The plan to expand the tree canopy around the peninsula

City of Charleston · Board of Zoning Appeals – Site Design
🏗️ West Ashley townhouse development clears four tree-related variance and exception requests
A proposed horizontal regime townhouse development on two combined tracts at Ripley Point Drive in West Ashley sought to relocate one grand live oak, remove one grand red mulberry (D-grade), encroach into construction setbacks near three grand trees, and omit the 15-protected-trees-per-acre requirement. Staff recommended approval with five conditions, including 42.5-inch-diameter native canopy tree planting, a certified arborist preservation plan, aerospading and root pruning nine months before construction, and no further encroachment into the Tree Buffer Zone. The board approved all four requests 5-0.
FULL MEETING AGENDA

City of North Charleston · City Council
🚧 Council unanimously adopts Vision Zero resolution tied to federal Safe Streets grant
The council unanimously adopted a resolution committing the city to eliminating traffic fatalities and serious injuries by 2045 under the Vision Zero framework, backed by a U.S. DOT Safe Streets and Roads for All grant. Consultant data showed 131 lives lost on city roadways from 2020–2024, with 80% of fatal and serious-injury crashes concentrated on just 58 miles of the city's 600-mile road network. A comprehensive safety action plan will be brought to council for adoption in early 2027, with prioritized projects expected to compete for additional federal funding.
FULL MEETING AGENDA

City of Charleston · Board of Architectural Review Large (BAR-L)
🏗️ New hotel at 194 Canon Street receives conceptual approval
The board granted conceptual approval to a new hotel at 194 Canon Street within the 194 Canon PUD, which permits heights of 85–125 feet. The applicant team from LS3 Peaches and Remark Studio presented a tripartite brick facade with ABA bay rhythm, a curved corner at Spring and Canon Streets, and a landscaped courtyard designed to connect to an adjacent park. Historic Charleston Foundation requested stronger materiality and a more pronounced cornice; staff noted FRP detailing and louvered mechanical screening as items for further study at preliminary review.
FULL MEETING AGENDA

City of Charleston · Board of Architectural Review Large (BAR-L)
🏠 Apartment and parking garage project at Radcliffe and St. Phillips advances to preliminary approval
The board granted preliminary approval with conditions to a mixed apartment and parking garage development at the southeast corner of Radcliffe and St. Phillips Streets, part of the same ownership as the adjacent Warren Place project. Key revisions from the April 2026 conceptual included a redesigned corner entry with a larger porch, articulated pre-cast concrete garage walls with reveals, and a hyphen detail resolving a cornice collision between apartment masses at different elevations. Staff conditioned the approval on returning the south garage elevation fenestration to the more vertical proportions shown at conceptual, and physical material samples must be provided at final board review.
FULL MEETING AGENDA

City of Charleston · Board of Architectural Review Large (BAR-L)
🎨 Hand-painted Coca-Cola mural celebrating America's 250th anniversary approved on South Market Street
The board approved a hand-painted public art mural at 41 South Market Street commissioned by Coca-Cola Consolidated as part of a national Paint the Nation campaign celebrating the U.S. 250th anniversary, with two local female artists creating the design featuring the Ravenel Bridge, palmetto trees, a great blue heron, gas lanterns, and Charleston architectural motifs. Staff supported the mural after numerous pre-submission workshops but conditioned approval on revising the background sunset gradient to not read as mountains and ensuring painted scrolls are not obstructed by the adjacent window. The Preservation Society of Charleston's written objection to the mural's scale was noted but did not sway the board.
FULL MEETING AGENDA

City of Charleston · Technical Review Committee
🏠 Long Savannah Parcel B ESP held pending concept plan and Transect 5 lot size decisions
The second review of the Long Savannah Parcel B multifamily early site package on Verdant Drive was returned for revision with significant unresolved questions at the city level, including whether the lot meets Transect 5 size requirements, whether a concept plan is required before proceeding, and how the road grid and potential school site relate to Parcels B and C. Eric indicated willingness to allow the ESP for tree felling and rough grading to proceed regardless of final building configuration once tree risk assessments are submitted. Development Services agreed the comments could be resolved at paperwork level after an offline discussion about submittal content expectations.
FULL MEETING AGENDA

City of Charleston · Technical Review Committee
🏗️ Shops at Fenwick Hall faces complex sewer, tree, and parking issues at second review
The second review of the Shops at Fenwick Hall at 70 Fenwick Hall Lane surfaced multiple significant concerns, most critically the sewer alignment running near protected trees, which may be resolved through directional boring given the exceptional depth of the receiving manhole at approximately 13 to 14 feet. Staff also identified a parking analysis error using incorrect Peninsula patron use area rates, a landscape plan that ignores existing preserved trees and plants in their TPZ zones, and a potential HOA lot easement needed for the sewer route. The item was returned for revision pending Development Services combo comments due next week, CWS coordination, and corrections to landscaping, parking calculations, and site distance exhibits.
FULL MEETING AGENDA

City of Charleston · Technical Review Committee
🏗️ Meeting Street building entrance and streetscape work advances to paperwork stage
A second review of linear right-of-way construction at 200 Meeting Street found the project significantly simplified after DRC discussions led the owner to eliminate a proposed raised sidewalk on Hain Street, reducing scope by approximately 75 percent. Work now consists of tree removals, palmetto relocation, and door/step modifications. All reviewers reached paperwork status, with no return to committee required, and development services stormwater confirmed approval.
FULL MEETING AGENDA

Town of Summerville · Tree Protection Board
🌳 Board defers Old Trolley Road development over live oak root zone concerns
A multi-building residential development at the end of Old Trolley Road drew significant scrutiny over the proximity of proposed buildings and retaining walls to large specimen live oaks, with one building stem wall measured at just 7 feet from a major trunk. Board members expressed concern that actual root disturbance during construction would far exceed what plans show, and raised water quality concerns about stormwater runoff into wetlands draining to the Ashley River. The board unanimously deferred judgment pending physical staking of tree protection boundaries in the field and submission of final grading and utility plans.
FULL MEETING AGENDA

This week at the City of Charleston’s Peninsula Plan Design Center Open House, the topic was the Just Ecological Corridor. Of all of the projects associated with the Peninsula Plan, this is the one I knew the least about. I was excited to meet and talk with both Dr. Blake Scott of the M.A.R.S.H. Project and Skye Clogston about the corridor, the vision, and its origins.

The concept began as a grassroots effort in the Wagener Terrace neighborhood, tied to the M.A.R.S.H. Project's work around Halsey Creek. Dr. Blake Scott, a College of Charleston professor of international environmental studies and a Wagener Terrace resident, described it as "a local grassroots project working with the Wagener Terrace Neighborhood Association, the M.A.R.S.H. Project, but also a research team coming from the College of Charleston and Clemson Design Center." He said Halsey Creek is being used "as a pilot project to try to improve the biodiversity, but also stormwater management and improve community access to the creek."

City Sustainability and Resilience Director Mika Gadsden has described an "ecological corridor" as areas of native land connecting larger conserved spaces, allowing "plants and animals to move freely between them," and has said the concept is meant for human use as well as wildlife.

The project has included multiple studio semesters at the Clemson Design Center, public design charrettes, and a review attended by the mayor. Backers frame it as aligning with existing city priorities: safe streets, flood management, undergrounding power lines, and urban resilience. The stated aim is to preserve the peninsula's three remaining tidal creeks and potentially daylight buried ones.

Dr. Scott described the corridor's long-term goal as an east-west connection across the peninsula, using tree canopy cover and bioswales along a roughly 1.6-mile stretch between the Ashley and Cooper Rivers. He said, "Our dream is that we would become the cross to the Lowline, that there would be east-west access to the north-south corridor that is the Lowline."

Demonstration gardens along the target creeks are intended to show residents the benefits of native plants for biodiversity, stormwater cleansing, and neighborhood aesthetics. The plan also draws on existing parks and continuous tree canopy to create shaded pedestrian and bike routes.

One infrastructure piece tied to the corridor is a stilling basin near Gordon Street, or what some refer to as "Lake Gordon," meant to manage tidal water and cleanse runoff before it reaches the creek. That work combines hard infrastructure with ecological reconstruction and involves ongoing collaboration with Robinson Design Engineers and design teams including Surculus.

Outreach tied to the M.A.R.S.H. Project encourages residents to plant native species, including an offer to plant on private lots in exchange for a homeowner's commitment to maintain them. Undergrounding utilities is described as requiring lot-by-lot buy-in, with test strips under consideration as part of that process. The Preservation Society's resilience guidelines also factor in, addressing how landscaping choices affect home quality, mosquitoes, and usability.

The project runs a free membership program built around ten principles for native planting and stormwater management. Everything from planting native species and reducing fertilizer use to storing stormwater and turning off lights during bird migration. About 180 private landowners have signed on so far.

The ten membership principles:

Existing marsh areas along the corridor are described as healthy, with dense Spartina grass and frequent sightings of egrets and herons. Public interaction with these areas is currently described as limited, with a stated desire for added public access points. The stated goal is habitat restoration that also improves stormwater performance and public enjoyment.

The corridor is named for Dr. Ernest Everett Just, a scientist born in Charleston on August 14, 1883. His mother, Mary Matthews Just, helped establish the Maryville community on James Island and taught at the school where he received his early education. He graduated from Dartmouth College, later led the Zoology Department at Howard University, and earned a Ph.D. in zoology and physiology from the University of Chicago.

At the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, Just researched marine organisms including sea urchins, sand dollars, and marine worms, studying fertilization and early cell development — including how the point where sperm enters an egg relates to the egg's first division. He faced significant racial discrimination in American science and pursued major research opportunities in Italy, France, and Germany as a result.

A quote of his is used to describe the project's underlying philosophy: "Life is not only a struggle against the surroundings from which life came, but it is also a cooperation with them." His framing that living things and their environment are connected rather than separate is stated as the reason his name was chosen for the corridor.

To learn more or volunteer, visit the M.A.R.S.H. Project Website

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