kitchen countertopsNear Awendaw, SC

A angular swath of timberland known as the Nebo Tract was an early poster child of the development pressures that were bleeding over into Awendaw and the Cape Romain Wildlife Refuge some 15 years or more ago.

The debate hasn’t relented about growth in and around the rural town of about 1,500 residents, just up the road from Mount Pleasant.

But as for that particular piece of real estate — it’s off the table.

The Nature Conservancy now owns the 355-acre parcel along U.S. Highway 17, bounded by Mount Nebo AME Church and the 259,000-acre Francis Marion National Forest.

The land-protection group bought it from the previous longtime owner from the Chicago area earlier this month for $3.6 million. The property had been marketed for several years through NAI Charleston for $4.5 million.

“It was Christmas in March when we closed,” said Dale Threatt-Taylor, executive director of the Nature Conservancy in South Carolina.

She said her organization had been keeping its eye on the Nebo Tract for some time. It decided to step in after a deal with another would-be buyer fell through.

“We made an offer to purchase it, and the owners accepted,” Threatt-Taylor said. “So we were delighted and moved forward with it.”

For now, the nonprofit has no firm plans for its latest acquisition in the Sewee-to-Santee district, between Awendaw and lower Georgetown County. Typically, the group will quickly sell or transfer its land holdings to a like-minded owner, such as the U.S. Forest Service, but that’s not likely in this instance, Threatt-Taylor said. She also stressed the conservancy won’t “go off mission.”

“We’re actually going to look at this property to find the best path forward. We want to engage the community in the conversation. ... Also, we may do something totally new ... and innovative that we can lead from here in South Carolina and show our partners across the nation, ‘Hey, it’s a new day in conservation.’”

The purchase follows a state Supreme Court decision that put to rest a lengthy legal battle.

The hand-wringing began around 2009, after a real estate developer proposed to build about 360 homes and commercial space on the Nebo Tract.

A financial hitch was that the property was in an unincorporated area. The town, with less restrictive and more lucrative land-use rules than Charleston County, was asked to annex it.

One of the primary concerns at the time was the possibility of a domino effect. If the Nebo Tract was added to the town, other large nearby parcels that were part of the former Fairlawn Plantation could soon follow.

As Awendaw saw it, the 355 acres it was eyeing already were bumping up against its municipal boundaries, which is a requirement for annexations in South Carolina. Around 2004, the town had annexed a 1¼-mile-long, 10-foot-wide strip within the Francis Marion, as well as the church next door to the Nebo Tract. That provided the mandatory “contiguity.”

It wasn’t until October 2009 that Town Council annexed the Nebo Tract. At the same meeting, it approved a development plan for the property.

Two nearby residents and the Charleston-based Coastal Conservation League mounted a legal challenge. They alleged in a lawsuit the next month that the Francis Marion annexation wasn’t legal because the owner — the U.S. Forest Service — never signed a petition formally authorizing the change, as required.

The litigation eventually worked its way up and down the appeals system, giving the S.C. Supreme Court the final word. It found that Awendaw’s annexation was invalid, citing the town’s “false statement” that it had obtained written authorization from the Forest Service for the 10-foot strip. Mayor Miriam Green, who was not serving in that role at the time, did not respond to a request for comment.

The Coastal Conservation League said it’s pleased that the Nebo Tract has found a buyer that “will be working directly with the Awendaw community to chart the best path forward for permanent protection of the property.”

“We know that large and sprawling development within and adjacent to protected public lands like the Francis Marion ... can pose threats to both people and wildlife in addition to creating barriers to important tools for managing the ... forest, like prescribed fire,” project manager Robbie Maynor said in a written statement. “This is a huge win for our communities and coastal critters.”

And as it turned out, all the early unrest about development at the nearby Fairlawn properties also has faded, courtesy of some of the region’s biggest industrial employers. Boeing Co., the Port of Charleston and others have ponied up the funds over past decade or so to protect about 5,400 acres of the privately owned property to mitigate the environmental impacts of their expansion plans in other parts of the region.

The family-run partnerships behind the sales of the Fairlawn and Nebo Tract parcels are conservation-minded Lowcountry landowners and investors that have been selling property to groups like the Nature Conservancy, the Audubon Society and the Open Space Institute for years. They’re affiliated with descendants of the turn-of-the-20th-century lumber titan and Berkeley County forest namesake Francis Beidler.

A representative for ECB LLC, which sold the Nebo Tract, could not be reached for comment last week.

AWENDAW — Elliott Summey, head of South Carolina’s largest airport, used the town of Awendaw’s natural resources for personal gain during his private company’s work on an unfinished park here, a new lawsuit by the town alleges.

The lawsuit echoes the findings in “Sand Man,” a report last year by The Post and Courier-led Uncovered investigative reporting collaboration.

That report revealed how Summey’s company, Jackson Development, mined millions of dollars in sand and dirt from the park site, then left Awendaw in the dark about how much money he made and how much money taxpayers should have received in royalties.

Filed June 10, the town’s 16-page complaint went a few steps further.

Among its allegations:

Summey, a former Charleston County Council chairman and son of North Charleston Mayor Keith Summey, said his attorney has been trying to resolve disputes through arbitration and mediation.

“Now that the town has filed a lawsuit, this will allow all the facts to be presented in a fair, transparent and public manner,” he said. Summey declined to discuss specific allegations raised by the lawsuit.

Awendaw Town Attorney Toya Hampton acknowledged that “passions are running high” about the park. “The Town is standing up for its rights under the agreement through the lawsuit.”

The lawsuit didn’t specify an amount it’s seeking.

The lawsuit is the latest chapter in the controversial project.

In 2009, Charleston County Council voted to use Greenbelt money to buy 290 acres off Doar Road. On council then, Summey was a deciding vote. Three years later, Summey created Jackson Development — and scored a deal to mine the land’s sand.

The deal called for Jackson Development to spend $500,000 to help Awendaw build a park. Once it hit that $500,000 mark, Summey’s company was supposed to pay Awendaw an additional 50 cents for every cubic yard excavated from the site — and more if the price of dirt rose, which it did significantly over the coming years.

The town hoped to use these royalties to finish the park.

But Summey’s company turned over far less royalty money than the town expected, about $150,000.

And while the site has a large lake from the sand mining operation, the park itself remains unfinished. The town recently unveiled a new plan featuring disc golf, an amphitheater and space for overnight camping. But it remains unclear how the town will pay for this work.

With the park project in limbo, Summey and the town have been battling over the royalties.

According to the town’s agreement with Jackson Development, Summey’s company was supposed to hand over detailed receipts, canceled checks, invoices and other documentation about his mining progress.

But Summey and his contractor, Robert Collins Co., failed to do so, the lawsuit alleged.

Amid this vacuum of documentation, Awendaw Town Council in October 2020 hired the Greenville-based Wyche firm to challenge Summey.

Summey, meanwhile, left his County Council post for a job as chief executive officer of Charleston International Airport, earning more than $318,000 in salary and perks.

The lawsuit raises new questions about Summey’s mix of public and private ventures.

Summey has created about 20 private corporations, according to state and court records. Most appear to involve real estate ventures, with the notable exception of Jackson Development.

The lawsuit alleged that Jackson Development was a “corporate fiction ... used by Summey as a means of evading legal obligations,” and that Summey should be personally liable.

The lawsuit also discussed a large berm Summey and his company built on the site.

Running parallel to Doar Road, the berm was supposed to protect a nearby neighborhood from dust and noise. A permit from the state Department of Health and Environmental Control required that the berm be made from topsoil from the park site.

But according to the lawsuit, Summey and his company violated the permit by packing the berm with concrete, asphalt, rebar, items of clothing and other trash, earning at least $100,000.

Doing this violated DHEC permit requirements and will force the town to spend at least $150,000 to fix new drainage problems created by the berm, the lawsuit alleged.

According to a DHEC inspection report in 2020, Summey’s company was supposed to remove the berm.

The lawsuit also claimed that Summey and his company sold timber from the Awendaw tract without paying the town.

It concluded by alleging Summey misused and converted the town’s resources “for personal gain to fund Defendants’ own businesses at the expense of the Town and its residents and taxpayers.”

The Awendaw project’s problems have had a ripple effect beyond Elliott Summey.

A North Charleston city employee, DeLisa Reynolds, alleges that Mayor Keith Summey retaliated against her after one of her family members posted a negative comment on Instagram about Elliott Summey’s work in Awendaw. She has filed formal complaints with the city of North Charleston and the S.C. Human Rights Commission.

Thirteen years have passed since Charleston County voted to buy the Doar Road property with public Greenbelt money. But the park site remains empty, save for a few dirt roads, a power pole, a water well and a large berm overlooking a lake.

Beyond what happened and didn’t happen in Awendaw, the project highlights a weakness in the state ethics laws.

In The Post and Courier’s October report, Summey said he was told by the State Ethics Commission that he didn’t have to report the money he made in Awendaw, prompting a government watchdog to say that it was “appalling that millions of dollars are not really accounted for.”

A potential new middle and high school in Awendaw has a chance to be a partial magnet school, and students from multiple parts of the district can be pulled to

AWENDAW, S.C. (WCSC) - A potential new middle and high school in Awendaw has a chance to be a partial magnet school, and students from multiple parts of the district can be pulled to take part in a specialized curriculum.

Charleston County School District Board Members and the people of Mount Pleasant got to hear new details about the potential schools on Wednesday. District officials told people at the meeting, held at Laing Middle School, that a lot of the plans right now are just ideas with no specific timeline.

This new middle and high school would be located on 107 acres at Highway 17 and Jenkins Hill Road. As part of this plan, district staff presented concept maps with multiple options for rezoning.

Jeff Borowy, the Chief Operating Officer for the district, says this plan will be a challenge.

“Most of the times we build a school, we just build a specific zone of attendance for that school, but in this case, we want to have a number of students to offer the right programs for those students,” Borowy said. “So, we have to look out of the box and look for something different beyond the zone.”

District staff says one of the main challenges is making sure that each school holds a maximum of 500 students. This would pull in kids from D1, the Awendaw-McClellanville area, and some from D2 in the northern Mount Pleasant area.

Staff also say they are continuing to research desirable education options for a partial magnet school to reach that target enrollment.

“It’s going to be very important to let’s build the school from up, but at the same time, let’s figure out what we’re going to be doing inside,” Thomas Colleton, D1 Constituent Board Chair, said. “The curriculum needs a lot.”

There is currently no timeline on construction for the schools because the district does not know if this magnet option will be included. The district says it is possible that the earliest we can start to see construction would be in four years.

Jonathan Mars, a parent of two children at Carolina Park Elementary, says this could be an option for his family when his kids get older.

“But it does sound like they’re going to have very specific programs at the school,” Mars said. “So, for example, if there’s a great art program and my daughter’s really into art that seems like a great option to have.”

As of now, this project is not fully funded and the district says they do not have a price estimate.

They say the next step is to charter a blue-ribbon committee in mid-October that will look at enrollment numbers and look at the best options to make this project successful.

Copyright 2022 WCSC. All rights reserved.

Good news, folks. After a two-year hiatus, the 25th Annual Awendaw Blue Crab Festival is returning this month.

What to expect

Hosted by the Town of Awendaw on Sat., Aug. 27, this annual, family-friendly celebration is expected to bring in 3,000+ guests at its 300-acre event venue at the Town of Awendaw Municipal Park at 7997 Doar Rd.

Though some might assume the event will only offer blue crab, the festival is set to feature local food trucks, more than 75 art + retail vendors, beer and wine, live music by The Secrets — aka one of Charleston’s longest-running funk shows — pontoon boat and hayrides, and a kids’ area.

And of course, there will be bushels of Lowcountry Blue Crabs served by the bucket in three flavors: Traditional, garlic, and cajun. Heads up: Crab buckets, beer and wine, hayrides, and boat rides will all require tickets.

General admission tickets are available for $10 if purchased in advance, or $15 at the door. If you’re looking to go all out this year, grab a VIP ticket for $125. A portion of the admission proceeds is set to be donated to “Build the Park” and other Awendaw charities.

But some (or all) of this may not be new information to you — seeing as how the annual celebration dates back to around 1994. So what’s the story?

How it began

In 1994, a group of Awendaw residents gathered to enjoy a few bushels of crab under an oak tree at Town Hall when the idea of a blue crab festival dawned on them.

What began as a small get-together became the annual Awendaw Blue Crab Festival that we know and love. It’s as simple as that.

Blue crabs in the Lowcountry

Though sometimes regarded as aggressive in nature, the blue crab is admired in the Lowcountry and said to support commercial fishery. The crustacean actually requires both inshore brackish and high salinity ocean waters to fulfill its life cycle — so it sounds like we’ve got the perfect environment.

Though there are other small swimming crabs in the family, this is the only crab with recreational and commercial importance in the state. The meat is used for various quintessential Lowcountry dishes — peep this story by Charleston Magazine featuring eight recipes from local restaurants.

We hope you head to this year’s Awendaw Blue Crab Festival with a new appreciation for the festival + the blue crab’s significance in the Lowcountry. Let’s get to crab crackin’, Charleston. *

CHARLESTON COUNTY, S.C. (WCBD) – A recent land purchase by the Charleston County School District (CCSD) could be the home of a joint middle and high school that would cater to students in Awendaw, McClellanville, and, possibly, Mt. Pleasant.

The $3.5 million, 107-acre property is located about 17 miles north of Wando High School off Highway 17 near Jenkins Hill Road.

It was purchased with the idea of building a school, but that process is just beginning.

“We’re investing in the future and also creating a situation where we hope to have a community school for that area,” said Jeff Borowy, the Chief Operating Officer for CCSD.

On Wednesday, District 2 Constituent Board members, parents, and community members will learn more details about what programs the school could provide, attendance numbers needed to make it come to life, and more.

“We’re going to get a little more definition about some of the programs that it potentially could offer. What we do know, at least what we’ve been told before, is that the school will probably have a population of 1,000 children and it will be a middle school/high school,” said Pamela Jouan-Goldman, the chair of the District 2 Constituent Board.

Many parents in the area say this school is a long time coming.

In 2016, CCSD permanently closed Lincoln Middle-High School due to low attendance numbers. Since then, elementary and middle school students attend St. James-Santee Elementary-Middle School, and high school students attend Mt. Pleasant high schools including Wando High and Oceanside Collegiate Academy (OCA).

“I’d say its about 25 to 30 miles each way,” said Nida Singleton.

Singleton lives in McClellanville and takes care of her nephew who attends OCA. Fortunately, his schedule is adjusted to begin the school day at 11:30 a.m., but when he attended Laing Middle School last year, the early mornings and long drives took their toll.

Singleton still drives to drop him off and pick him up each day.

“Getting up early, getting home late, still having activities and homework and all that, and it’s just a lot coming from McClellanville.”

She works two jobs and had to adjust her schedule to accommodate for travel to and from school. She says she’s hopeful the proposed school will come to fruition.

“I wish my nephew of my future kids could go to something closer.”

One concern with the feasibility of the school is attendance. In order to make it happen, around 1,000 students would need to be enrolled. Borowy says the target is 500 each for both the middle and high schools.

As it stands now, the likelihood of just the Awendaw and McClellanville areas meeting those requirements is slim due to the population in those areas. However, there’s a possibility that some students could come from Mt. Pleasant.

“It will be extremely difficult to create a zoning situation where we’ll be able to capture 500 students in either of the school schools without progressing very far south into Mt. Pleasant,” said Borowy.

He says that possibility will be discussed over the coming months with District 1 and District 2 constituent boards.

Another option being looked at is offering a magnet program at the school. That would allow students from all over to attend the school to supplement attendance numbers.

For now, basic details are being presented and more information, as well as public feedback meetings, will be offered in the future.