The Top Choice for Hardwood, Carpet, and Tile Flooring in Johns Island

JOHNS ISLAND — Residents are calling for the removal of two boats that have been stuck in Bohicket Creek for months, citing concerns about the environmental impact of a possible fuel leak.

The vessels, which the Coast Guard said are owned by the same individual, can be spotted from the Cherry Point Public Boat Landing on Wadmalaw Island, near the town of Rockville, and across the water from Seabrook Island.

A small white boat, about 30 feet in length, is stuck in the pluff mud of Bohicket Creek.

Story continues below

Its companion in the creek is a gray behemoth — a steel ship, 120 feet long — wedged in the grass and mud of the marsh. The Coast Guard confirmed the larger ship is a former U.S. Navy research vessel that was acquired by its owner at an auction in March 2021.

The former Navy research vessel first entered South Carolina's waters in 2021, according to Coast Guard Lt. Michael Allen. The owner was issued a Captain of the Port Order on July 16, 2021.

The 2021 order, issued to owner Samuel Kodaimati, prohibited him from operating the vessel due to lack of federal documentation. Attempts to reach the owner of the vessel by The Post and Courier were made but not successful at the time of publication.

A dock belonging to James Green, a Johns Island resident, sits a few hundred feet away from the two ships. Green once owned the East Coast Seafood Company, selling fresh-caught shrimp, though the business is no longer in operation.

His dock is still active and rents slips to boaters. Kodaimati kept the grounded vessels at Green's dock for several months this year, but never paid the dockage fees, Green said. After racking up roughly $3,000 in unpaid fees, Green said he told the owner of the boats to leave.

Green said the large ship was anchored in the creek for a while, but it started leaking. Now, the vessel in is the marsh a few hundred feet away from his dock, where it’s sat for months.

It's an "ecological disaster" waiting to happen, Seabrook Island resident Steve Redman said.

Redman said he's been trying to get the vessels removed for weeks, calling the Department of Natural Resources, the Coast Guard, Department of Environmental Services, even the governor's office.

"When I saw this thing, I know that a 110 feet to 125 feet steel boat, there's no way it's supposed to be implanted in any ecological important area," Redman said.

Abandoning boats is illegal, but common

Some areas have taken steps to crack down on derelict boats in Lowcountry waters. Folly Beach and the city of Charleston have laws against abandoning ship in their waterways.

It's against state law to abandon a boat in public waters or on private property, though it happens frequently. The Department of Environmental Services has a tool to report abandoned and derelict vessels, and it started a pilot program this year for owners to have their unwanted or damaged boats removed before they became abandoned.

Andrew Wunderley, executive director of Charleston Waterkeeper, said boats wind up abandoned in the water for a variety of reasons. It could be that the boat operator ran out of money to take care of it, or it's too expensive to pay for storage. In those cases, boats will wind up anchored in the water or ditched in the marsh, he said.

"It's unfortunately an all-too-common issue," Wunderley said. "Those boats are full of all kinds of fuel and oils and lubricants and other contaminants from the bottom paint. They're leaching copper, and all the electronics that may be on board are a potential ecological hazard to the creeks or rivers where they're abandoned."

The Coast Guard confirmed both ships still have fuel on board.

Allen said the Coast Guard is working with DNR and DES to remove the vessels, but there is no timeline.

"The Coast Guard has made it clear to the owner on multiple occasions that we would work with them to authorize limited vessel movement, with conditions, to ensure safety, security and environmental stewardship in the port," Allen said.

Laura Renwick, a spokesperson for DES, said if any pollution, or immediate threat of pollution, is confirmed, the Coast Guard could remove environmental contaminants from the ship "if there was a verifiable risk to the marine environment" through the Environmental Protection Agency's Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund.

If the owner of the boat cannot be identified or reached, then removing the boat is more complicated, Wunderley said. DES reported the agency's mailed attempts to contact Kodaimati have been returned.

Depending on the abandoned ship's location, different agencies may be responsible for coordinating removal. The Coast Guard is responsible for removing blockages in federal channels, while in state waters the removal can fall to DNR or DES.

The ships are unanchored, with nothing securing the vessels to land. Residents worry if the ships aren't removed soon, a hurricane or particularly windy storm could cause serious damage to the surrounding area.

"If you get a 100-mile-an-hour northeast wind, that boat will come out of the marsh, right? And it's gonna destroy the town of Rockville, all the docks," Green said.

Reach Anna Sharpe at 843-806-6790.

JOHNS ISLAND, S.C. (WCSC) - Members of the Johns Island community could be looking at the construction of a second hotel and living space.

New Leaf Builders is requesting to build JUBILEE on the corner of Maybank Highway and Wildts Battery Boulevard. The development would take up 13.3 acres.

The City of Charleston passed the plans through in a 7-0 vote on July 19. It is the latest in a series of conversations involving development on Johns Island.

Rich Thomas has lived on Johns Island for 16 years and says it is hard to recognize the lay of the land.

“The city and county have not paid any attention whatsoever to how Maybank and Johns Island in general can handle these developments,” Thomas says. “When you add up 100 housing units, commercial restaurants and things, it turns into a huge problem.”

Councilman Jim McBride says the development is classified as a Planned Unit Development, or PUD, meaning fewer units will go on the property than originally thought.

Developers say they intend to create a “vibrant, human-scaled, pedestrian-friendly community” and “transform neglected and underutilized natural resources into a beautiful hospitality village destination.”

The area is considered a central location for future public transit and connectivity. McBride says it would help to support the island’s future fire station and Trident hospital.

The plans fit the mold for a mixed-use residential office and low-density residential district. JUBILEE would become a spot for 140 families total, split into 75 hotel rooms and 65 residential cottages.

It is unclear how much each unit will cost or how much it will be to build the complex.

Each building would sit at a height of either three or four stories.

Darcy Whalen lived on Johns Island for six years but now resides across the Stono River in James Island.

Out her window, she still sees the impacts of traffic and growth bleeding into her community.

“Infrastructure is huge. We’re a little backwards, that we should’ve had that first before these things were approved,” Whalen says. “I don’t begrudge getting a hotel. There are a lot of people coming onto Johns Island and Seabrook. I think we have been done a disservice.”

Developers emphasized that Charleston has doubled in population since the 1970s. They claim the Charleston City Plan to develop the area over the next 10 years fits within their plans to build up Johns Island.

Charleston County Council will tentatively vote on the project on August 30.

Copyright 2024 WCSC. All rights reserved.

Hilton Head Island is looking to replace the U.S. Highway 278 bridges that provide its only link to the mainland, and current plans call for new bridges that will have not two but three lanes in each direction on and off the island, for a total of six lanes. So why does Johns Island — which has a smaller population and a desire to keep part of its rural character intact — need 16 bridge lanes on and off it?

The answer should be obvious: It doesn't. And that's yet another reason Charleston County voters should reject the proposed half-cent transportation sales tax that is expected to be on the ballot this fall.

County Council is expected to finalize the referendum wording Tuesday and is regrettably expected to proceed with making the extension of Interstate 526 from West Ashley to James Island the only priority project; its price tag, including financing costs, would be more than $2.4 billion, almost half the total raised by the new tax. The project also was among the least popular in an informal survey earlier this year.

Council should reject this plan for many reasons: that enormous price tag; its threat to the conservation of what remains of Johns Island's rural character; the project's failure to ease congestion (it will only move it to different choke points); the county's recent duplicitous history in reviving the project it deliberately left off the 2016 sales tax vote; and the county's poor track record on making progress on projects on its 2016 list.

One of those projects is a new flyover at Main Road and U.S. Highway 17, an enormously frustrating route for many trying to get on and off Johns Island. We suspect that lack of progress has been deliberate because the project holds the promise of addressing the congestion that 526 extension proponents claim that project is needed for. And that's where the comparison to Hilton Head is apt.

Six lanes is fine for Hilton Head even though its population is almost 30% more than that of Johns, Wadmalaw, Kiawah and Seabrook islands combined and Hilton Head has 66% more housing units. Current traffic volumes on the Limehouse and Stono bridges combined are about 14% higher than on the Highway 278 bridges, which suggests we could use a couple more lanes. Fortunately, that's cheap and easy to accomplish.

Both the Paul J. Gelegotis and John F. Limehouse bridges were built large enough to accommodate four lanes of traffic: The Gelegotis Bridge, commonly called the Stono bridge, is striped for all four lanes, but the one lane leading to the bridge from Johns Island effectively makes it a three-lane bridge from the perspective of traffic flow. The Limehouse Bridge is striped for only two lanes, but relatively little money would open the full capacity of these bridges to eight lanes, a 60% increase from what they are now.

Of course, why spend relatively little money to solve the problem when you can spend more than $2 billion and erase any pretention that we're interested in keeping Johns Island's rural character? Voters will ultimately answer that question in November.

There's one other commonality voters might want to think about. The Hilton Head debate has revolved in part around whether there should be one new six-lane bridge or two three-lane bridges, but some have noted the larger six-lane bridge won't address the primary cause of congestion on the island: clogged intersections along U.S. Highway 278. If I-526 is extended on to Johns Island, we're sure the same thing will be said there; just substitute "River Road" for Highway 278.

Click here for more opinion content from The Post and Courier.

Get a weekly recap of South Carolina opinion and analysis from The Post and Courier in your inbox on Monday evenings.

Email

JOHNS ISLAND, S.C. (WCSC) - A new subdivision with nearly 4,000 homes is coming to Johns Island, and to support the growth, infrastructure improvements are planned for Bear Swamp Road.

The City of Charleston reviewed the project during Thursday’s Technical Review Committee meeting.

City officials say the project will take six months to a year for design and permitting before construction can begin.

Charleston City Council member Stephen Bowden emphasized the importance of balancing new housing developments with the needs of current residents.

“Building new housing is incredibly important, but we have to balance that with livability for people who already reside here. And that’s been a huge focus,” Bowden said.

The subdivision, known as Long Savannah, will include improvements to Bear Swamp Road, funded privately by the neighborhood’s developers.

These improvements include a sidewalk extending from Bees Ferry Road along the east side of Bear Swamp Road, with the road extending into the Long Savannah neighborhood.

The City of Charleston’s transportation project manager, James Wallace, provided further details on the infrastructure upgrades.

“There’ll be an extension of Glenn McConnell called Long Savannah Parkway that’ll be the main entrance into the neighborhood, but there’ll also be side entrances on 61 and Bear Swamp. So, it’ll give people in the area more options on how to access those main roadways,” Wallace said.

In addition to the road extensions, a right-turn lane will be added from Bees Ferry Road onto Bear Swamp Road, and a left-turn lane will be added to Bear Swamp Road approaching Bees Ferry Road.

These upgrades will create separate lanes for left and right turns, improving traffic flow.

The developers are also donating a park off Bear Swamp Road.

“What residents have been asking for forever. You know, if they’re going to build all these houses, why don’t they contribute to some of the things we need, and that’s what I think people can see happening here,” Bowden said.

The Technical Review Committee will continue evaluating the project to ensure it meets the city’s standards.

Copyright 2024 WCSC. All rights reserved.

Published: Jul. 17, 2024 at 1:50 PM PDT|

JOHNS ISLAND, S.C. (WCSC) - One accident-prone Johns Island intersection is set to receive $5 million in safety upgrades from the state.

With nearly 8,000 vehicles traveling where Brownswood Road meets River Road daily, according to the South Carolina Department of Transportation, government officials say they knew this needed to be a focal point for change.

In a team effort, the Charleston County government, the Charleston County School District, SCDOT and state Rep. Spencer Wetmore (D-Charleston County) and Rep. Leon Stavrinakis (D-Charleston County) are working to get this project going.

“River Road has been a dangerous spot for people for a long time,” Johns Island resident Brent Mattox said.

Stavrinakis and Wetmore are the two statehouse reps who asked for this funding.

“Traffic and safety concerns out there are certainly nothing new,” Stavrinakis said.

Where River Road meets Brownswood is home to 24 accidents and one death over the last five years, according to SCDOT.

Both Mattox and Stavrinakis say they’re not surprised.

“We’ve seen some damage from time to time and there was at least one time where a bridge, its guardrail, was seemingly damaged by a wreck and took months to fix,” Mattox said.

“Sometimes citizens email me pictures of overturned vehicles,” Stavrinakis said.

And with a new Charleston County elementary school already under construction right down the road, Stavrinakis says he knew the funding was needed now.

“We’re so far behind in managing traffic in that corridor given the incredible growth,” Stavrinakis said.

Now, $5 million from the state will go towards a roundabout at this intersection to fix the current issues and alleviate future school traffic, which could start as early as next August.

But the current road plan doesn’t have the roundabout finishing for at least another six years.

“My goal for this is to happen like asap,” Stavrinakis said. “...We need to push as hard as we can to make sure that this happens, if at all possible, simultaneously with the school construction and opening.”

Mattox says he doesn’t think the construction itself will make the situation much better in the meantime.

“I guess that’s the price of progress,” Mattox said.

The roundabout document plans state the preliminary engineering could cover the next three-and-a-half years with right-of-way acquisitions and utility relocations taking another year-and-a-half after that. Charleston County officials are expecting construction to take one year, finishing by the end of FY2031.

Copyright 2024 WCSC. All rights reserved.