Councilman Ron Brinson – February 8, 2019
February 18 is Presidents Day, a national holiday. Garbage and trash collections that week will be moved back one day (and yes, Friday’s scheduled pickups will be moved to Saturday.)
Chick-Fil-A on Dorchester Road is one popular place, its business volumes having tripled in recent years. Expansion plans have been moved back about a month, meaning the restaurant will close in mid-to-late April for about six weeks. The parking area will be expanded, and the kitchen space upgraded. The restaurant will sharpen this schedule as final permits are received. I’ll try to keep everyone posted.
Rusty Crab Seafood Bar & Grill is open at 8440 Dorchester Road in the Plantation Shopping Center (nee the BiLo store) at the corner of Ashley Phosphate Road. Check Facebook for more information on this eatery which is open for breakfast seven days a week, and for lunch and dinner Sunday through Friday. Panera Bread’s restaurant should break ground at the Corner at Wescott next week. Should be open for business in late May.
Construction Near Joe Pye School – This District 9 project will soon be picking up construction steam. Councilman Skipper and I have met with the developer and at a meeting earlier this week with neighborhood representatives, we repeated publicly what we have told the developer – we would stop his project if we could, legally. The developer is responsive to concerns about construction impacts and especially the traffic congestion issues, especially during the school year. The zoning for this property dates back more than 10 years and would allow for 700 units. The development has been scaled back to two(2) four-story apartment buildings and four townhome units for a total of 286 “front doors.” The developer will pay $2,500 for each unit to Dorchester District 2 School District as an “impact” fee. The city will ask that the developer help finance traffic signals i n this stretch of Patriot Boulevard.
Norfolk Southern’s Track Upgrade projects continued this week into Summerville with the predicted impacts on traffic. S.C. Department of Transportation is reviewing signal light syncs on Dorchester Road after numerous complaints last week. We should anticipate some improvements this week.
Mayor Summey joined Councilman Skipper and me last week in a meeting with the Dorchester County Transportation Committee which administers road improvements programs using rebates of state gasoline tax revenues. We are hopeful this committee will assist in funding some clearly needed repaving projects on high-use arterials, such as sections of Wescott Boulevard and Patriot Boulevard, and Windsor Hill Boulevard.
Aquatics Center Construction is accelerating. Given good weather, this $23 million complex could be open by November. The city has begun formulating community access plans and is working with Dorchester District 2 to plan for student uses and scholastic competitions. Groundbreaking ceremonies for our city’s new indoor athletics gym complex is Monday at 11 a.m. and you are invited. This facility is Remount Road near Interstate 26 and very near the Public Works campus. The navigation address is 5800 Casper Padgett Way. The Aquatic center and this indoor athletics facility are parts of the city’s three-project development program. The third will be a new parking deck at the Coliseum/Performing Arts Center/Convention Center. That work should begin in the Spring. The principal source of financing this $80 million package is accommodations taxes levied on hotel rooms.
The Dorchester County Library Commission is closing in on location options for a new branch library to be built within the municipal limits of North Charleston. (I like the county’s property adjacent to the Aquatics center and maybe a collaborative venture with the school district that would expand Fort Dorchester High School’s library and free up space at the school for classrooms.)
Glad to add any District 4 resident to the direct distribution list for this newsletter. Just send me an e-mail. rbrin@aol.com
