lowes Foods.

Customers should start seeing the chain's food items added to shelves around October.

The overhaul will include a refreshed interior and more higher-end items, like dry-aged beef, more locally sourced products and a bigger specialty cheese section.

Davis said the owners debated at length about whether to remodel the store and keep it a Kj's Market or convert it to Lowes, ultimately deciding to bring a new grocery store concept to the fast-growing area.

“Kj’s locations tend to be in smaller towns, and we felt the area matched Lowes Foods,” Davis said.

The current Kj's Market took over a space that was formerly occupied by Bi-Lo, which is no longer in business.

The supermarket remains one of the main food-shopping destinations on Johns Island. The next-closest option for residents is a Food Lion about three miles away on Maybank Highway.

The conversion will mark Lowes Foods' fifth location in the Charleston area since Alex Lee acquired 20 Bi-Lo stores in 2020 from Winn Dixie parent Southeastern Grocers.

Lowes expanded to the region in 2017 when it opened a supermarket on Dorchester Road in Summerville. Its other Lowcountry stores are in Mount Pleasant, West Ashley and Hanahan.

Davis said Johns Island store is the third former Bi-Lo in the area to become a Lowes Food, following prior conversions in Hanahan and West Ashley. Both stores remained open during construction, closing for just two days "for a final push" before the grand opening.

The Hanahan and West Ashley locations were opened in 2021 to rave reviews, including the ability to shop while sipping a beer or wine purchased from the store.

Johns Island residents said they're concerned after seeing dogs in kennels Thursday under a tarp on private property, although local authorities have said no ordinances have been broken. (Provided)

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JOHNS ISLAND, S.C. (WCIV) — Johns Island residents said they're concerned after seeing over two dozen dogs in kennels Thursday under a tarp on private property, although local authorities have said no ordinances have been broken.

According to the neighbors on the scene, 25 dogs were taken from 18 kennels and transported to another location after animal control visited the property.

"I don't know what the plan was but just the way they were kept was wrong," said Julie Stroble, one of the concerned neighbors. Stroble's family called animal control after finding the dogs underneath the tarp.

Stroble stated that there were multiple dogs per crate and some of them were too big to stand in the space. She claimed to have heard the dogs barking weeks ago.

It was just a lot of dogs, and that's why I thought it was a bunch of hunting dogs," she said.

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Animal control visited the property along with the animals' owners. The Charleston County Sheriff's Office said the owner has not violated any ordinances within the county.

News 4 was unable to find an ordinance Charleston County has ruling how many dogs may live in a kennel or how to properly stack kennels, but ordinances do require owners to "provide said animal with sufficient good and wholesome food, clean water, proper shelter, care and veterinary treatment when needed." They also require them to provide "shading same from the sun, any direct light, heat or cold and providing adequate ventilation for their use."

The sheriff's office stated the dogs were moved by the owner into a climate-controlled room later that day and the owner of the animals will not be facing any charges.

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The situation has left neighbors with questions about what has happened to the animals and what were they doing under the tarp. News 4 has reached out to the sheriff's office for the incidents report and expect it early next week.

JOHNS ISLAND, S.C. (WCSC) - South Carolina Department of Transportation leaders are asking Johns Islanders who drive on River Road to participate in an online survey about a future project replacing a short two-lane bridge.

The bridge over Burden Creek near the Charleston Executive Airport is nearing the end of its lifespan. SCDOT is preparing for a project to replace it, involving construction decisions this year and actual construction in 2027.

Hannah Robinson of Media Relations at SCDOT says it’s part of a routine assessment of bridges that were built decades ago and are being replaced for safety reasons to meet newer standards.

“This bridge has been deemed to be structurally deficient, and so that can kind of scare some people, but we want to assure people, first and foremost, that we would never have a bridge that’s open to the public if it wasn’t safe for you to drive over,” Robinson says.

The bridge currently has 10-foot travel lanes and one-foot paved shoulders. The replacement will be 12-foot travel lanes with two-foot paved shoulders.

“We inspect every two years, and then if there’s a bridge that has certain problems that we know about, we’ll inspect those annually. So we’re absolutely monitoring this bridge, and it is safe for people to drive on. But what we’re doing now is thinking, how can we make this bridge better fit our standards?” Robinson says.

An online survey open through June 13 asks people how often they drive in the area and asks them to rank three construction plans from their preferred to least preferred.

Option one involves closing the bridge and establishing a 10-mile detour for about 90 days of construction. It is the most cost-effective option with the most minimal impact on nearby wetlands and the historic site of the Civil War Battle of Burden’s Causeway land.

Two other options, staging construction and constructing an alignment shift, would keep two-way traffic flowing throughout the construction process. But those plans cost more, comparable to each other, and both have much larger impacts on nearby wetlands, tree growth and historic land than the first option.

“I would say that there are things that people would consider pros and cons for each alternative. And so that’s again, why we’re asking for people to take this survey, to see if the majority of people would rather have a detour? Would they rather have no detour and have traffic impacts at certain times? And so it really is, again, why we do this, is we want to know what your biggest concern is,” Robinson says.

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