Commercial Roof Repair in Ravenel, SC

RAVENEL — This small town of 2,700 people southwest of Charleston could double in population within 10 years to the current size of neighboring Hollywood as more than 1,100 new homes are built in two previously annexed large tracts and another one vote away from being added.

At the same time, officials are considering annexing another parcel for more new residences, its fourth tract in two years.

Ravenel’s planning board will consider a request March 23 to annex 20 acres on New Road adjacent to a 24-acre parcel already in the town for a new housing development called The Stables on the combined 44-acre tract.

Homebuilder D.R. Horton plans to build 52 single-family houses on 19 acres, according to site plans. The company also wants to set aside just over 1 acre for commercial space, about 8 acres for a water feature and 16 acres for green space. Part of the property is undevelopable wetlands.

The development, south of U.S. Highway 17 at 5823 and 5827 New Road, would have public water but be served by septic systems.

The pending annexation comes as the town considers a proposal to annex 755 acres on Davison and County Line roads for a new housing project called The Preserve. Augusta-based developer Southeastern wants to build 350 homes and set aside 25 acres for commercial space across from the firm’s Poplar Grove development.

During a recent public hearing for The Preserve tract, residents expressed concerns over the planned number of homes, increased traffic, the amount of acreage set aside for commercial use and whether 336 acres designated for agricultural use would see a limited number of houses in the future or have a permanent restriction on development.

Southeastern CEO Vic Mills said he has no current plans to develop the agriculturally zoned land on the backside of the proposed Preserve. Town Council is expected to address residents’ concerns at a future meeting.

The move to annex both parcels on opposite sides of the town comes after the municipality grew by 3,600 acres two years ago.

The municipality, which stretches along Savannah Highway from near Rantowles Creek to New Road, annexed the nearly 3,000-acre Tea Farm tract off Old Jacksonboro Road in 2021.

About 400 homes are planned for 397 acres closest to Old Jacksonboro Road within the Tea Farm parcel, which abuts the 755-acre Preserve tract.

That same year, the town annexed another 600-acre tract near Old Jacksonboro and New roads where 381 homes are planned in the Golden Grove development.

Mayor Steve Tumbleston said the wave of annexations during the past two years comes after the town placed a moratorium on new subdivisions with more than five lots about five years ago while town leaders updated the comprehensive plan to guide future growth.

“We had some pent-up demand,” Tumbleston said. “West Ashley is filling up, and there is nowhere else for people to go on this side of Charleston.”

The Stables parcel will be the last in the current flurry of annexations, according to the mayor.

“We don’t have any pending that I know of,” he said.

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The growing metropolitan Charleston area continues to spread farther into what was once the rural countryside.

The town of Ravenel in southwestern Charleston County is the latest to experience the region’s growing pains as it contemplates growing by 755 acres and adding 350 more houses. Just what the final development will look like has not been decided.

Town Council voted 6-1 Feb. 28 for initial approval to annex the acreage at the bend of Davison and County Line roads in Charleston County. A second majority vote is needed before the property becomes part of the small town of about 2,700 residents.

Vic Mills of Augusta-based development firm Southeastern??????? wants to build the homes in a new development called The Preserve at Ravenel across from his Poplar Grove community. He also wants 25 acres for commercial use. Much of the parcel, which includes some wetlands, is set aside as agricultural land, where Mills does not currently plan to build houses.

At two recent public hearings, residents raised concerns over the number of homes, increased traffic on the two-lane road, the type of businesses that would be allowed in the commercial node and whether the agricultural land can be placed in a conservation easement to prevent or restrict further development.

The town’s leaders are expected to address many of those issues before signing off on a development agreement that will dictate what goes on the acreage.

Mayor Steve Tumbleston said another meeting may be scheduled before the next regular Town Council meeting on March 28 to iron out the details. A date and time have not been set.

Beezer Molten of Charleston founded the outdoor gear chain in 1993 in a small shop on North Market Street. Half-Moon Outfitters??????? now has eight locations across two states with another shop on the way in Summerville. Shoe Show Inc. of Concord, N.C., recently bought the business Molten started.

1: Amount in millions of dollars paid for a 2.1-acre tract near a major intersection in Goose Creek, where a new commercial development is planned.

3: Number of Scooter’s Coffee shops planned across South Carolina in North Charleston, Greenville and Columbia.

78.4: Millions of dollars paid for a recently built apartment complex near Summerville.

200: Estimated number of dilapidated homes in Charleston. The city moves to create a board to help homeowners restore the structures.

+ Declining sales: The number of home transactions across South Carolina dipped to a five-year low in January.

+ Rising rates: Coastal condominium owners in South Carolina could see sticker shock as hazard insurance rates increase because of a string of natural disasters across the U.S. in recent years.

+ Pier review: What will the 64-acre Union Pier property look like??????? when it’s redeveloped?

Built after 1740, the historic Anne Boone House??????? at 47 East Bay St. in the South of Broad area of Charleston sold Feb. 28 for $8.6 million.

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RAVENEL — A new housing development planned on the edge of this small town southwest of Charleston is one vote away from being approved, but it will come with restrictions.

Town Council voted unanimously March 21 to allow no more than 350 homes on the front section of the planned Preserve project and one house per 10 acres in back of the 755-acre property. The move comes ahead of the town annexing the land along Davison and County Line roads.

Members of council also voted to restrict the types of commercial development on 25 acres within the proposed neighborhood. The move prohibits storage units, dry-stack storage, gas stations and stores with more than 50,000 square feet of space. A 100-foot wooded buffer also will be required along the residential portion of the development next to the roads.

Augusta-based developer Southeastern plans to build the community across from its Poplar Grove neighborhood.

The development is slated for nearly 300 acres closest to the two-lane roads that lead to Savannah Highway on the east and S.C. Highway 165 on the west. Roughly half of that acreage is set aside for parks, trails and open space around the residences. Homes are not currently proposed on the back part of the tract.

About 130 acres, or 17 percent of the larger tract, is undevelopable wetlands.

During previous public hearings, residents expressed concerns over the housing density, the amount of land set aside for commercial uses and increased traffic.

Mayor Steve Tumbleston said the town will press state highway officials to consider adding a turn lane and full signal light for both directions of traffic on Savannah Highway at Davison Road, where cars back up during peak travel times.

“If this passes, we will make a concerted effort for a petition ... to improve that intersection,” Tumbleston said of the proposed development.

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Northbound traffic on Savannah Highway currently does not stop at the juncture, and motorists turning left from Davison Road often have to wait in an access lane before merging with Charleston-bound traffic.

“It has become a safety issue,” Tumbleston said.

Part of the problem with increased traffic from Davison Road results from commuters coming from new subdivisions in lower Dorchester County who use County Line Road, which becomes Davison Road, as a shortcut to Charleston, the mayor said.

“I didn’t think I would ever see that, but it’s happening,” Tumbleston said. “That intersection is going to be a hot topic no matter what because of all the growth in southwestern Dorchester County.”

The Preserve tract abuts Ravenel’s incorporated limits after the town annexed the nearly 3,000-acre Tea Farm tract off Old Jacksonboro Road in 2021. About 400 homes are planned for 397 acres closest to Old Jacksonboro Road within the Tea Farm parcel.

The town, which stretches along Savannah Highway and has a population of about 2,700, annexed another 600-acre tract, also in 2021, near Old Jacksonboro and New roads where 381 homes are planned in the Golden Grove development.

Another 20 acres on New Road on the town’s western side is being considered for annexation. It will be combined with an adjacent 24-acre parcel that’s already in the town for a planned 52-house development called The Stables.

Homebuilder D.R. Horton plans to build on 19 acres of the total tract. The rest will be set aside for commercial space, a water feature, green space and undevelopable wetlands.

The town’s planning board will consider the New Road annexation request March 23. A final vote on The Preserve’s development agreement and the land’s annexation into the town is set for March 28.

RAVENEL, S.C. (WCBD) – Ravenel leaders discussed Tuesday night plans for a proposed development that has some community members upset.

The proposed development is the Preserve at Ravenel, and community members voiced their opinions on the development before town council voted on the first reading.

Ravenel neighbors gathered in front of Ravenel Town Hall prior to Tuesday’s council meeting to discuss the proposed Preserve at Ravenel development.

“It’s been a very confusing process to all of us as concerned citizens,” Ravenel resident Melissa Barfield said. “So, now we’re just trying to figure out exactly what is going to happen.”

Some residents worry that the 755-acre development that would be located on Davison Road, and include 350 dwelling units and 25 acres of commercial space, would overwhelm the town’s roads.

“It’s traffic,” Barfield said. “Its traffic is what it is, and that’s our concern. We travel this road every day, not just me, but everybody who lives off or on Davison Road travel it every day and we see the traffic we sit in every morning. And it’s just going to create more.”

For neighbors like Angela Brown who grew up in Ravenel, she fears this development could be the start of transforming her home into a place seemingly unrecognizable.

“We have a history there,” Brown said. “I want to know, ‘What’s in it for us?’ You’re coming through our village. This is our village, and you’re just wanting to force something down our throats. I’m very disappointed that this is happening.”

During the meeting, council voted on the project’s first reading, and it passed unanimously.

After residents received a letter from Ravenel Mayor Stephen Tumbleston early Tuesday stating they would not be allowed to comment on the development at the meeting, they were permitted to do so.

“I just think there’s so many little things that can be changed to make this more palatable to the community,” one Ravenel resident said. “And we would probably say, ‘Yes, okay,’ if some of those changes were implemented. Otherwise, I think it’s a terrible idea.”

Mayor Tumbleston says the town has seen steady growth through the years, and he’s confident if this development is approved, it will be a major benefit to the community.

“Dorchester County using 165 now as a beltway around has had a huge impact on the traffic in our town,” Tumbleston said. “So, why can’t we grow a little bit, too? To reap some of the benefits, where we’re not just a speed bump for everybody else traveling through.”

The second reading will be voted on at next Tuesday’s (3/28) town council meeting.

For Bluffton Today

This July marks the 17th anniversary of the opening of the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge.

The bridge, which connects downtown Charleston to Mount Pleasant, officially opened to traffic on July 16, 2005, following a week-long celebration. The bridge is named after Arthur Ravenel Jr., the former U.S. congressman and state senator who campaigned for the funding needed to construct the bridge.

Before the Ravenel Bridge spanned the Cooper River, the John P. Grace Memorial Bridge and the Silas N. Pearman Bridge connected Charleston and Mount Pleasant.

Grace Bridge opened in 1929. Eventually, the Pearman Bridge was built alongside the Grace Bridge to alleviate traffic and load limits. Pearman Bridge opened in 1966 to northbound traffic while Grace Bridge remained in use for southbound traffic.

By the late 1970s, Grace Bridge was declared structurally unsound. Additionally, the two bridges were not tall enough to allow for the passage of modern container ships. The state of South Carolina deemed it too expensive to replace the bridges, so the Grace and Pearman Bridges remained in use.

Things began to change when Grace Bridge scored a 4 out of 100 on a safety test in 1995.

In an oral history interview with the South Carolina Historical Society, Arthur Ravenel Jr. recalled, “We got a report from a consultant that the highway department had hired to do a feasibility study on the Grace Bridge. … And I’ll never forget what the gentleman said. He says, … ‘Both structurally and functionally…a perfect bridge is 100.’ He says, ‘The Grace Bridge, in both categories, is a 4!’ And everybody gasped!”

Concerned by this report, Sen. Ravenel returned to the state senate on the single-issue platform of raising funds for a new bridge. Thanks to partnerships with local, state and federal entities, and the creation of the S.C. Infrastructure Bank, Ravenel helped secure funding for the bridge by 2001. The total cost of the bridge was about $700 million.

Following four years of construction, the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge Opening Celebration took place from July 9-16, 2005. On July 9 and 10, over 50,000 people visited the bridge for an open house event and had the opportunity to walk on the bridge for the first time. Other events included a black-tie gala fundraiser held on the bridge, an official bridge lighting ceremony, a mile-long display of fireworks across the Cooper River, and a dedication ceremony.

Seventeen years later, the bridge is one of the most recognizable features in the city and popular with locals and visitors alike. Over 80,000 cars and hundreds of walkers, runners and cyclists cross the bridge daily.

On the legacy of the bridge, Ravenel said, “And with tongue in cheek, I tell people it’s the only thing, which in my political experience, it’s the only thing that’s ever been done in the greater Charleston area that no one complains about! Everybody loves the bridge.”