kitchen countertopsNear West Ashley, SC

West Ashley, the area across the Ashley River from peninsular Charleston, offers a change of pace from some of downtown’s more tourist-centric areas of town. Home to more than 40 percent of the city’s population, the area boasts parks, restaurants, breweries and shopping catered to locals.

Explore

Known to some as the “birthplace of South Carolina,” West Ashley is home to the well-preserved colonial village, Charlestowne Landing. The 184-acre state park off of Old Towne Road offers an opportunity to explore both the city and the state’s modern origins. With walking trails, marsh views and a small zoo, the state park is a site visitors and locals alike can visit multiple times for different experiences.

For the active set, West Ashley is home to Shadowmoss Golf & Country Club and bowling alley Ashley Lanes. Get practice on your swing at Charleston Golf, a combined golf simulator and bar.

Get a breath of fresh air on the 7.8 mile West Ashley Greenway which starts at U.S. Highway 17 and Wappoo Road and ends at Higgins Pier where anglers can cast a line. There’s another opportunity to fish off of Sam Rittenberg Boulevard at Northbridge Park.

For a different scenic walk, meander via boardwalk through marshes and coastal forest at the Stono River County Park in outer West Ashley.

Shopping

Unlike other areas of the city, West Ashley is home to some large-scale retail spaces that make it an ideal place for furniture stores and other specialty shops.

Residents don’t have to go far to furnish a home with pieces from both local shops and national chains. Some local favorites include Charleston Amish Furniture, Hausful and Warehouse 61.

Consign Charleston offers seemingly endless rows of second hand furniture, clothing and other treasures. The warehouse setting and fun mix of oldies music make it an ideal environment to spend an entire afternoon browsing for unique finds.

Further down U.S. Highway 17, more warehouse-style retail spaces offer a variety of maritime stores for the city’s boaters. Choose from Hankel Marine, West Marine and Seel’s Outboard among others.

Eat and drink like a local

In West Ashley, residents and visitors alike can start their day at local coffee shops like Second State Coffee which provides unique seasonal offerings like jasmine lattes in the summer, or Highfalutin Coffee Roasters has a rotating menu of international coffees from nearly every continent.

For more sustenance, New Orleans-style brunch is served at Ruby Sunshine daily. For a French flair, check out La Bonne Franquette’s brunch on weekends.

Those in a hurry can grab an authentic East Coast bagel from Blazing Star Cafe or make a stop at the Bigby Coffee drive-thru.

When lunch time rolls around, West Ashley delivers a bevy of barbecue options. Swig & Swine, Home Team BBQ and Bessingers Barbecue all have outposts in the area. But vegetarians have options, too. Stop at Dellzville for vegan eats including a pizza topped with edible flowers.

For sandwiches try the fried chicken at Boxcar Betty’s or a Chicken Charleston from East Bay Deli. Mellow Mushroom or Paisano’s Pizza Grill will satisfy a pizza craving too.

Spend the afternoon drinking local beers at breweries including Frothy Beard Brewing Company on Sam Rittenberg Boulevard, Charlestowne Fermentory’s two locations and Edisto River Brewing Company in outer West Ashley.

Dinner and drinks take many forms in West Ashley. Avondale Wine & Cheese offers a lengthy wine list accompanied by charcuterie and tapas. Across the street, Triangle Char & Bar offers a more laid vibe with beers and bar bites. Further down the road, The Glass Onion serves up authentic southern soul food with menu items like shrimp and grits, gumbo and red rice.

Casual drinks are served at favorite Avondale watering holes Gene’s Haufbrau, and The Roost Bar ’n Grille. Near the Shadowmoss neighborhood try House of Brews and for live music head to Tin Roof on Magnolia Road.

Supermarket, El Molino offers all specialty ingredients needed for a Latin meal including homemade tortillas. But there’s always the option to bail on cooking last minute and order the street tacos they make in-house.

The City of Charleston Community Development Commission met Thursday to discuss the development of the old Piggly Wiggly lot on Sumar Street in West Ashley.

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - The City of Charleston Community Development Commission discussed the development of the old Piggly Wiggly lot on Sumar Street Thursday night for the first time since last month after a city council meeting deferred discussions due to a split vote.

The meeting lasted for three hours as commissioners argued back and forth, with some advocating for green space to be the focus, and others wanting the project to focus on revitalization.

City officials and the public were asked for their input on three different proposals last month, with the first option including underground parking, outdoor areas and a civic building.

Option one was the most popular with 72% of the community in favor of the design, yet approval failed in a split decision vote by the city council.

“I just want to say I’m a little surprised and disappointed that it seems like the politicians are just not listening to the residents of West Ashley,” community member Sharon Gardner says.

Thursday’s meeting was set with plans of potential action for the project, but after hours of heated discussion, the only decision made was to develop another proposal with a design only including civic building and green space.

“I think we need to develop another option,” Charleston City Councilmember, William Dudley Gregorie, says. “We need to develop another option that is green space, and municipal space, and let the people of West Ashley take a look at that.”

The motion was made even after dozens of members of the public continued to push for option one.

“Having something in our community to allow us to gather is very important,” West Ashley resident William Tinkler says. “I’ve talked with many people in the last couple of months, and I can tell that people in West Ashley, they want action; they want something done now.”

Although the meeting was held by the Charleston Community Development Commission, almost every member of the Charleston City Council joined, saying no project in the city’s history has had this large of a public response.

“Approach this effort in this project through the lens of West Ashley revitalization,” councilmember Ross Appel says. “We need to find a way to jumpstart the economy of West Ashley; because let’s face it, West Ashley does lag behind other parts of the city and other parts of the region.”

Unless one voting member changes their mind, at this rate the decision will simply remain split.

Charleston Mayor John Tecklenburg himself is on the side of economic growth.

“If we approve it, we would be able to move forward and get something going, that includes the multi-uses that respectfully many hundreds of our citizens weigh in upon over the last few years,” Tecklenburg says. “It’s a good option; it will revitalize the West Ashley, it’s a good way to go”

A community member who has been involved in the process says this is the nineteenth meeting on the development in the last six years.

Robert Mitchell, Perry Waring, William Dudley Gregorie and Caroline Parker were in favor of Thursday’s motion to develop another proposal with design only including civic building and green space. Mayor John Tecklenburg, Ross Appel and Jason Sakran were opposed.

Copyright 2023 WCSC. All rights reserved.

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - Big plans are approved for an affordable housing complex in West Ashley. The news sparked excitement among some neighbors, but concerns about traffic and the location as well.

The city’s housing department, council members and neighbors agree, affordable housing is a need in West Ashley. But the development does come with a lot of planning and factors to consider when approving a plan.

City of Charleston District 2 Councilmember Kevin Shealy says he initially did not support a 2020 zone change of the property from general business to diverse residential.

“At that time and in 2020, there was a there was an office building sitting there and it’s actually a good location for an office building because people may not have to drive downtown to go to work. They can work and live in the same place which fits in with the West Ashley Revitalization,” Shealy says.

In March of 2023, the planning commission approved initial design plans for the complex. Shealy says he is an advocate for affordable housing, but wants to make sure it’s being put in practical places.

Jerry Gray, who has lived in the area for about 15 years, thinks incoming affordable housing is good news.

“Charleston can be the land of opportunity for a lot of people. And it’s also a window of opportunity for people who want to start out. So having some level of affordable housing where people can start out, start building an American Dream is critical for any neighborhood,” Gray says.

While he says he’s excited about the complex and the opportunities it can bring, he admits that traffic does cross his mind when a project like this is approved.

“Highway 61, we want to keep it as a scenic road. So yeah, traffic would be a problem and a consideration but again, there’s work around for that,” Gray says.

Shealy says he also worries about traffic for people who live in his district. He explains that the South Carolina Department of Transportation grades state roads on a scale from A to F.

“Ashley River Road during peak times grade is an E, and it’s very close to an F. And it probably will be one day unless we can do something about those roads. Hopefully we get some help from the state, state or county and maybe they can help with traffic flowing,” Shealy says.

Gray referenced how widening Glenn McConnell Parkway and the development of Bees Ferry Road has created a connector between areas and will solve some of the traffic woes.

“So those things can be overcome with good planning,” Gray believes.

Shealy says he wants to see hard workers in Charleston like firefighters, police officers and teachers live and enjoy the same area where they work.

“We need affordable housing in the right locations. Live work and play. That’s kind of what the West Ashley revitalization idea said. But that’s also a reason for us to make sure we have commercial properties out in West Ashley out in the western part of West Ashley so that everybody’s not driving to downtown, causing these traffic congestions,” Shealy says.

Shealy says while he initially did not approve of the housing complex, now that it’s on its way, he is dedicated to making sure it fits into the neighborhood.

Gray says he is excited to see more people enjoying the area and hopes the city does its due diligence incorporating plans for runoff, traffic and other aspects of development in the plans.

To learn more about the details of the complex, click here.

Copyright 2023 WCSC. All rights reserved.

Shane Melton, who lives in West Ashley, received a big surprise during what should have been a routine visit to the Department of Motor Vehicles.

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - Shane Melton, who lives in West Ashley, received a big surprise during what should have been a routine visit to the Department of Motor Vehicles.

Melton learned he is a dead man walking.

“There’s just nothing I can do,” he says.

The Social Security Administration incorrectly declared him dead, he says. He discovered this when he went to renew his driver’s license. Instead, he was shuffled into a back room and was accused of impersonating a dead man and stealing his identity, Melton says.

“They started interrogating me saying I was deceased and told me they’re going to call the cops on me,” he says. “They confiscated my ID, so I left.”

Melton says this initially didn’t seem like a major issue, but then he was laid off from his job.

“This has upended our entire lives,” his wife, Morgan Key, says.

Because the government considers him dead, Melton says companies won’t hire him. The family even had to move in with his parents to cut costs.

“He’s done interviews, job interviews, and everything,” Key says. “He’s doing everything that he can to get that job but they just can’t hire him legally.”

Being incorrectly declared dead can cause a lengthy list of problems, according to attorney Mark Bringardner.

“That’s going to prevent you from being able to take out a loan, apply for a job, pass any sort of background check, and your credit score will instantly go to zero,” he says. “So, that will present a whole host of challenges that can’t be fixed overnight and will take several months, if not longer, to fix between submitting the paperwork to the social security administration, as well as the credit score company to restore your credit.”

This issue is not uncommon, Bringardner says.

“It’s estimated this happens between 6,000 to 12,000 times a year or more, so that’s roughly 20 to 30 people a day,” he says. “Usually that occurs because of a clerical error at the Social Security Administration office, a hospital, a doctor’s office, or somebody filling out a form incorrectly and checking the wrong box.”

Catching and correcting the problem quickly is key, Bringardner says.

“Anyone who’s been wrongfully declared dead by the social security administration should contact them immediately and try to submit the paperwork,” he says.

But Melton says he’s gone to the social security office three times with various paperwork. He says the issue is the items the Social Security Administration can use to prove he’s alive either require a valid ID to obtain, like a passport or certified medical records, or only apply to certain people, such as military records or a church membership.

Melton says he doesn’t have an ID, any of the other documents or a path forward—leaving him frustrated and trying to fix what seems like an unfixable mistake he didn’t make.

“It can happen to anybody,” he says. “I never thought it would happen to me until I go to the DMV one day and boom, I’m dead. There’s nothing I can do about it. I didn’t cause the problem and they’re pretty much making me fix the problem when it’s impossible fix.”

The Social Security Administration did not respond to a request for comment.

Some additional advice from Bringardner: make sure you’re periodically checking your credit report to ensure this same mistake hasn’t happened to you. If it does, be prepared to involve a lawyer to help sort things out, especially your credit.

Copyright 2023 WCSC. All rights reserved.

Some members of Charleston City Council squealed when they saw the price for reviving a dead pig.

And apparently they aren’t hog wild about any of the other options, either.

That leaves the fate of West Ashley’s Sumar Street redevelopment plan murky for another week, and that’s too bad. Because this is more important than some folks realize.

You see, the trajectory of revitalization in the biggest area of Charleston hinges on this decision. Not that you’d know it from council’s response.

Back in April, several council members said $45 million was way too much to spend on a redevelopment of the three-acre site of that old Piggly Wiggly off Sam Rittenberg Boulevard.

Which is kind of on-brand for the city’s historical treatment of West Ashley.

A little background: The city bought the site of the former grocery store years ago, at the demand of local residents, to keep it from becoming a convenience store. People who live in the area argued that the property, as the gateway to the city’s largest population hub, deserved something more substantial.

So the city contracted with a developer who came up with a design for West Ashley’s first significant municipal services building, along with neighborhood meeting space, a public park and some room for small businesses and restaurants.

Which, not coincidentally, is exactly what surveys showed West Ashley residents want there.

So that’s what architects designed … along with underground parking to make the most of a tight space. But evidently that seemed too extravagant for a part of town that doesn’t even rate a Logan’s or Bonefish Grill.

Council members demanded the developer give them some more, uh, cost-effective options.

Well, a City Council committee saw the cheaper options on Monday … and didn’t have much to say. Probably because they also saw how public opinion is running on this.

At a packed-house public meeting last week, residents were given three choices. 1) The current design. 2) The same development, only smaller, with a multistory parking deck that might save $8 million to $9 million … but unsurprisingly eats up much of the open space. 3) A development with about one-third the building space and a huge surface parking lot.

The results were telling: 72% voted to stick with the underground parking. Charles Smith, a member of the West Ashley Revitalization Commission since its inception, says there’s a reason for so much community unanimity these days.

“We have accepted less than the best for long enough,” Smith says. “This is a gateway project that sets the bar for everything that comes after it.”

He’s right, and here’s an example. Right now, the owner of Ashley Landing Shopping Center — which sits next to the Sumar Street site — is planning to move its Publix into the strip center across the parking lot and replace the grocery store with apartments.

Residents rightly worry about the developer getting all that right for the neighborhood. The city, Smith says, needs to set the example.

“How can we ask that developer to bring their A-game to that site if we’re not willing to bring our A-game next door?”

Yep. And all this will have a cascading effect down Sam Rittenberg Boulevard and along Savannah Highway. Smith notes the West Ashley Revitalization Commission understands the area is destined for more urban-level density, but would like to keep it in the areas currently covered in old, needing-to-be-replaced strip malls.

You know, instead of building them farther out and adding to everyone’s commute.

But some folks on council, which never blinks at spending twice as much on grout for the Italian marble at the Gaillard, are trying to be cheap here.

And it all seems to revolve around the difference in cost for underground parking versus a parking garage. But it’s not that big a deal.

The city’s portion of this redevelopment would be paid for with parking revenue and tax-increment financing — the same model considered for the infrastructure at Union Pier’s redevelopment. Can you imagine asking downtown residents to accept a cheaper alternative?

“You’d get laughed out of the room,” Smith notes.

Well, Charleston’s biggest population center deserves no less.

The council’s Committee on Real Estate heard the options on Monday, but didn’t recommend one plan over another. The usually plain-spoken council members didn’t really say much of anything that suggested how they feel about this latest development. What’s that mean?

Well, it means the showdown at next week’s City Council meeting could go any number of ways.

But you can bet if they send the developer back to the drawing board, literally, it will only bolster the perception that Charleston’s biggest community is considered its least important.

And that’s why we can’t have nice things.