Tree Servicein James Island, SC

JAMES ISLAND, S.C. (WCSC) - For four years, folks have flocked to an event known fondly as the Black History Soul Meet & Eat whose organizers say if you’re gonna be meeting, you may as well be eating.

This year, the event takes place Saturday at the James Island Arts and Cultural Center, along Camp Road.

Much like in years past it’s not only a celebration of how much you can eat or who you can meet, but also what you can learn along the way.

“It says ‘eat’ and, of course, it says ‘meet’ and with the meeting aspect we have networking so you can network with any business owners there and any of the vendors, yes, we will have vendors as well as the people that come from the community for this event,” Krystal Yeadon, the founder and CEO of Krystal Klear Productions, said. “We have to eat that good soul food, that Gullah-Geechee food. That’s just what it’s all about along with plenty of educational activities where you learn about different African Americans and their contributions to society.”

The event runs from noon to 4 p.m. Tickets cost $11 in advance online and $15 at the door for adults and $6 for children. You can add on an entry to a Black History Basket giveaway when buying tickets for $1.50.

Tickets can be purchased here.

Yeadon says the fee helps fund some of the artists who attend the event, like the Speak Freely Foundation, which specializes in poetry. Yeadon says the group combines poetry and boxing while mentoring area youth. But Yeadon says what they’ll do at Black History Soul Meet & Eat is provide “poetic vibes.”

“I like to give back to Black-founded, Black-owned, nonprofit organizations,” Yeadon said. “It’s my way of giving back and the Speak Freely Foundation is special to me because when we did this event for the first year in 2019, we gave back to them as well. So now they’re coming back around and we’ll be giving back to them again. They do a Speak Freely Foundation Poetry Festival every year and I actually organized that festival as well. So that is our “give-back” organization this year. We’re giving back to the youth, I love the youth and I love the arts.”

Along with food, networking opportunities, live poetry, and opportunities to learn about black history, Yeadon says there will also be live music.

“We have a bunch of artists. That’s the main portion of it,” Yeadon said. “These artists are all performing artists and some are actually visual artists as well. There are probably gonna be some other surprises for everyone, probably even some for me, but whatever it is - it’s going to be soulful.”

Copyright 2024 WCSC. All rights reserved.

The James Island Public Service District has contracted to sell 6.52 acres of wooded property on Dills Bluff Road to a developer, even though residents have vigorously opposed this plan to develop publicly owned land for months.

More than 1,100 residents have signed a change.org petition asking the town of James Island and the PSD to leave this property as undeveloped green space, possibly a scenic, wooded town park with walking trails, picnic areas and maybe a dog park. The town has expressed its support for such a deal, but the district has not, at least not yet.

The property's location — close to a scenic boardwalk overlooking Simpson Creek, James Island Town Hall and the new Arts and Cultural Center — is well-suited for a park.

The first town of James Island purchased the property with public money to build a Town Hall, but the court conveyed most of this parcel to the Public Service District in 1997, after the first town was dissolved. In 2004, an adjacent piece of land previously conveyed to the Honeyhill Neighborhood Association was also transferred to the district, per the terms of the original court order. In March 2023, the district entered a 12-month contract with KT properties to purchase the site for $1.89 million.

The developer originally proposed a planned development called Marsh Walk Village, with 20 townhomes, a large shopping center and a parking lot. The plan involved removing 19 grand trees and dozens of unprotected trees. The accompanying stormwater management plan has been a serious concern for residents near the property, as they suffer frequent flooding. During several public meetings last year, residents from the adjacent neighborhood of Whitehouse Plantation and beyond spoke out against the rezoning. James Island Town Council voted down the Marsh Walk Village development plan in October.

The Public Service District has since extended the developer's contract, and the developer is seeking to move forward with two plans to develop the property under its current zoning, which would allow a 50,000-square-foot, 3-story storage facility and 12 single-family homes. But these plans are just as environmentally destructive. James Island is an urban Sea Island, and urban forests like the one on Dills Bluff Road are critical to managing stormwater.

Charleston County has lost more than 10,000 acres of tree cover since 1992; that's an area larger than the Charleston peninsula and Daniel Island combined. New stormwater ponds and other features cannot fully replicate the absorption ability of a naturally vegetated and wooded area. A 2019 study of 12 cities, including Charleston, showed that runoff increases when forested land is converted to impervious surfaces.

If the proposed project is developed, the retention ponds will not adequately manage the stormwater runoff, and that water will have to go somewhere. And where it will go is to the existing homes behind the proposed retention ponds and Dills Bluff Road. This will have a devastating impact on Whitehouse Plantation homeowners, and Simpson Creek will likely be impacted, too.

It would be incredibly shortsighted for the PSD to effectively sell out the residents of James Island; and it would be unwise to sell this land to a developer to build 10 to 12 homes and a massive self-storage facility that is nothing more than another asset for an investment firm's real estate investment portfolio.

The James Island PSD should terminate its contract with the developer and allow the town and the residents of James Island to purchase the land, possibly with county greenbelt funds, and turn it into a park.

Casey Buchanan is a James Island resident.

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JAMES ISLAND, S.C. (WCSC) - Dominion Energy has been working to trim down trees in the Riverland Terrace neighborhood on James Island, prompting complaints from residents.

Dominon Energy says the trimming is necessary because the branches have grown to come into contact with power lines, which can result in power outages. But some residents in the neighborhood are not happy about the work.

The neighborhood is full of many large trees, like oaks and magnolias, but they are trimmed down every five years as a part of Dominion Energy’s routine cycle to ensure that they deliver safe and dependable energy to customers.

One resident of the neighborhood, Kev Hollo, says a lot of the trees have been a part of the neighborhood for a hundred years now and that they are one of the main factors for Riverland Terrace’s prestige.

One of the large oak trees won a blue ribbon award from the neighborhood’s Garden Club for the best-looking tree in the area. Woodland Shores Road Coalition Founder Adam Friend says that the tree was trimmed down just two days after being recognized.

“The most important thing here is we’re not getting the support from government officials, from the county, from the city, to really make this a sustainable solution. The trimming is not working for us and we want the lines underground,” Hollo says.

He believes that putting the power lines underground would be the best solution to make the neighborhood not only safer from power outages, but also make the area more aesthetically pleasing.

Friend serves as an advocate for the neighborhood, and says he wants to bring awareness to others as Dominion Energy plans to continue to trim down trees throughout James Island. Dominion Energy posted on its website the areas where tree trimming is complete and the locations where they still plan to trim.

Another concern Friend mentioned was the future state of Charleston because of issues such as sea level rise. He says the trees can absorb a lot of that water.

“The most important thing for me and the trees is that they have been here for longer than we have. They provide one of the best services that we can ever offer in this area now as absorption. We have a sinking city and a rising water climate. Can there be any other worse scenario?” Friend says.

He says that putting the power lines underground would permanently solve the issue.

“We’re trying to save trees in an area that’s known for our trees,” Friend says.

Dominion Energy responded to the issue with a written statement:

As part of our routine five-year cycle to ensure safety and reliability, Dominion Energy South Carolina supports a comprehensive and proactive vegetation management program. While we understand and appreciate the passion surrounding trees across the Lowcountry, safety remains our top priority. Trees that have grown too close to overhead lines are both a fire hazard and an issue of employee and public safety.

Trees and tree limbs continue to represent the No. 1 reason for power outages on our system, and the routine safeguarding of overhead lines remains critical to delivering the safe and reliable energy our customers count on every day.

Dominion Energy and established contractors follow nationally recognized utility pruning standards outlined and approved by the International Society of Arboriculture. Our certified arborists oversee each project and ensure the work adheres to ANSI A300 standards. Research indicates that following these standards will help preserve the health and integrity of the tree over its lifetime. Each tree is different in structure, and our practices take that into consideration. While trees may look different immediately following a cycle, we know based on our need to return every five years that those canopies fill in quickly, particularly with our approximately 300-day growing season each year here in the Lowcountry.

Dominion Energy is always willing to consider placing lines underground if the engineering is technically feasible, system reliability is not compromised and there is a mechanism in place to cover the additional cost.

As we work to safeguard overhead lines from hazardous vegetation, debris is removed daily. Typically, any debris that is not collected the same day will be removed within 24 hours. Crews will also leave a door hanger to notify customers if they expect a delay. Customers with questions regarding trees on or near their property, are encouraged to contact us directly at 800-251-7234. Only OSHA-certified contractors are permitted to work near energized lines.

Copyright 2024 WCSC. All rights reserved.

JAMES ISLAND, S.C. (WCSC) - A James Island resident claims an area on Fort Johnson Road is lacking crosswalk signs in his neighborhood.

Gabe Macaluso has lived on James Island for almost four years and says he loves the area. His family calls James Island “The Sandlot” because of how welcoming the neighborhood is for children and families. Macaluso says most people know each other and look out for one another in the community.

Macaluso lives less than a mile from Stiles Point Elementary. When his son entered the third grade, he asked if he could start riding his bike to school. Encouragingly, Macaluso wanted his son to continue to grow and become active. While walking around the neighborhood and being by his son’s side as he biked to school, Macaluso noticed the lack of crosswalk signage in the area. On Fort Johnson Road at Tallwood and Joe Rivers, Macaluso says the crosswalk signs only face one direction and cars frequently drive right through when pedestrians are waiting to cross. He even says in October 2022, he notified the South Carolina Department of Transportation of the issue. Unfortunately, he says that was two years ago and the signs still have not been placed correctly.

“We don’t always blame the cars for blowing through the crosswalk signs because there is no crosswalk sign facing them,” Macaluso says. “And the two streets are close but they’re probably two or three blocks away, so I don’t know if the Department of Transportation just figured ‘Oh we’ll put one crosswalk on this end and one crosswalk at this gap, it’ll cover it.’”

Macaluso says despite this, he does see the state recognizes the need for people to be mobile on the island with flashing lights and signs indicating crosswalks for pedestrians so vehicles approaching can slow down.

“You know we have a new James Island Mayor and I think it would be awesome if we had a public art project for crosswalk paintings,” Macaluso says. “Just something to draw attention to it. We do live in a time where people are distracted and people are always in a rush to go somewhere.”

SCDOT Communications Coordinator Kelly Moore said they are working on some fixes in the area.

“We did pass along this information along to the local office so that the traffic and maintenance teams can work together and address the missing sign and pavement markings,” Moore said. “Typically those issues are addressed in 30-60 days.”

If you have a road that driving you crazy, you can submit your concern to Live 5 News.

Copyright 2024 WCSC. All rights reserved.

JAMES ISLAND, S.C. (WCIV) — A James Island woman is recovering after she had her hand amputated after it was badly burned by her hair dryer.

Mary Wilson passed out while drying her hair at her home on Feb. 7.

“The way I [fell] on top of the dryer, like it was under me, and I was in a weird, contorted placement and the dryer was still running,” she said, adding that she believes she was shocked by the dryer.

The dryer was scorching Wilson’s skin when her partner found her.

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“She’s telling me, ‘your hand, your hand,’" Wilson recalled. “I look at my hand. I don’t even register that’s a part of me. It doesn’t even look recognizable.”

Wilson was rushed to the hospital. Due to the burn and nerve damage, the decision was made to amputate her left hand.

“The biggest thing is not being able to do the simple things I want to do, or things take so much longer,” Wilson said of her life post-amputation.

She believes blow dryers ought to have automatic shut-offs, similar to coffee machines and other hot tools.

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“You see it with hair straighteners and flat irons – they do have that ceramic plate that once it gets to a certain temperature, it turns off,” she said. “If it did, then maybe my injuries wouldn’t have been so bad.”

Wilson said the support – both financially and emotionally – she has been receiving has been “incredible.”

“It’s support that I never even knew that I had, and it definitely meant a lot,” she said, adding that James Island restaurant Bohemian Bull plans to set aside some of the proceeds of an upcoming cornhole tournament for her.