Private Chef in James Island, SC

JAMES ISLAND — Whenever it rained, Craig and Jamie Bussard knew their yard would flood.

It became saturated every time the skies opened up ever since they moved into their home on Ocean Neighbors Boulevard in 2015.

Over time, the Bussards just accepted it as their reality.

But then they saw a way out: plant a rain garden, a round space where native plants would soak up the downpour.

The city of Charleston liked the idea and gave the couple a grant. The Homeowners Association and property manager signed off, too, or the couple thought they did. And everything worked the way it was supposed to.

Until it didn't.

In November, the HOA said the rain garden didn’t get necessary approvals and demanded its removal. After months of correspondence, the HOA gave the Bussards until Feb. 27 to remove it. After that, the HOA threatened to hire a contractor to forcibly remove the garden of grasses and flowering plants at the Bussards’ expense.

“It just sends the wrong message to the entire neighborhood that the neighborhood doesn't care about environmental concerns or the environmental benefits and doesn't take the flooding measures seriously,” Craig Bussard said. “It just sets a bad precedent.”

But the fight goes on.

Floodwater management

Like many Lowcountry properties, lighter rains would cause water to collect and the ground to become soggy and muddy. Heavier rains would result in standing water that sometimes took weeks to drain away. Mosquitos were always a concern for the Bussards' young children and pets.

“We had kind of accepted it as something beyond our control and just grown used to not using that part of the yard or the gate on the side of the house,” Craig said noting that the flooding also afflicted their adjoining and sympathetic neighbor’s yard.

“That side yard that we share, it's just a mud pit any time it rains, any sort of amount,” said Kayleigh Coda, the Bussards' neighbor. “That's where our trash cans are taken in and out from the backyard, so it's just a mess.”

Then the Bussards heard about the Charleston’s Rainproof Mini-Grant Program, which provides homeowners with $200 and training on how to properly install a rain garden on their property.

Rain gardens are sunken gardens that capture stormwater and help it absorb into the ground within 24 hours. This can prevent runoff that can flood neighbors’ yards and streets.

“The responsible way is to keep the water on your property, and rain gardens allow you to do that,” said Katy Calloway, a resident of the Ocean Neighbors community who specializes in stormwater management.

The idea piqued the Bussards’ interest: What if they didn’t have to accept flooding as their reality? What if they planted a rain garden and it worked to benefit not just them but their neighbors too?

“As soon as (the grant application) opened, we applied to it, and we also shared to the community Facebook page … how excited we were about this and how we’d love to see this in the community more because we're on James Island, where things flood constantly,” Craig said.

The Bussards submitted their application in August and were notified it had been accepted the following month. Throughout September, the Bussards completed the required in-person and online training on rain gardens and what to do to make it successful: Rain gardens require careful planning and attention to soil, elevation and selected plants.

Rising Waters

“One of the key parts of making sure a rain garden is successful is choosing a location, so you’re supposed to perform a few different tests,” Craig said. “When it rains really heavily, you’re supposed to go out into your yard and watch the water flow.”

It surprised Craig and Jamie when these tests revealed the front yard would be a better location than the backyard, he noted.

“It’s a lot of work,” said Coda, who has a rain garden in her backyard. “ … A lot of effort and time goes into it, picking the right local plants, which ones go together really well, the spacing and all of that.”

Miscommunications with the HOA would prove to be even more work for the Bussards, putting not just their garden at risk, but the future of sustainable landscaping practices for the entire community.

Miscommunication

The Bussards submitted their plans to their HOA and property management company, Poston Community Management, in September. Their application included the garden’s proposed front-yard location and the combination of flowering plants and grasses they planned to use.

Dean Monk, chairman of the HOA’s Architectural Control Committee, emailed his approval, “as long as we keep it according to the covenants, basically weeding and making sure nothing overgrows,” Craig said.

But the next day, property manager spokesperson Melissa Blocker sent an email contradicting the chairman’s decision: The committee denied the Bussards' application.

Our public service and investigative reporting is among the most important work we do. It's also the most expensive reporting we do. We can't do it without your support.

After requesting the reason, Blocker wrote in an email to the Bussards that the committee researched rain gardens and noted that they can “get out of control and look unkempt/unmaintained.”

“Any kind of landscaping can become messy and unkempt if it's not maintained, so that just seemed really irrelevant,” Craig noted.

News

After multiple correspondences, the Bussards pointed out that the neighborhood’s guidelines both encourage experimentation with native plants and don’t require approval for the addition of plants under 36 inches in height.

Since the rain garden didn’t include any plants over that height, the Bussards and property manager agreed they did not need additional approvals, Craig said. Blocker acknowledged this in writing on Oct. 6.

She did not respond to requests for comment.

On the weekend of Oct. 22, they dug the 200 square-foot flowerbed and planted native plants, including Stokes aster, sweetspire, black-eyed Susans, bee balm and echinacea. They also routed the gutter drain and added three bags of mulch, Craig recalled.

A few days later, Blocker notified the Bussards that there was a misunderstanding: Since the rain garden is a new flower bed that adds to their overall footprint, it does need HOA approval. She wrote in the email that the HOA requested them to stop all work on the garden until they get approval, but by that point, the rain garden was already finished, Craig said.

“We’d already completed everything, other than maybe four or five additional bags of mulch that we needed,” he said. “All the plants were there, and everything was dug and everything was ready to go.”

Craig said they finished mulching the garden at that point to make it more aesthetically pleasing and to protect the newly planted plants.

The Bussards submitted another application to the HOA committee on Oct. 30, which was denied about a week later. The committee stipulated that the rain garden had to be removed and filled in with dirt and sod within 30 days.

The Bussards appealed to the HOA’s Board of Directors, which consists of five community members, including HOA president Ellen Souter. The board also denied the request.

Souter declined to comment on the record due to ongoing litigation.

In a Facebook comment, Souter wrote, "There are two sides to every story."

Calloway, a member of the board at this time, said that she and one other board member voted in favor of the Bussards’ request. The remaining three members, including Souter, voted against.

“Craig's project, in my opinion, was mishandled by the HOA from the get-go,” Calloway said, noting the reason for this change was based on the aesthetic of the garden.

“The concern was not about practicality and stormwater management,” she said. “The concern is that the Bussards’ yard is at the front of the neighborhood, and people see it, and they don’t think it’s pretty.”

Rain gardens take time to grow and flower, Calloway, Coda and the Bussards said.

“That's really tough because a natural yard that's functioning for the good of the environment looks very different than a yard that's full of grass and has no plants,” Calloway said.

The Bussards and Coda said the rain garden has “definitely” helped alleviate flooding issues. Craig said they’ve tried to negotiate with the HOA, without success.

“We’ve been willing and begging, basically … to work something out here,” he said. “This is for the good of the community. It seems like there are some misunderstandings between (the property manager), board and the (Architectural Control Committee), but let’s try to work this out and be adults. But my attempts to negotiate have just flat-out been refused.”

The HOA’s attorney notified the Bussards’ attorney that the HOA will give them until Feb. 27 to remove their rain garden. Otherwise, the HOA would hire a contractor to do so at the Bussards’ expense, Craig said.

No formal written notice of this action had been issued by the time of publication.

A garden worth fighting for

Craig said they had every intention to uproot the garden the weekend of Feb. 23, but they couldn’t bring themselves to do it. The Bussards turned to the community for support for one last try. They posted on their community’s Facebook page on Feb. 24.

“It instantly blew up,” Craig said. “We've not gotten a single negative response other than from the board president.”

The Bussards hosted an information session at their home on Feb. 25 and got more than 20 signatures on a petition to save the garden within the first 30 minutes of the meeting, Craig said.

This show of support inspired the Bussards to try and keep their garden.

“We truly believe that the environmental benefits and drastic improvements in flooding mitigation the rain-proof garden has achieved is worth fighting for,” he said.

JAMES ISLAND, S.C. (WCSC) - Crews are continuing to work to repair two major water main breaks that happened within a day of each other on James Island and in West Ashley.

Public Information Administrator for Charleston Water System Mike Saia says while the collapsed ground looks like a sinkhole, the damage didn’t happen that way in a technical sense. The damage to the ground and roads is from the strong water pressure when the water lines broke under the pressure. The water force caused the ground around the pipe to explode outward as opposed to sinking inward.

“Main breaks in the late part of the winter or early spring are really very common because the temperatures take wild swings with freezing one day, then they were in the 70s for a few days. After that what happens is that temperature change inside our mains really changed the structure of the pipe and to make it a little bit more brittle,” Saia says.

Saia says the water lines themselves were fixed quickly and based on the locations of the breaks, only a few customers were affected for a short time on Highway 61.

“Our main break for Fort Johnson Road was a 24-inch water main, a much bigger pipe with much bigger impact to the site and the road. But no customers were without water at any time because we were able to route the water from other means in the area and keep our customers in service at all times,” Saia says.

“It is likely Fort Johnson will be closed for at least several more days while all repairs are completed,” the town said in an updated post Sunday night. The post attributes the delay to expected rain it states will complicate the already extensive repairs to the broken water line.

With water access and pipe structure handled, now their work turns to repairing the damaged roadways. Saia says on Highway 61 luckily one lane has remained open, and it is a smaller issue that can be fixed faster than the major break on James Island.

“Our crews responded immediately but when a 24-inch water main breaks, it creates a lot of devastation and a lot of destruction. And it took Fort Johnson completely out of service where it remains today. It’ll probably take us another two days, maybe even three to get the road restored,” Saia says.

Saia says Charleston Water System handles about 150 main breaks a year and these two are on the larger side of the average leak. He says crews are always on standby for this type of situation. He explains the cost of repairs is within the system’s regular budget.

“We’re able to handle all the street repairs on Highway 61 and will eventually bring a contractor in to do the final paving. But we are absolutely fully relying on a contractor to do the site remediation for Fort Johnson and because it’s such a very large area, actually contractors are going to do all the backfilling and all the paving throughout the remainder of the project,” Saia said.

James Island First Presbyterian Church sits at the corner of Fort Johnson and Jeffords Street. Despite the main break over the weekend, they were able to get their water running and a plan in place so Sunday Services went off without a hitch.

Mike Terelak, ruling elder on the Buildings and Grounds Committee for the church, says it was a team effort and he talked a lot with the Charleston Water System and SCDOT who helped them get through Sunday and make sure families have access to the child-care center this week.

“We had our annual Chili Cook-Off, which is a big event here. It raised a lot of money for James Island outreach and other missions that we run. And everybody came out, it was a big great time. We had a baptism, we have new members joining the church. So it was a really great day for our church and a little bit of mud wouldn’t have stopped that,” Terelak says.

Saia says since the roads are the Department of Transportation’s, he is in contact with officials there and everyone is collaborating toward a solution as fast as is possible. Saia asks that everyone who can, steer clear of Fort Johnson Road which he expects will be fully closed until at least Wednesday.

Charleston Water System will have a mobile board placed on Fort Johnson to direct drivers to turn onto Secessionville Road, the post states. Those closer to the site will see Charleston County Sheriff’s Office detour signs directing them around the sinkhole by way of Avenue A and then to Folly Road.

The post urged drivers to avoid the area if possible, suggesting Camp Road or Harbor View Road as alternate routes.

The Charleston Water System was able to divert water Saturday morning to ensure that homes in the area had working water. Anyone who does not have water service should call the Charleston Water System at 843-727-6800.

Copyright 2024 WCSC. All rights reserved.

Trident Medical Center has submitted a Certificate of Need to the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control to build a $277 million hospital on Johns Island. The application is for a 50-bed acute care hospital between Maybank Highway and Cane Slash Road, across from the Live Oak Square development.

Projections for Johns Island Hospital show that within the first three years it will create nearly 300 jobs, contribute $10 million in non-income taxes to support the community and pay $70 million in salaries, wages and benefits, the organization said in a release.

“We are excited to continue making medical care more accessible to residents in our historically underserved communities,” Trident Health President and CEO Christina Oh said in the news release. “Currently on Johns Island and neighboring communities, it can take residents 30 to 45 minutes to drive to their nearest hospital, and often longer in heavy traffic and inclement weather. Our goal is to increase access to timely, high quality and affordable health care services.”

Trident Medical Center’s chief of the medical staff and medical director of emergency services, Dr. Scott Hayes, said he sees firsthand the results of delayed care.

“For residents who live far from emergency medical care and who may be experiencing a medical emergency like a heart attack or a stroke, minutes can mean the difference between life and death,” he said in the news release. “Access to care close to home is critical, especially in areas like Johns Island and the surrounding communities, that have frequent traffic delays.”

Trident Health surgeon Dr. Thomas Litton, who lived on Johns Island for 20 years and recently moved from there largely due to increasing traffic congestion and limited access routes off the island, said, “The rapid population growth and development of Johns Island, as well as its role as the sole gateway to Kiawah, Seabrook and Wadmalaw Islands, has created a strong need for a full-service hospital in the area. Residents on those islands have never had a full-service hospital. Trident’s hospital on Johns Island and their freestanding ER on James Island will greatly improve residents’ access to much-needed medical care.”

Johns Island Hospital will be located seven miles from James Island Emergency, Trident’s new freestanding ER at 945 Folly Road, Charleston, that will open in the next few weeks.

Plans call for Johns Island Hospital to have 50 beds with space to expand to 150 beds, 40 medical/surgical/stepdown beds, 10 ICU beds, 20 ER rooms, four operating rooms, two endoscopy suites and a cardiac catheterization lab. The hospital also would have two CT scanners, an MRI, two diagnostic radiology suites and a fluoroscopy room.

In addition to the hospital, services would include medical offices for primary care and specialists as well as outpatient imaging and support such as breast imaging, rehabilitation and other outpatient therapy services.

“From our first discussions about building a hospital on Johns Island, we have been committed to creating a thoughtful plan that preserves the natural beauty of Johns Island,” Oh said in the release. “We will honor the strong Gullah Geechee cultures of the community; we will partner with the areas’ community and businesses; and will promote the important and unique contributions of Johns Island’s agricultural community.”

The proposed Johns Island Hospital is in addition to nearly $140M in capital investments currently underway at Trident Health’s hospitals, Trident Medical Center and Summerville

Discount grocer Aldi plans to beef up its presence across the Lowcountry.

The no-frills food chain filed plans with the city of Charleston recently to take over part of the space once occupied by the now-defunct Bi-Lo supermarket on Folly Road on James Island.

Aldi plans to lease 22,000 square feet of the roughly 40,000 square feet of empty space in the former grocery store building, according to Mark Hoffman, director of development for New Jersey-based Garden Communities, which has owned the 4.5-acre retail center since 1994.

Real Estate

An Aldi representative did not immediately respond for comment on projected time frames for the renovation work and an opening date. Hoffman said he expects work to begin within the next six months with a possible opening by 2025 "if not earlier."

Last year, workout chain Planet Fitness leased and renovated 25,000 square feet on the east side of the former supermarket.

It’s the second new site in the works this year for the German-owned grocery chain in the Charleston area.

In May, the company leased several acres at U.S. Highway 17 and KOA Campground Road for a second Mount Pleasant location. Aldi signed a land lease with property owner Oakland Associates LP for 20 years with the option to renew up to 25 years.

Real Estate

The penny-pinching Aldi doesn’t provide free shopping bags and requires a refundable quarter deposit for a shopping cart.

Get the best of the Post and Courier's Real Estate news, handpicked and delivered to your inbox each Saturday.

Email

The chain stocks a variety of standard products, mostly under its own label, as well as fresh meats and produce.

The grocer launched its first store in the Charleston region in 2015 off Dorchester Road on the edge of Summerville and North Charleston. The company then followed with a second store on Johnnie Dodds Boulevard in Mount Pleasant in 2017. Both locations were former bowling alley sites.

Aldi opened its third Lowcountry location in 2020 on North Main Street in Summerville, just south of the Earth Fare supermarket. The company added a fourth site later that year in the former Barnes & Noble Booksellers space on Rivers Avenue in North Charleston. A fifth store opened in 2022 on St. James Avenue in Goose Creek.

The low-budget grocer, with its U.S. headquarters in Batavia, Ill., is one of America’s fastest-growing retailers. It will add 120 stores this year. By the end of 2023, it will have 2,400 locations across the nation. It has 48 stores in South Carolina.

Lidl, its competitor that is also based in Germany, opened its first Charleston-area location on St. James Avenue in Goose Creek in 2017. A second location opened in 2022 in Cedar Grove Shopping Center on Dorchester Road in North Charleston, east of the Aldi location.

Lidl signed a lease in 2021 to outfit a former kitchenware shop in Bowman Place Shopping Center on Bowman Road in Mount Pleasant for the region’s third location but later scuttled plans.

In September, specialty grocery chain The Fresh Market took over the lease from Lidl. The Greensboro, N.C.-based supermarket chain has submitted plans to the town, but it has not announced an opening time frame.

Real Estate

Our twice-weekly newsletter features all the business stories shaping Charleston and South Carolina. Get ahead with us - it's free.

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - One concerned resident living on James Island says there is a lack of communication on a traffic project that was designed to improve the safety and flow of traffic.

The Central Park Road and Riverland Drive Intersection Improvements Project was made to improve the safety and traffic flow of Riverland Drive and Central Park Road for all modes of transportation while minimizing impacts on adjacent property and grand trees. The project officially began in 2018 and is still in the works.

More than 11,000 vehicles a day commute on Riverland Drive, according to the Charleston County Transportation Department, and the lack of turn lanes and significant delays have prompted a plan to relieve traffic congestion at the intersection of Riverland Drive and Central Park Road.

The need for more crosswalks, signs and designated areas, frequent accidents, narrow lanes and delays for school traffic are just a few reasons officials say the project is needed. The funding for the project comes from the second half-cent sales tax.

Eric Lundcrum lives on Terrabrook Lane on James Island and says the road hasn’t been upgraded and the growth continues to climb in the area.

Charleston County spokesperson Kelsey Barlow says the county intends to install crosswalks and a flashing light at the Central Park and Riverland intersection. The project will also add a right-turn lane with refuge on Central Park and a sidewalk along Riverland Drive that will extend to the future Woodland Shores sidewalk to the Riverland Drive multi-use path.

“We should have some consideration on completing some of these projects that are way overdue,” Lundcrum says. “The Charleston County Council is always 20 years behind upgrading infrastructure to satisfy the growth. The other solution was just to put a traffic light there, but they didn’t even do that. Year after year of more growth and year after year no solution to the very busy intersection.”

We reached out to officials from Charleston County who told us the South Carolina Department of Transportation has approved the right-of-way plans, and they are currently in the right-of-way acquisition process. They are scheduled to advertise construction in the third quarter of this year. Currently, officials say the project team has made contact with impacted property owners and working with them for the right-of-way acquisition process.

If you know a road that’s driving you crazy, you can submit your concern here.

Copyright 2024 WCSC. All rights reserved.