Charleston County · County Council Finance Committee
🚛 Council approves eminent domain for Lowcountry Rapid Transit project over Exchange Club fairgrounds objection
Council approved 5-3 a resolution authorizing CARTA to proceed with eminent domain on a parcel owned by the Exchange Club, the last unresolved property needed for the fully funded ($375 million federal, 60%) Lowcountry Rapid Transit project. Delays beyond current contingency would cost approximately $1 million per month and risk the federal funding agreement. Three council members voted no, citing harm to the Exchange Club's annual fair operations, and Councilman Moody called for a full public accounting of utility relocation cost overruns at Tuesday's full council meeting.

City of Charleston · Planning Commission
🏙️ Commission votes 6-2 to recommend denial of West Ashley infill upzoning
Developer Walford Stribbling sought a rezoning of a 2.1-acre West Ashley infill site at 806 Magnolia Road from SR2 to DR9 to enable a denser development of approximately 11-12 units, arguing that existing zoning makes the project financially unviable. Dozens of Magnolia neighborhood residents opposed the request, citing flooding risk, traffic safety for children at school bus stops, loss of neighborhood character, and the lack of enforceable conditions on the rezoning. The commission voted 6-2 to recommend denial, finding the economic argument was not their responsibility to solve and that existing SR2 zoning already supports approximately 7 homes; the matter moves to City Council for final decision.

Charleston County · Historic Preservation Commission
🏛️ Snowden community recommended as county's fifth historic district
The commission voted to recommend approval of the Snowden community near Mount Pleasant as a Charleston County historic district, recognizing it as a post-Civil War Gullah Geechee freedman settlement founded in the late 1860s on lands from the Egypt, Belleview, Bermuda, Snee Farm, Saunders, and Palmetto Grove plantations. The 377-acre, 340-parcel district includes 10 historic homes, the Long Point Schoolhouse, Snowden Community Center, Lost Sheep Ministry Flipper Chapel, Mr. Buttons Lounge, two historic pitcher pumps, and two Sweetgrass basket stands as contributing resources. The recommendation now proceeds to a September 22, 2026 County Council public hearing, then Planning and Public Works Committee review, and three council readings for final approval.

City of North Charleston · Committee of the Whole
🔥 Fatal shooting at Park Circle Airbnb prompts push to allow immediate STR license revocation
Following the shooting death of 17-year-old Antonio Stevens Jr. at a short-term rental in the Park Circle area, council members proposed amending Section 4-21 of the city's zoning regulations to allow immediate suspension of an STR license upon a homicide or near-death incident, bypassing the current three-violation threshold. The property manager in the fatal incident surrendered the license voluntarily, but council members argued the current process allows a property to be re-listed the next day even after a crime scene. The draft amendment will go to the Planning Commission before returning to the full council, with legal staff directed to review for constitutional soundness.

City of North Charleston · Finance Committee
💬 Council debates $1.5M annual animal services contract amid frustration over broken good-faith agreement
North Charleston approved a month-to-month agreement with Charleston Animal Society at $125,000 per month ($1.5 million annually), despite council frustration that the society had abandoned a long-standing informal commitment to serve the city free of charge in exchange for a major land donation. Council members noted the city accounts for roughly 60% of county animal intake and has no immediate alternative, while confirming the city is negotiating a long-term regional solution with other municipalities and county governments.

City of Charleston · Committee on Traffic and Transportation
📋 Proposed filming permit rules spark debate over Sundays, parking plans, and corridor restrictions
Staff presented proposed amendments to the special events ordinance that would codify filming and photography permit requirements, introduce a high-impact event designation, and give the Director of Livability and Tourism discretion over permit density in neighborhoods. Chairman Seekings pushed hard for a complete Sunday ban in residential districts and mandatory parking plans for commercial crews, citing an incident where a permit was issued for a week over Easter, shut down an entire street including during street sweeping, blocked two churches from parking on Easter Sunday, and required the city to clean up afterward. The committee did not vote, opting instead to refine Sunday, definition, and corridor-restriction provisions before advancing the ordinance to full council.

City of Charleston · Technical Review Committee
🏠 Maybank Walk subdivision plat review raises density and fire access concerns
The first review of the Maybank Walk subdivision plat (formerly Fenwick Hills) surfaced two significant issues: a zoning reviewer flagged that a recently subdivided parcel previously counted in the density calculation may have been removed, potentially reducing the allowable number of townhomes; and fire marshal's comments raised questions about whether 2 roads trigger the single-means-of-access requirement, which could mandate sprinkler systems unless the added emergency access road resolves the concern. The item was designated revised and return pending resolution of these comments plus the absent administrator's review.

The City of Charleston's Office of Cultural Affairs is running a Public Art Initiative, gathering resident input on where public art should go and what it should look like across the city.

The Office of Cultural Affairs (OCA) is the City department behind the initiative. It's led by Director of Cultural Affairs Rochelle Riley, who joined Charleston earlier this year after serving as Detroit's Director of Arts and Culture.

OCA's ongoing programming includes:

The initiative is being introduced through the City's Peninsula Plan Open House process. During this week’s session, questions were posted around the room for attendees to write down answers:

If you were unable to attend the open house and still want to share your input and answers to these questions to help guide the initiative, you can submit your responses below and I will pass them along to the OCA.

Separate from this initiative, Charleston already has a legal requirement for permanent public art on public property. Under City Code § 2-174, no painting, picture, sculpture, or other work of art may be permanently displayed or erected on a public street or park unless it's first approved by the Commission on the Arts, with final approval from City Council. In 2026, City Council expanded the Commission from 13 to 20 members, including seats for City Council, an at-large group, and representatives from local arts organizations such as the Gaillard Center, Spoleto Festival USA, and the Gibbes Museum of Art.

While on the topic of public art, a mural was just approved for the side of the Charleston Crab House restaurant.

The project. The Board of Architectural Review (Large) reviewed a request for final approval of a new mural at 41 South Market Street, a circa-1919, unrated building in the Old and Historic District currently home to the Crab House.

The artists and the program. The mural will be painted by Girls Who Paint Murals, co-owned by Allison Amory and Christine Crawford. The mural is part of Coca-Cola’s "Paint the Nation," a national public art campaign tied to America's 250th anniversary that pairs local community artists with local businesses. The campaign's selection process narrows an initial pool of six to eight artists to two or three finalists before a final artist is chosen. The mural is to be hand-painted rather than printed or applied.

What it depicts. The mural design includes Charleston symbols: the Ravenel Bridge, palmetto trees, a magnolia flower, gas lanterns, a great blue heron, and references to Charleston architecture and Rainbow Row. Coca-Cola branding is incorporated but was presented as not visually dominant. The mural covers the Market Street facade only and does not wrap the corner of the building. The existing awning is currently orange and yellow; the mural design shows a blue background, and the board raised the question of whether the awning would be replaced to match, which was acknowledged as a consideration.

Public comment. No one spoke in person. Chairman Grimble read a written comment from the Preservation Society of Charleston into the record objecting to the mural's scale and suggesting it be limited to one story, and noting that murals of this type are atypical in the historic district. Bill Marshall was present but declined to speak.

Staff's review. Staff noted that under BAR policy, murals require board-level review and approval, evaluated case by case, and that the board has generally maintained murals should not contain advertising. Staff found the Coca-Cola branding was incorporated in a way that complements rather than dominates the local imagery, and said they had met with the applicant multiple times before submission to workshop revisions. Staff did raise two specific concerns: a "sunset" element in the mural's background reads more like mountains, which staff noted don't exist in the Lowcountry, and recommended it appear as a gradient instead of individual color bands; and that painted scrolls in the design shouldn't be obstructed by the building's adjacent rear window. Staff recommended approval with conditions that the mural be hand-painted and that any future revisions, however small, be reviewed by staff, with final review handled by staff during permitting.

Board discussion and vote. Chairman Grimble said the block of Market Street in question is already largely a commercial, tourist-oriented environment, and that the mural enlivens what he described as an otherwise plain building. One board member said the mural's aesthetic differs from other murals already on Market Street, above the market arcade, but that different isn't necessarily worse, and agreed with setting aside the Preservation Society's scale objection since the mural stays on a single facade rather than wrapping a corner, adding support for more public art generally. Board member Ramos agreed. The board voted unanimously to approve the mural with staff and board conditions, with final review by staff at the permit stage.

You can see the mural HERE

Here’s what the local real estate market is looking like. If you want to know what’s happening in your zipcode/town specifically, either reply to this email and let me know the area, or click HERE to sign up for updates, or click the graph and search by area.

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