Granite Countertops 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.

RAVENEL, S.C. (WCIV) — A new development could be breaking ground in the Town of Ravenel.

On Thursday, a public meeting was held for developers to share their plans with the community. But for some, Ravenel is home.

Read more: West Ashley Publix to be relocated, 280-unit apartment complex to take its spot: Proposal

“I grew up here as a child and live right down this dirt road, my father still lives there and I’m with him, and he’s soon to be 80 years old and I remember this area being quaint, being cool, being pristine, I used to play in the woods," said Angela Brown who has grown up in Ravenel her entire life.

For Brown and many others, there may be change coming soon to the area.

"We've had a request of annexation and a planned development of roughly 350 new homes or residential units," Ravenel Mayor Stephen Tumbleston said. "Single family homes with a few town houses as well and it's got a commercial element to it as well."

But for residents like Angela Brown, this means more room for trouble.

A new development could be breaking ground in the Town of Ravenel. (WCIV)

"I'm thinking about the traffic, the increase in traffic," Brown said. "Right now, I can barely get out to check the mail, go across the street and check the mail. It's a two lane road. If you tear up everything, if you uproot everything that God put here, eventually we’ll have no trees, beautiful birds flying, animals, deer. We'll have none of that."

Officials hope residents know their concerns are being heard as they continue to move forward in the process.

"We're going to take the recommendation from council and consider those next Tuesday night, our first reading," Tumbleston said. "We'll have a public hearing before that meeting as well, so we can hear any additionally comments or concerns. We'll continue to try to do what’s best for our area while considering the future impacts of everything around us."

Read more: Large development on Calhoun Street has 4th meeting with BAR for approval

Whether these plans get approved or denied, people like Brown will continue fighting for the town that they love.

"This is not the place, I'm not saying this isn't the time, but this is not the place," Brown said. "As long as I have the breath in my body, I'm going to fight for the community that I love."

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The next public hearing will be on Tuesday, Feb. 28.

RAVENEL, S.C. (WCBD) – Traffic patterns, potholes, speeding, and more – our team is working to find solutions to problems that are driving you crazy on the roads.

Over the past few weeks, News 2 has heard from many of you about problems on the roadways – but one issue had stood out more than the others: the intersection of SC-165 and Highway 17.

Nearly a dozen people who reached out about the intersection in Ravenel called it extremely dangerous. We met with many of those viewers to learn more.

Jack Scarborough said large vehicles, like tractor-trailers, approach the intersection at a high rate of speed, often running the red light and causing accidents that are sometimes deadly.

“When you hear that fire engine, with the siren going, and you can tell that it’s stopping at that intersection, you’re like ‘oh geez, there’s another accident,’ and ‘God, I just hope no one is seriously injured or dead,’” said Scarborough.

Another Ravenel resident, Joan Van Scyoc, said this intersection has worried her family for over a decade.

She said it’s hard to see oncoming traffic when you’re turning north and that the speed limit should be reduced ahead of the signal.

“It’s death-defying, sometimes, to make this turn. Especially now that traffic is increasing quite a bit in the area, and they’re going at a high rate of speed,” said Scyoc.

Both Jack and Joan say having a left turn arrow – turning north onto 165 from 17 – would solve most of the problems.

We took their concerns to the South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT), and now we’re letting you know that a solution may soon become a reality.

Kelly Moore, Director of Public Engagement for SCDOT said a project is underway that will add a left turn arrow to the northbound 17 left turn at the intersection.

The project is expected to go out for bid this month, and once a contract is awarded, SCDOT will have more information regarding the timeline and cost.

Count on News 2 to keep you updated on the project.

If you have something that drives you crazy on the roads, we want to know about it. Simply email mfee@wcbd.com or fill out the online form by clicking here.

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.

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A fondue restaurant chain plans to expand into the Lowcountry.

Bob Johnston, CEO of The Melting Pot, said the Tampa, Fla.-based company is looking to add two locations in Charleston and Mount Pleasant. He cited the Palmetto State’s strong tourism industry as a key reason for the expansion plan.

The chain already has a presence in Columbia, Greenville and Myrtle Beach. It said it hopes to have 15 locations in South Carolina by 2025.

Liberty Senior Living wants to add more units to its South Bay continuing care facility, but it needs an amendment to a planned development because of Mount Pleasant’s moratorium on new multifamily buildings.

3: Number of new restaurants planning to open in the fall in an expanding Charleston-area shopping center.

65,000: Size of proposed new supermarket in a new retail development beside Freshfields Village between Kiawah and Seabrook islands.

2563: Address on Ashley River Road for a fast-food restaurant that recently turned out the lights.

+ More multifamily: A 110-unit townhome development is in the works for the Point Hope area of Charleston on the Cainhoy peninsula.

+ Doctor’s orders: A medical office building is being proposed in Point Hope.

+ Sliding sales: Charleston-area home sales slipped again in July for the 23rd consecutive month.

A social venue called Ocean Club is being proposed at the site of the former Sand Dunes Club property on Sullivan’s Island.

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This story was originally published in the Oct. 4, 2021 edition of the Charleston Regional Business Journal.

A second planned unit development has been pitched for Ravenel, the rural town of 2,700 residents, showing signs that progress is now pushing outward from West Ashley.

Residents are concerned the movement could fundamentally change the rural nature of the area they call home.

Plans for the Tea Farm Tract, a proposed 400-unit planned development in Ravenel, and the related annexation of over 3,100 acres of land in Ravenel, were blessed Sept. 16 by the town’s planning and zoning commission, with a recommendation to limit density on over 2,000 acres of land outside the development.

The Tea Farm Tract would sit on 395 acres of land.

Rebecca Baird, who lives adjacent to the property and whose husband runs a grass-fed beef farm on their property, also opposed the annexation and development.

“I’m begging you to not annex this property; it will be devastating for this community, it will change the traffic flow, it will change how we have grown to live in this rural area,” she said.

A public hearing was scheduled be held by the full council and possible vote on Sept. 28.

Earlier this summer, the council approved and filed annexation plans for the Golden Grove Planned Development District, with 381 single-family homes and a commercial area to be built on 597 acres between Highway 17 and Old Jacksonboro Highway.

Similarly, the Tea Farm proposed development would sit along Old Jacksonboro Road and Highway 17, next to E.B. Ellington Elementary School, about 11 minutes from the intersection of Bees Ferry Road and Glenn McConnell in West Ashley.

The site is currently owned by the McLeod Lumber Company.

“We have owned this property for nearly a century…times change, things move on,” said William McLeod Rhodes, president of McLeod Lumber, at the commission meeting. “We would look for a developer who would do it well, and of course all regulations would be done well.”

Representatives from Thomas & Hutton, the land planning firm for the site, said they have been working on the land use plan for the site for a year-and-a-half.

Land planners stated at the meeting that the development may impact wetlands, including a half-acre of “isolated wetlands” on Landover Road.

Nearly two dozen neighbors and community stakeholders — including the Preservation Society of Charleston and The Coastal Conservation League — spoke out against the development at the Sept. 16 commission meeting, which lasted two-and-a-half-hours.

One resident said he would move away from Ravenel if the Tea Farm development was approved.

Others questions why 3,000 acres needed to be annexed for a project a fraction of that size and expressed concern that the town was setting itself up for a larger buildout on the site.

Opponents cited disruption to the site’s wildlife and wetlands, potentially impacting the nearby Charleston County Parks’ Caw Caw Interpretive Center, as well as increased traffic and strains on the area’s sewer system, which could potentially lead to future flooding issues.

“That’s just an incredible amount of land that can be developed like this,” said Tim Blackwell, who spoke at the meeting. “This could start a program where it will cascade (with) partnerships and LLCs adding another 1,000 acres. Once you start this, you’re going to ruin what you’ve got and what Mount Pleasant wishes what they had. We’re going to have Highway 17 South look like Highway 17 North.”

Thomas & Hutton presented a complete plan with renderings of sidewalks, streets and bike lanes. Plans include single-family homes and townhomes, parks and open space, a community center and 16 acre-commercial area that could support a grocery store.

The Tea Farm plan calls for slightly more than two single family homes per acre, and, when combined with townhomes, comes out to six units per acre overall. The density of Golden Grove is three homes per acre.

The board’s conditional recommendation was to limit density to one home per 25 acres in the 2,700 or so acres not expressly in the Tea Farm development, as outlined in the Charleston County’s comprehensive plan for Ravenel,

Rhodes did not return an email from CRBJ, asking if he was agreeable to the density amendment by the commission.

At the meeting, however, he shared that the McLeod family has additional tracts totaling 1,350 acres, but they are not seeking that to be annexed at this time.

In his opening statement, town administrator Mike Hemmer tried to quell some concerns about the development, including that the town does have the capacity to run sewer to the planned development and that existing sewer line limits mean the remaining 2,000 acres could not be built out in full.

During public comments, only one citizen spoke in favor of the Tea Farm development at the meeting: resident Todd Johnson, who said he’s lived in the area for 20 years. He said the development will bring younger people to the area.

“I think it’s a great idea for the young people coming up; they need a place to live and work,” he said. “Everything is growing out this way anyway. I think it’s a wonderful idea and I’m glad for the town to continue to grow. We need to grow.”