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. (WCIV) — James Island residents attended a public information meeting hosted by the South Carolina Department of Transportation Thursday to share their concerns and ideas about an ongoing safety audit.

SCDOT is currently working on improving safety along Folly Road (SC 171), specifically in the 5-mile corridor between Old Folly Beach Road and Maybank Highway.

According to SCDOT, nearly 70,000 cars travel along Folly Road each day.

"The southern end has about 18,000 cars a day. And the in toward the James Island Expressway, almost fifty thousand cars a day, going back and forth all day long,” said Ginny Jones, the public involvement director for SCDOT.

READ MORE | "SCDOT seeks community input on proposed safety project for high crash area along Folly Rd."

The corridor also has a significant crash history. As part of the audit, the SCDOT studied data from January 2018 to December 2022. During that period, Folly Road saw 2,103 vehicular crashes, 15 pedestrian crashes, and 21 bicycle crashes. 75% of the crashes resulted in only property damage (1608), 24% resulted in injury (525), and less than 1% resulted in fatalities (6) according to SCDOT.

To improve safety, the department intends to install more crosswalks, sidewalks, new road signs, improved traffic lights, etc.

Residents of James Island are happy with the proposed improvements for pedestrians.

"I think the pedestrian improvements are going to be very beneficial. There are a lot of people who do travel by bike and walk on Folly Road," said James Island native Sarah Gallahorn.

READ MORE | "SCDOT approves $576M for 2026 pavement plan, boosting road improvements."

Design plans also include raised medians and fewer left-hand turns.

"We do include concrete medians in these road safety audit project designs because they help prevent those angled crashes that end up in injuries and fatalities," said Jones.

However, some residents have mixed feelings about the medians.

"They've talked about landscaping, the raised median portions, so that would be a great improvement," said Paul Comar, a resident of James Island. "The existing median is about eight to 12 feet wide. It's a pretty long, pretty wide expanse, and I think if they're going to raise sections of it, they could go ahead and just reduce the width of it down to about six feet. That would be plenty safe still. And take the extra width that they're gaining and put it onto either wider lanes or frankly probably the bike lane just to make things a little bit safer."

READ MORE | "Folly Beach greenlights major pedestrian safety improvements for Arctic Avenue."

Some residents expressed concerns about access to businesses along the road.

"I understand that it can have some benefits with improving safety in some areas where there are a lot of turns in median lanes, but that's going to affect those businesses and with people going to them," said Gallahorn. "Not everybody's going to sit here and go out of their way to turn around to go back to get to them."

"We had a lot of businesses and folks who drive this highway really interested in like exactly how the turn movements and the new infrastructure would affect them," said Jones. "Really it's those one-on-one conversations that we have tonight that are helpful in understanding their needs, and sometimes we can make really slight modifications that will help everyone be safer and just improve the project."

Traffic improvements are also being discussed.

"We're modifying the exit ramp from the James Island connector onto Folly Road, which will help with the turning movement onto Center Park Road," said Jones.

READ MORE | "Charleston County awards contract for $2.7M project to bring improvements to James Island."

The project is federally funded and will cost approximately $12.5 million.

If you weren't able to attend the meeting in person, you can view more information and provide feedback about the project online.

SCDOT is accepting public feedback until June 6.

Jones says the goal is to begin construction in late 2026.

JOHNS ISLAND — A 30-foot sailboat bobs in a narrow channel cut through the spartina marsh grass along New Cut Creek.

Wind hasn't filled its blue sails since at least August, according to neighbors who nervously watched the vessel drift until Helene's tropical storm-force gusts lodged it in the marsh.

The falling tide reveals an old engine block meant to anchor it in place.

Paw prints muddy the side of the fiberglass hull. A raccoon has taken shelter inside.

The boat, named Rebellion, is owned by state Sen. Matt Leber, R-Johns Island, and is one of over 100 littering South Carolina's waterways.

Not only are these vessels an eyesore, but they can pose environmental and navigational risks. State lawmakers, including Leber, tried to address these concerns with a pair of bills that toughened penalties for those who desert boats and imposed a tax to pay for their removal.

"It's among dozens and dozens in Charleston County, except here, we got an elected state senator that ought to be living by the book," said Shay Stoney, one of several frustrated neighbors who lives across from the derelict Rebellion.

The $3 fee that would have been levied on all South Carolina boat owners failed to reach the House floor for a vote before the session ended. However, a bill that shortened the window for claiming a possibly abandoned vessel and doubled the maximum penalty for dumping a boat made it to the desk of Gov. Henry McMaster, who signed it into law effective May 8.

"How can you vote for it when you're in violation of it?" Stoney asked.

"I voted in favor of being responsible for our boats," Leber told The Post and Courier on May 19. "I'm trying to do that, and we’re going to do that."

Leber said he's hiring a boat towing company to remove Rebellion. TowboatU.S. Capt. Greg Giggi confirmed he was preparing a cost estimate for Leber.

"I don't want the boat torn up," said Leber, reflecting on the decade of memories made on the sailboat. "I've been in session, so it's been a very complicated time, busy. But I think we have the plan together, and then we're going to get it seaworthy again."

Though Rebellion has sat for months in the marsh, with its hatch open to the elements, the S.C. Department of Natural Resources officials don't consider the sailboat abandoned because they already identified Leber as its owner. While neighbors say the senator has made little effort to move it since August, Leber said he has tried to four or five times.

As the state agency awaits guidance on how to enforce the new law, boats like Rebellion continue to mar the coastline.

Neighbors complain for months

For weeks, Rebellion floated in the channel that connects the Wadmalaw and Stono rivers, before neighbors grew impatient and started reaching out to Leber directly.

Leber had been storing the boat at one of the docks lining the creek. An issue with the dock’s owner arose, and the boat was anchored with an old engine block in the middle of the channel.

Angela Shelton said the vessel was hard to see, especially at night.

“No lights, no battery, no nothing,” her husband, Jimmy Dewberry added.

It was August and another hurricane season was underway.

"We've got kids running through here; it's summertime; storms coming," Dewberry recalled telling Leber. "All of the reasons that we could give him to come and get his boat."

"It was always the same thing and just no action," he said.

Dewberry recalled Leber coming by once last summer, circling Rebellion in a pleasure craft wrapped in an advertisement for "Booze Pops," before leaving after about an hour of tinkering. The Post and Courier confirmed a boat matching that description is one of two sitting in Leber's front yard.

Neighbors described one other attempt when Leber, apparently in a borrowed boat, towed the vessel about 150 yards up the channel, where he left it, promising to come back the following weekend.

"I don't go knock on a neighbor's door and let them know what I'm doing," said Leber, who lives about six miles up the Stono River from where Rebellion is stuck in pluff mud. "Maybe they've seen me, maybe they haven't."

On Aug. 12, Leber texted Terry Heinz, one of the neighbors living on New Cut Creek: "moving it as soon as I can."

Four days later, Leber wrote back that he had a "strong lead" on a pier where he could dock the sailboat. But he went on to say that another of his boats was having electrical issues he needed to resolve before it could be used to move the larger watercraft.

Another time, Leber referenced a failed drain plug that kept him from coming, according to text messages both Heinz and Dewberry provided to The Post and Courier.

A month passed and Heinz followed up.

"We're all wondering whatever happened to your plan," Heinz texted on Sept. 21. "I'm sure you're busy with your re-election approaching, but we’re still counting on your word."

Leber again assured Heinz he would "be moving it."

On Sept. 27, Heinz wrote Leber: "it looks like Helene is moving your boat for you."

Attached were a series of pictures of turbulent water jostling the vessel closer to their neighborhood docks.

Shelton said the tropical storm-force winds brought Rebellion within 100 yards of their property.

An hour and a half later, Heinz sent Leber another photo that showed the vessel across the channel in the marsh, where it remains.

Leber said he would come that afternoon. But later he said the father of the "young guy" he had enlisted for help vetoed their trip due to the storm's ongoing effects.

The following day, Heinz told Leber the Rebellion is "so far into the marsh that, even at high tide, it will probably take a commercial salvage operation.

"Barring another hurricane, I don’t think it will be moving at all," Heinz continued.

Leber told reporters May 19 that insurance didn't cover the cost of recovering the boat, which delayed matters.

"I've had other companies go out, make attempts, but I think I've got the right plan now," Leber said referring to his contacting TowboatU.S.

Leber, who had been serving as a state representative, in November was elected to the state senate. Three days later, Heinz texted Leber to congratulate him on his victory.

"Now that the election is over, we are hoping that you will put your attention on your boat, Rebellion, and make good on your promise to remove it from the creek," Heinz wrote. "We urge you to take responsibility for your derelict boat and do the right thing in removing it."

On Nov. 18, Leber said: "I'm not going into January session with this over my head."

SCDNR doesn't consider Rebellion abandoned

On Jan. 17, three days into the legislative session, DNR agents tagged Rebellion as abandoned, photos provided to the newspaper show. The boat was also recorded in the Department of Environmental Services' reporting tool for abandoned boats.

Maj. Michael Paul Thomas oversees DNR marine investigations, including abandoned watercraft. He said the state agency has a backlog of over 100 abandoned and derelict boats in South Carolina waters.

Thomas said in the eyes of the state, Rebellion isn't technically abandoned because Leber affirmed his ownership of the boat after it was tagged. DNR has not issued any fines or penalties to Leber, either.

Several miles down the Wadmalaw River, another derelict vessel, a 120-foot decommissioned Navy ship, sticks out of the idyllic creek.

Residents of Rockville, a tiny community on the bank of Bohicket Creek, have spent years calling on DNR and the Coast Guard to remove the hulking torpedo retriever. Last September, the Coast Guard removed from the ship roughly 3,500 gallons of oil and oily water that neighbors were concerned might seep out.

But DNR doesn't consider the rusted and barnacled HAZAR to be abandoned either, agents told The Post and Courier in March. The agency identified the owner, who is in regular contact with officials discussing plans to remove HAZAR or relinquish its title to the state.

If the agency is made aware of a possibly abandoned boat, the department places an orange tag with a date on the vessel. Before May 8, a 45-day countdown would begin for DNR agents to contact the last known owner. If no one responded within that window, the boat was considered abandoned.

Thomas said Leber made attempts to remove Rebellion, though the agency doesn't keep track of when or what these efforts were.

"We don't really keep a record of that, you know. We are trusting that that's happened," Thomas said. "We don't want to touch anybody's boat that they have the intention to move themselves. We're not in the moving business. We just deem them abandoned."

But that was before the governor signed into law harsher penalties for abandoning watercraft and reduced the number of days a boat can be left on the water before it's considered abandoned.

The Abandoned Vessels, Derelict Vessels, and Sunken Vessels bill received unanimous support from both the House and Senate — including Leber.

The bill defines abandoned boats as watercraft that are left on the water 10 days after DNR tags them. Owners found guilty of abandoning a boat could be fined up to $10,000, jailed for up to 60 days, or both. Previous legislation limited the penalty to $5,000 or 30 days in jail.

Leber also threw his support behind the South Carolina Waterways Protection Act, which would tack on a $3 fee to boaters' tax bills. The money would be used to create a fund for removing abandoned and derelict boats in state waterways, but the bill never made it out of a House committee.

This was the tipping point for the group of neighbors, who had spent months asking the senator to retrieve the sailboat and had offered help moving Rebellion.

"That was the catalyst that really made us upset," Shelton said.

"Is he, being a state senator, either sponsoring or supporting the bill that's going to charge all of us to get his boat out of the marsh?" Dewberry asked.

Leber said May 19 he is planning to pay for the boat's removal.

Reach Ali Rockett at 843-901-1708. Follow her on Twitter @AliRockettPC.

JOHNS ISLAND — Johns Island residents will see the first of two urgent care centers open in June, providing emergency services for an area that has seen rapid population growth since 2010.

Both locations are along Maybank Highway, a busy stretch that will see a slate of health-care facilities, including a planned standalone emergency room and 50-bed acute care hospital.

Johns Island Urgent Care, a privately owned clinic, is set to open June 1 in the Hayes Park 16-acre mixed-use development.

Roper St. Francis Express Care is set to open June 16 in the shopping center anchored by KJ’s Market grocery store.

Accessibility to emergency services is a critical need for island residents, where it can take 30 to 45 minutes to drive to the nearest hospital on either bridge off the island — often longer in heavy traffic and inclement weather.

“I've been living on Johns Island for several years and it's almost impossible to get good healthcare close by — you always have to leave the island,” said Dr. Kevin Hinson, a former traveling physician and co-owner of Johns Island Urgent Care. “We thought Hayes Park would be accessible for anybody in the neighborhood and anybody driving by on Maybank would be able to see it.”

Johns Island Urgent Care is co-owned by Hinson, Dr. Laura Helgran and physician assistant Peter Wilson.

Hinson said there will be two doctors, three physician assistants, an emergency medical technician, nurse practitioner and office workers on staff.

The center will treat minor illnesses and injuries with X-ray services, labs, wound care and an in-house pharmacy with plans to add an ultrasound machine.

Johns Island Urgent Care will be open seven days a week from 7 a.m. until 10 p.m. for walk-ins and reserved appointments and will accept private insurance plans as well as Medicare and Medicaid.

"We have plenty of support and the goal is to make healthcare services accessible and take care of the residents on Johns Island,” Hinson said.

Less than half a mile away, Roper's Express Care is set to open at 3575 Maybank Highway. It will be open seven days a week from 8 a.m.–8 p.m.

Johns Island residents, now totaling about 25,000, will have to wait a couple more years for Trident Medical Center’s proposed $277 million, 50-bed hospital and a $15 million, nearly 11,000-square-foot standalone emergency room. Both are also planned for Maybank Highway, directly across from the Live Oak Square development.

The Trident emergency room is slated to be built first and the plan is working through the permitting process.

The modern farmhouse architectural style received approval from the city of Charleston’s Design Review Board last fall.

About 15 miles south, the Kiawah and Seabrook island communities will soon get their own free-standing emergency department and clinic when MUSC Health opens its Sea Islands Medical Pavilion on Kiawah in late 2025, complete with a helipad for critical cases.

Residents have overwhelmingly supported the project in order to get life-saving emergency and critical care quickly.