Private Chef in Mount Pleasant, SC

Graze Craze, a new charcuterie concept known for crafting grazing boards and boxes, has opened its first South Carolina location at 3373 South Morgans Point Road in Mount Pleasant.

The new storefront is located in the National Crossing shopping center at the main entrance of the Charleston National neighborhood, according to a news release. Graze Craze is a part of Big Flavor Brands, the food service division of Starpoint Brands, a family of companies affiliated with United Franchise Group.

At Graze Craze, charcuterie experts, known as grazologists, design arrangements that feature an array of ingredients that are ideal for grazing, like fresh fruits and vegetables, premium meats and cheeses, artisanal sweets, nuts and more, the release stated.

The Mount Pleasant Graze Craze is the only one of its kind in the Charleston area, and the franchise owners behind the new store Keith and Kendra Lovas are thrilled to share something completely new with the community they call home, the release stated.

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“The wonderful people of Mount Pleasant love to gather and celebrate,” said Keith Lovas in the release. “There is no better centerpiece for a special occasion than a Graze Craze charcuterie board — it’s unmatched in quality, beauty and functionality.”

The Lovas enjoy playing a role in their community with Kendra working at a local elementary school and Keith coaching youth sports teams through the Mount Pleasant Recreation Department, according to the release. In addition to serving exceptional grazing boards, the Lovas plan to use their Graze Craze to expand their local involvement and sponsor sports teams, further supporting kids in being active and chasing their dreams. The Lovas are also interested in bolstering regional business development through their involvement with the Mount Pleasant Chamber of Commerce.

Graze Craze charcuterie arrangements incorporate an assortment of flavors, like the popular Gone Grazey board, balanced to provide a bit of everything – a mix of cured meats, premium cheeses, crackers, fresh produce, nuts and more. The Vegegrazian is designed with a medley of fresh fruits and vegetables for anyone embracing a plant-based lifestyle.

The artisan-inspired charcuterie offerings at Graze Craze are available in different size options, from Char-Cutie-Cups and Picnic Boxes for nibbling to sharing-size boards with enough fresh food to feed a large party, the release stated.

Five years after launching an innovative plan to limit the environmental effect of commercial development, Mount Pleasant is expanding to techniques that homeowners can follow to be energy-efficient and nature-friendly.

The town is in the early stages of a voluntary residential environmental program that was discussed at a recent meeting at the Mount Pleasant Green Space, Environment, Ecology and Natural Resources (GREEN) Commission.

Mount Pleasant Town Council created the GREEN Commission in March 2023 to give its advice on conservation, natural resources, flood resilience and green space programs.

Mount Pleasant Mayor Will Haynie, in an email to the Charleston City Paper, said town leaders “have a duty to protect the sensitive ecosystems that exist in and around our town. We are proud of this new program and its continued success in enhancing environmental elements within residential properties and commercial projects.

“It’s one of our initiatives that … will continue to set the standards for more resilient and environmentally friendly land development practices,” the mayor said. “This is only the start.”GREEN Commission chairman David Quick said the environmental plans for business and homeowners are “an acknowledgement that we can do better in repairing suburbia.

“We are not going to change Mount Pleasant’s landscape overnight,” he said. It has taken 30 years to turn Mount Pleasant into a community of freshly cut lawns that have damaged the ecology.

“One of the major challenges to this will be homeowner associations,” predicted Quick, who was recently appointed chairman of the nine-member advisory group. “They control the individual subdivisions, and they tend to gravitate toward the super-manicured homogeneous neighborhoods.”

Kevin Mitchell, deputy director of the town’s engineering and environmental division, said the plan is aimed at helping residents use water more efficiently to reduce the demand on the water supply. If homeowners can follow the plan “without [it] costing them money, that will improve and enhance the environment,” he said.

Mount Pleasant has nearly 27,000 single-family homes and a population of about 100,000 residents. “If we were to make a small percentage of an impact to that number it would be a very big result for the environment,” Mitchell said.

Quick said the staff that manages the plan “has done a really good job” of talking about pervious surfaces that allow water to pass through to the soil and native plants that attract native pollinators and wildlife.

Mitchell said he and his staff are seeking the commission’s advice on how to write the residential program and what incentives can entice homeowners to follow it.

Incentives could include special promotional items such as rain barrels, free trees and plants and the benefit from becoming environmentally smarter to live more efficiently and cheaper, he said.

How to encourage people to follow the plan, he said, “is the question of how big of an incentive we are going to put in front of them.”

At the GREEN Commission’s April 16 meeting at town hall, “we’ll discuss the strategy and format of the program,” he said. Community meetings will follow to receive residents’ comments, he added.

Mitchell describes the plan for homeowners and commercial developers as a low-impact strategy that mimics nature to control the flow of water.

Unlike Charleston’s large infrastructure water-control projects that include a wall around the rim of the city’s peninsula, Mount Pleasant’s plans for businesses and homeowners are site-specific.

For example, Mount Pleasant’s plans for residential and commercial sites include rain gardens to capture rainwater.

Until recently, Charleston touted a mini-grant program to encourage homeowners to install rain gardens on their property. Residents could receive $200 to buy plants that filter and absorb water to keep it out of the storm drain system.

The Charleston rain garden program, however, was recently cut because it lacked oversight, the city’s communications director Deja Knight McMillan told the City Paper. “Essentially what we were doing was … giving [a homeowner] $200 and there was no follow-up,” she said.

“The plan was very well-intentioned,” she added. “We don’t want to discourage people from planting rain gardens. However, as a steward of taxpayers’ money, we have to be very conscious of how we are doing these grant programs.”

Charleston will re-evaluate how to use the money for the rain garden program for another program that benefits the public, McKnight said.

In 2019, Mount Pleasant unveiled environmental guidelines for commercial land developers, but the pandemic stalled it. A year ago, it was revived to conserve water, diversify the ecology, promote energy efficiency while creating a more livable community.

So far, 20 businesses have signed up for the program that awards points for the number of nature-saving steps a developer uses in a building plan. Michell said the modest start will hopefully grow to 100 business in five years.

In exchange, the town gets more environmentally friendly commercial sites, and a builder can use earned points to receive more liberal building rules, Mitchell explained.

Mitchell said developers also can earn points for installing charging stations for electric vehicles.

About half of the commercial projects are under construction, he said. They include banks, offices and renovation projects of existing companies and the town’s new baseball field at Thomas C. Cario Middle School.

The environmental plan for commercial land developers does not include the builders of single-family homes, Mitchell said. “We are not forecasting a higher pace of growth of subdivisions,” he said. “What we are creating we will hopefully be able to manage with existing staff.”

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Tell me about your professional background and how you feel it makes you a good fit to be a council member.

I've been teaching in Charleston County since 2016. This is my 24th year teaching. The local aspect of teaching, most of my career has been in teaching elementary school, but still the local aspect of working in the community where I live has always been something that I really like. Now I'm in North Charleston, so it's the greater community where I live. I think this is a theme of why I've chosen to run for Town Council because I would like to see Mount Pleasant make its own decisions on a local level and be responsible for them and with citizens participating in the process. I lived in France for seven years and I have a Bachelor of Science in French and psychology and a master's degree in educational technology. I've just always been part of the local community and have worked well with others.

What do you feel is the biggest issue facing the town today, and what plans do you have to address this?

I have a daughter, a six-year-old, and we went to James Island yesterday to go rock climbing in James Island County Park. I would like to see the green spaces improved in Mount Pleasant to make it something where travelers don't have to go across town to go to the (County) Park. I know that there’s a bike path in … Laurel Hill County Park and just a dirt road going in a half-mile circle and there are things that we can put back there that would be places you can take your kids and take your family.

The other thing is I think that health all across the United States is a problem. We pay more for healthcare. We have more healthcare issues related to obesity and diet. I would like to be somebody who spreads the message of healthy eating and healthy lifestyles lead to better lives. We have a great little local market there at Boone Hall...we have the Farmers Market on Tuesday and Boone Hall is open the rest of the week.

The results of the Public Input Matters survey found that throughout all seven districts in town, respondents feel that traffic in Mount Pleasant needs to be improved. What are some concrete solutions that you feel can address this?

The traffic in Mount Pleasant and housing in Mount Pleasant — I don’t know if ‘victims of our own success’ is the right word for it. We have a very unique geography here. We are a virtual island in that there's no shortcuts. There's one way in and one way out. You may come across I-526 or I-26 or you go north towards McClellanville and Georgetown up (Highway) 41. There just isn't room.

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I know that the Town Council has a plan and they've already hired a company to look into certain traffic solutions. As a new council member, I'm not sure if I would be able to offer anything different to what they have already decided on.

Another area Public Input Matters survey takers responded to was housing availability. Forty-one percent of respondents felt that affordable housing options should be increased. How do you feel this can be accomplished?

I think it speaks well to the people in Mount Pleasant that we want things for people like affordable housing, but whether or not there is a feasible solution to providing that affordable housing — where are we going to put affordable housing? It makes sense that people want affordable housing but do they want the affordable housing in their backyard?

I want to live locally, I want to buy locally, want to shop locally, but we can't escape the fact that a lot of our local decisions are made on a state and national and global level. How does Mount Pleasant make affordable housing when the interest rates are 7.75 percent? There are things happening on a national level that we just can't control that can make our job of creating affordable housing next to impossible.

Is there anyone who has served as a role model to you, either from politics, past experiences or family members, that you look to and consider while you run for office?

One thing my dad always taught us was sometimes doing the right thing is the hardest thing to do, but you can take solace in the fact that it's the right thing to do. I am a part owner of a restaurant in Washington, D.C. with my brother Eric and when Washington D.C. decided to impose the vaccine mandate on restaurants … we were the only restaurant in Washington, D.C. to actively say no, we're not going to check people's health papers. It was very hard on my brother to do that, and he's such a big part of the local community. What I just really admired was his courage and even though it financially wasn't the best decision. Financially, it wasn't a great decision, but it was the right decision to make and his principles are something that I truly admire and I try to follow that example in my own life.

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Three area hospitals have been sold in a $2.4 billion deal to North Carolina-based Novant Health by the previous owner, Tenet Healthcare of Dallas, Texas.

The sale of East Cooper Medical Center in Mount Pleasant, Hilton Head Hospital in Hilton Head and Coastal Carolina Hospital in Hardeeville includes the associated physician clinics and other operations, according to a news release from Novant Health.

“We are beyond thrilled to welcome our new team members and grow our presence in South Carolina,” said Carl S. Armato, president and CEO, Novant Health, which is headquartered in Winston-Salem. “Novant Health’s long-term vision is to transform the health and wellness of these communities through expanded specialty services and clinical expertise. We are energized and united behind our cause to create a healthier future together by building connections with patients and clinicians in coastal South Carolina.”

The East Cooper Medical Center includes 15 physician clinics. Hilton Head Hospital includes the Bluffton Okatie Outpatient Center and 12 physician clinics. Coastal Carolina Hospital in Jasper County includes the Tidewatch Free-Standing Emergency Department in Bluffton, according to the news release.

Novant Health said continuity of care is a priority and appointments and procedures will continue as scheduled during the transition period. “We are working closely with our new Novant Health team members to ensure a seamless transition for patients and team members,” Joel Taylor, market CEO of Hilton Head Regional Healthcare, said in the release. “We are eager to move forward together in support of our teams and know decisions will be made with our community’s needs at the forefront.”

“There’s a lot to be excited about when planning for our future,” Tyler Sherrill, CEO of East Cooper Medical Center, said in the release. “Novant Health is known for elevating clinician leadership to provide patients with a trusted health care experience through world-class technology, personal connections and convenient access to care.”

Tenet Health also owns a cluster of imaging centers and urgent care clinics in York, Rock Hill and Fort Mill, but those South Carolina properties were not part of the deal for the coastal hospitals.

“We understand that taking care of our patients starts with taking care of our people, so I’m delighted to join a leadership team that strives to not only be a healthc are provider of choice but also an employer of choice,” Ryan Lee, CEO of Coastal Carolina Hospital, said in the release. “I look forward to expanding the resources available to our team.”

Novant Health supports health and wellness programs in the community, including health education/screenings, community health workers and mobile cruisers. Each year, Novant Health provides hundreds of programs that serve patients, neighbors and some of their communities’ most vulnerable citizens, the company said in the release.

The Novant Health network consists of more than 1,900 physicians and more than 38,000 team members who provide care at more than 800 locations, the release said.

MOUNT PLEASANT — In an ongoing backlash to years of soaring population growth and traffic complaints, this affluent suburb plans to extend strict limits on building permits for another five years.

Just 600 new residences would be permitted yearly in the town of more than 94,000 people, and the actual number would likely be lower.

The yearslong effort to slow residential development by capping building permits is a step no other municipality in South Carolina has taken, but few have experienced growth like Mount Pleasant. The town's population has roughly doubled since 2000 and tripled since 1990.

“There was concern in the community about our infrastructure being able to keep up with the growth rate, and I don’t think that concern has gone away," said Councilwoman G.M. Whitley, who put the permit limit extension before Town Council in November.

The measure is scheduled for a Planning Commission hearing Dec. 13, with a final Town Council vote expected in January. The "building permit allocation system" has been in place nearly five years, and instead of expiring in early 2024, it would be extended to 2029.

Mount Pleasant News

It's among many steps the town has taken to thwart rapid growth. There's also a moratorium on new apartment construction that's been in place for seven years, zoning rules have been changed to limit building height and density, and development impact fees were increased dramatically.

In 2018, the year before the permit caps began, the town saw 1,407 new dwelling units — houses, apartments, townhouses and other types of residences. Last year, there were 759.

Graphic: New residential units in Mount Pleasant

Building permit limits that began in early 2019 slowed residential development in Mount Pleasant. The town plans to extend those limits to 2029. NOTE: 2023 data As of novEMBER

The Post and Courier | sOURCE: TOWN OF MOUNT PLEASANT | THE POST AND COURIER

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Graphic: New residential units in Mount Pleasant

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The permit limits were aimed at slowing the town's annual growth rate for residences from more than 3 percent to a target of 2.1 percent. The result was a growth rate even lower, marked by a low of 1.29 percent in 2020 when just 520 new residences were built.

Real Estate

Mount Pleasant's ordinance in 2019 laid out justifications for limiting building permits, and nearly five years later those have not changed.

The ordinance to extend the permit limits uses the same language, which says "the effects of significant growth are apparent and have resulted not only in increased traffic, congestion and noise, but have also burdened the services.." and "...the town’s road system is barely capable of adequately handling current traffic..."

The permit rules are particularly strict when it comes to higher density multi-family construction, such as apartments and condos. Just 500 new multi-family residences would be allowed over five years, while 2,400 single-family homes could be permitted.

Perhaps surprisingly, despite the limits in place since 2019, hundreds of single-family-home permits went unclaimed.

“Right now we have in excess of 800-900 single-family permits," said Michele Reed, the town's planning director.

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Real estate professionals said a lack of developable land in Mount Pleasant and the high cost of any land available help explain why hundreds of permits to build houses were not used.

“Mount Pleasant, in a lot of ways, is near build-out," said Josh Dix, government affairs director for the Charleston Trident Association of Realtors. "There’s not a lot of opportunity for single-family."

Real Estate

If the town were to annex more properties, that could change. The town is currently in a lawsuit over rules that require property owners to become part of the town in order to get the water and sewer service needed for development.

The suit was filed by owners of a 185-acre tract on the Wando River, known as the Republic tract.

If it were to be developed in the town, Mount Pleasant's impact fees would apply and permit limits would allow just 25 new homes per developer every six months. If it could be developed as an unincorporated part of Charleston County, town officials have said the county's zoning would allow about 1,600 homes.

So, Mount Pleasant is mostly built-out, but that could change.

In the current permit-limiting plan that started in 2019, all but 10 of the 500 multi-family permits were claimed, as were all 100 of the permits allowed for accessory dwellings — generally small second homes on the same property as a primary home.

Mount Pleasant News

Unclaimed permits will not roll over into the next proposed 5-year program. And as with the current program, there would be limits on how many single-family permits could be obtained every six months.

Drew Grossklauss, a Mount Pleasant realtor who became president of the Charleston Trident Association of Realtors in November, said he understands the town needs to address growth but the length of the permit limit extension seems unnecessary.

“I would say five years seems like an extreme to do something," he said.

There are exceptions to the permit caps. The two developments that have ongoing agreements with the town, Carolina Park and Liberty Hill Farm, are exempt, as are developments of affordable housing.

Real Estate

During the last five years, there was one townhouse development, Gregorie Ferry Towns, that qualified for the affordable housing exception — townhomes started at $279,000 — but real estate professionals doubt private developers could create more.

"The cost of land, the cost of construction — all these things add up," said Dix. He said allowing more permits for multi-family housing could help create more affordable housing.

“There is a lot of talk from realtors that if we build a lot of multi-family housing, Mount Pleasant would be more affordable, but I think that’s not true," said Whitley. "They will charge what the market will bear."