Estate Planning Attorney inJames Island, SC

JOHNS ISLAND, S.C. (WCSC) - A new county park is coming to Johns Island.

Lowcountry Land Trust and Charleston County Park and Recreation Commission are working to restore waterway access to the public after acquiring 66 acres of land. Just over $2.6 million was part of the land purchase, as well as some being donated to the Lowcountry Land Trust.

“It’s no secret that Johns Island is facing a tremendous amount of growth, and so any conservation projects like this that protect natural resources on the island and provide access to the public to enjoy these properties is a big success,” Charleston County Greenbelt Program Deputy Director Chris Dubuque said.

Right now, the area about three miles north of the Angel Oak is mostly woods, but once it’s converted to a county park, it will allow waterway access as well as opportunities to walk, hike and participate in paddle sports.

The project, involving the land around Simmons Creek, aims to restore the community’s historic access to the water while preserving the area’s natural beauty and ecological health. The Charleston County Park and Recreation Commission will manage the property once turned into a county park. The project will also protect the surrounding forests and fields and preserve water quality.

The goal is to keep the area as natural as possible while allowing everyone in the community to enjoy it.

“With the exception of any minimal improvements to make it accessible to the public, what type of improvements would that be? Well, it would probably be parking improvements one day, maybe a restroom, maybe an improved dock to provide access to the waterway. Accessibility is the main concern for our agency, so making sure the trails are accessible for people of all abilities,” Charleston County Park and Recreation Commission Senior Planner Matt Moldenhauer said.

Several organizations were crucial in making it all come together. The Lowcountry Land Trust and Charleston County Parks and Recreation Commission worked together to develop the project, and the Charleston County Greenbelt Department and State Conservation Bank, along with generous donors, worked to fund it.

With this project, the Angel Oak Preserve, and the recent acquisitions of Main Road Park and Grayson Oaks, the goal is to build a vibrant network of conserved lands honoring the island’s unique character and enhancing the community’s connection to nature.

“Sometimes that means trying to do land protection projects that are side by side, but there is also the ability to do things that are in the vicinity of each other where animals for instance might be able to use multiple of these properties to meet their lifecycle needs,” Lowcountry Land Trust Chief Conservation Officer David Ray said.

Dubuque said it’s a long process, and the application indicated more than five years before it would be open to the public. The county will be taking public input as it goes about designing the park in the future.

Copyright 2025 WCSC. All rights reserved.

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - A James Island IHOP is now permanently closed following inspections that showed multiple health code violations.

Located at 771 Daniel Ellis Drive in Charleston, the restaurant has received continuous reports of problematic food safety practices.

Reports from the South Carolina Department of Agriculture show that since March, the IHOP has received 11 straight C-grades.

The restaurant violated the South Carolina Retail Food Establishment Regulations with the last recorded inspection on May 12, 2025.

Failures included temperature control for food safety, properly cleaned and sanitized surfaces, food in a good or safe condition, flies found in the dish area and utensils and other cleaning materials not properly handled.

Improper food date marking and disposal were noted in the reports, with steak, ham and pancake batter being held longer than seven days. The ham specifically was 14 days old when the inspection was conducted.

A family physician with Roper St. Francis, Dr. Valerie Scott, explained that a C-rating usually indicates there’s some fairly serious issues inside the business that could cause bodily harm.

“I think it is important for us to know when you see a rating, what does that mean to me, because you want to keep safe,” Scott said. “You do need to take a pause and be sure that where you’re eating takes good care to be sure you don’t get ill.”

As for the time and temperature control of food safety, reports state the IHOP was holding the following foods at a violated temperature:

“I think we all think about that in our own homes; when we have Thanksgiving, you’re always careful about not leaving the food out too long. Restaurants, too, have to follow these rules, and there are a lot of good reasons for that because you can get salmonella, E. coli., or even norovirus,” Scott said.

The business was not forced to close its doors by the state, but voluntarily shut down.

Now, the property remains empty and up for sale.

Copyright 2025 WCSC. All rights reserved.

Construction is now underway on a Charleston County project aimed at alleviating flooding in the James Island area, a project some residents say is long overdue. (WCIV)

JAMES ISLAND, S.C. (WCIV) — Construction is now underway on a Charleston County project aimed at alleviating flooding in the James Island area, a project some residents say is long overdue.

The project is also one that carries some short term pain for commuters and drivers in the area.

"Some of the problems are we've put two major developments back on that road that has probably not done anything but help decrease the amount of absorption that was getting done by the live oaks and the trees that were in that area. So that's contributed to this problem, but in theory it's gonna be good when it's done," said Adam Friend, founder, of the Woodland Source Road Coalition.

The initiative will involve a partial shut down of Central Park Road between Riverland Drive and Fleming Road.

The county is hopeful the initiative will fix an area long affected by king tide and spring tide events.

The project involves raising Central Park Road by up to two feet throughout the corridor and adding a series of large drainage pipes.

Those pipes will feature tide gates and check valves to block incoming tides that exceed normal levels.

It's a mixed bag for some residents who understand the need but worry about increased traffic congestion.

"You've got areas where the development just outpaces the infrastructure because it was never meant to support that many people. So, you know, that's really complex stuff way beyond my understanding. But I do see the problems that arise and it's usually traffic. It's congestion, it's over-crowdedness, said area resident Kev Hollo.

At the end of the day, county officials say the improvements will prevent that roadway flooding associated with nearby James Island Creek. Temporary adjustments will remain in place until November with the full project expected to be completed by spring of 2026.

JAMES ISLAND, S.C. (WCSC) - The owner and developer of a property on James Island is explaining their development plan and why they are suing the town over their land for the first time since controversy over its use began in 2023.

The property in question is about 1.2 acres out of an about six-acre lot off Dills Bluff Road. The land is owned by KT Properties. Principal Owner Kyle Taylor says he calls the Lowcountry home.

“James Island is a special place. I’m from James Island. The people are tough, the people are patriotic, sometimes the people are loud,” Taylor says.

Taylor started the process of buying about 1.2 acres on Dills Bluff Road in 2021 with plans to develop it. The plans had hoped to rezone the land for more commercial use but faced some nearby neighborhoods. Since then, KT properties shifted and proposed to build within the zoning, including some homes and a storage facility.

James Island residents expressed their opinions against the proposed development back in 2023.

“But I think the process, at least was as good as it could have been, and we tried to engage as much as we could, and engage early,” Taylar says.

KT Properties purchased the land from the James Island Public Service District. Taylor says while working through the final phases to purchase the property in 2024, the town got involved.

“Eminent domain was certainly surprising,” Taylor says.

Attorneys with the Institute for Justice are representing Taylor in a case challenging the town’s use of eminent domain.

“So eminent domain is the only legal way for the government to take your property. I would say that it has very, very limited use and has been expanded recently,” attorney An Altic says.

A common example of eminent domain used for a public purpose is the government buying land needed to build a new road, to alleviate traffic. Taylor’s attorney with the Institute for Justice says this situation is different than most.

“They resorted to the extreme measure of eminent domain to forcibly take his property simply because they don’t want any development on that land,” Altic says.

The Town of James Island filed an intent to condemn the land and pay the assessed value of $600,000 in 2024. At the time of the filings, the town said their master plan includes pursuing more green space, and this action aligns with their master plan.

While the Town of James Island doesn’t comment on pending litigation, a spokesperson says the Town looks forward to defending this case vigorously in court, and will not be bullied by the developer-friendly national law firm that’s chosen to intervene in this South Carolina case.

The town also provided a list of three facts the Town wishes to emphasize about the situation:

Any action on the land is on pause while the lawsuits play out in court.

“We’re willing to take it up as far as it as far as it needs to go up to the South Carolina Supreme Court if needed,” Altic says.

“This case, I think, raises a lot of constitutional questions, which is the heart of this case, and we’re not only trying to protect the rights of this property, but really the rights of everyone that could be affected by what may be illegitimate use of eminent domain and abuse of eminent domain, and so we’re trying to protect not only this property, but really everybody’s property,” Taylor says.

Copyright 2025 WCSC. All rights reserved.

JOHNS ISLAND — An undeveloped island that belonged to a Quaker colonist's family for 220 years will soon be home to 10 new households.

Hoopstick Island, a 55-acre private property between Kiawah and Johns islands, was first formally conveyed by an English royal land grant in July 1717 to Abraham Wright.

The land was part of a larger 96-acre property that Wright passed down through his female lineage until the family sold it in 1937.

More than 80 years and several owners later, an Atlanta-based investor and developer paid $7.5 million for the property that is zoned for a maximum of 10 estate lots — eight with deep-water access.

Reservations are now open for the first phase of sales.

SFG Hoopstick Island LLC, is an affiliate of developer Stonemont Financial Group of Atlanta, is the owner, according to Charleston County land records.

Sean McDonell, senior vice president with Stonemont Financial Group, said this is the company’s first venture into the Charleston market and was presented by a friend of the owner.

“Once we got our arms around it, it wasn’t necessarily that Charleston was never a target on our market list as much as it was the opportunity was so unique and that’s why we pursued it,” he said.

Charles McIntosh with The Cassina Group, which represented Stonemont in its 2022 purchase and is also handling the lots sales, said the previous owner of the property was looking for a private place to create a family compound. It bought Hoopstick, which is why the 10-unit development plan was already in place.

Stonemont saw no reason to change the plans, McDonnell said.

“One of the thoughts we had was you’ve got this undeveloped piece of property that dates back a long, long time," he said. "So we want to take our time and really think through what’s going to be developed here so that we preserve as much of the natural part of the island as possible. It would almost be a shame to move too quickly and make sort of uninformed decisions.”

During the three years of planning, McDonnell said his firm spent time with land planners, architects and builders, asking their ideas and experience in developing similar property — what worked and didn't or what they would have done differently.

The island will be sold in phases. The first four lots are listed, with one under contract. The asking price was $3.45 million for 20.11 acres — a mix of 4.61 acres of high ground and 15.5 acres of marsh.

The smallest of the four, with 4.03 acres of high ground and 8 acres of marshland, hit the market May 9 for $2.75 million. The other two are going for $3.2 million and $3 million and are between 6 and 8 acres.

Once developed, the island with over a mile of deep-water frontage along Bohicket Creek, will be gated, but McDonell said the plan is to keep the property as natural as possible.

The single existing causeway leading the island will be resurfaced with shell aggregate, not asphalt, he said. The enclave won’t have an amenity space, but will have a common green area for a potential garden.

Development plans also call for keeping as many trees as possible, McDonell said. Buyers can then design their houses and layouts based on the natural layout of the environment.

“There is a set of architectural guidelines for the property, but the vision is for the homes to be a Lowcountry style and blend with the surroundings,” McIntosh said.

Robertson Allen, founder of The Cassina Group, said he anticipates closing on all lots in the first part of 2026 given the demand for waterfront living and the lack of available property.

“We’re surrounded by water, but true deep-water opportunities are not a dime a dozen,” he said. “I feel like Hoopstick gives someone a unique opportunity to have a short-dock and an estate-sized piece of property very close to town.”