Plumbers in Summerville, SC

SUMMERVILLE, S.C. (WCSC) - Former and current residents at a Summerville apartment complex are sharing their stories, alleging bad communication from management and deteriorating conditions, after seeing one woman come forward about a mold problem.

In March, Breanna McCalla detailed a mold problem that she says forced her to move her family out of the Latitude at Wescott.

Madison Harriss says she experienced something similar when she spotted mold in her unit.

“When I first saw it, I started off by sending emails to the front office just letting them know about it. I also made a couple of trips into the office to talk to someone as well,” Harris says.

Harris feels she did everything right when she first saw mold nearly a year after she moved in. She says it took months of emailing and visiting the office to get someone in her unit to check out the issue.

“And it was frustrating because all they did was paint over it with some KILZ and called it a day. So it didn’t feel like it was resolved because it came back shortly after,” Harris says.

Harris says the mold and mildew-resistant paint job was too little too late, and when her lease was up in 2021, she left but took her story with her and shared her experience with anyone asking about living in the area.

While current resident Casey Hendricks says she hasn’t seen mold, her communication problems started before she even got on the property.

“Within three days of our move-in date, they told me that we could no longer have the three-bedroom apartment on the first floor they instead were moving us to a two-bedroom apartment temporarily on the third floor, which made it really difficult with two little kids and a dog,” Hendricks says.

Despite paying her deposit and hiring movers, Hendricks’ family was in a space too small. When they were finally allowed to relocate to a 3-bedroom months later, further communication issues cost her hundreds of dollars. Her moving company spent hours sitting in the parking lot on the day of the switch, waiting for management to allow them into the unit. When the company ran out of time that day, Hendricks had to pay movers to come back.

Once inside, Hendricks says the conditions were concerning. She pointed out water stains and missing vanity draws and knobs.

“The vanity that was never fixed. It was like this when we moved in. I did do a walk-through with the property manager and she is aware of this as of last November and when I moved in and it still has not been repaired,” Hendricks says.

Now Hendricks is facing mounting water and sewer bills, more than quadruple what she budgeted as average cost, and she wants answers. But with no repairs to her apartment yet, she doesn’t think she’ll ever get the help she’s asking for.

“So many other apartments are filled with mold. It definitely makes you wonder what might be out there in your air ducts and stuff that you’re not seeing,” Hendricks says.

Harris says while she lived there, she faced other maintenance issues besides mold like Hendricks.

“It just felt like they really didn’t care to fix the problem,” Harris says.

Latitude at Wescott management declined to comment when asked to answer questions for this story.

Copyright 2024 WCSC. All rights reserved.

SUMMERVILLE, S.C. (WCSC) - Some big changes are coming to a more than $12 million sports complex in Summerville.

The Oakbrook Sports Complex, which will be located at the current Oakbrook YMCA, will include “state-of-the-art” turf sports fields and more.

“This is where, if you talk to anybody in our area, ‘I learned how to play baseball here, I learned how to swim here, I learned how to soccer here,’ so this is where we started, and now where we want to take to a whole new level,” Summerville YMCA CEO Joe Debney says.

The Summerville YMCA will contribute 17 acres of land, and the county will foot the bill, which has more than doubled in the last three years.

Right now, the fields have poor drainage, uneven turf, and chalk outlines for fields.

Once finished, the new complex will include two soccer fields and other multi-use athletic fields with subsurface drainage, lighting, parking, concessions, a playground, and restrooms.

“If you come out here our fields need rest,” Debney says. “Being able to dry these fields off quickly, being able to have a better facility for these kids, where we don’t have rainy days, where they don’t have to go somewhere else to play.”

Dorchester County Council Chairman Todd Friddle says the new complex will allow the county to host travel sports in an area where outdoor recreation is exploding.

“With a first-class facility, not only for the local community but travel tourism. People coming in here to bring teams to travel, stay spend money in the Summerville market, in the Dorchester area,” Friddle says.

This project is a part of the county’s broader goal to revitalize the Oakbrook area overall using TIF funds, which Friddle explained as tax revenue from the area being put back into it.

Friddle says they were partnered with a different organization for the project originally, but “couldn’t work out the logistics.”

They’re currently in the permitting process and hope to break ground on the project over the summer if all goes as planned, Friddle says. Once they break ground, he estimates the complex will take about 18 months to be completed.

Copyright 2024 WCSC. All rights reserved.

The undersigned are some of Summerville’s many businesses, institutions, churches, schools and organizations at the heart of our town’s economic, cultural and civic life. We are invested in the success and vitality of our town. We support the town council’s mission to “establish a quality of life that provides a safe, healthy, beautiful, and harmonious place to live and work.”

We congratulate and welcome our new mayor and newly elected and returning council members. We wish you success, wisdom and discernment in your leadership positions.

During this election, we were encouraged by how “quality of life” was a central campaign issue, specifically addressing the problem of Summerville’s lack of connectedness and walkability. Good town design is all about connections – the ability for residents of all ages, physical abilities and financial means to safely and comfortably walk or ride a bike to any place in town. This is a significant factor and indicator of quality of life for residents and is the “glue” that binds our neighborhoods together.

Walkable and bikeable towns have proven to be essential for:

The more connected the various parts of a town, the better the quality of life for its residents. This is why our “Summerville Comprehensive Plan” sets a top priority for making our town walkable.

Unfortunately, Summerville does not have a well-connected pedestrian network but is a patchwork of isolated islands separated by traffic corridors designed for cars, not people. Most of our town’s sidewalks and crosswalks are either discontinuous, in disrepair or nonexistent.

Residents within walking distance of a church, park or store cannot safely walk there. Children are robbed of their independence and healthy development as they find themselves trapped in their immediate neighborhoods, unable to walk or bike to a friend’s house, school, or ice cream store. Parents are left to chauffeur their children around town, adding to the self-perpetuating cycle of traffic woes.

Out of necessity, some residents resort to walking on active roadways alongside moving traffic. As cars and trucks pass them, they have to step aside to walk on dirt and through roadside ditches lest they get struck by vehicles. Walking at night is especially dangerous, and those who are frail, in a wheelchair or pushing baby strollers dare not walk on many streets at all.

Even if they are lucky enough to find a sidewalk, they often cannot cross a street as most intersections are designed solely for car traffic with hardly any pedestrian crosswalks. The message is clear: pedestrians are not welcome.

Bicycling is also nearly impossible. We have all seen those poor souls trying to balance their bikes along a road’s uneven edge, with trucks hurtling by within inches of them on one side and precarious ditches on the other. It’s not just undignified; it’s downright dangerous.

As a town that prides itself on our quality of life, we must do better.

The good news is we can transform Summerville into a walkable, bikeable and pedestrian-friendly town if we install comfortable, continuous sidewalks and controlled street intersections with crosswalks designed for people. Our focus, at least initially, should be on fixing our town core area and significant roads to stitch together adjacent neighborhoods to each other and our downtown. If done right, the impact and benefits will be felt immediately.

We applaud the election candidates who promised to fix our “sidewalks to nowhere” and urge the mayor and town council to prioritize this vital and much overdue infrastructure project. As our civic leaders, you have the opportunity to leave a positive, lasting legacy by creating a walkable, bikeable and truly connected Summerville.

It is time. Let’s make it happen.

Cordially,

AgentOwned Realty

Allstate Insurance

Artistic Eye Productions

Azalea Bar

Azalea Magazine

Beauty Parlor 102

Bexley Fish & Raw Bar

Beyond BASIC Life Skills

Bike/Walk Summerville

Cafe de Fleur

CB Bella Pazza Salon Spa

Chellis Chiropractic

Coastal Produce

Cotton-Tea

Dorchester Habitat for Humanity, Inc.

Edible Arrangements

Edwards Electrical, LLC

Epstein Architecture

Essential Yoga

Eva’s On Main

First Capital Bank

First National Bank of South Carolina

Five Loaves Cafe

Flowertown Realty

Four Green Fields

Gimer Consulting LLC

Groucho’s Deli

Guerin’s Pharmacy

Hair Jazz, LLC

Hanebrink Jewelers

HealthWorks

Homes by Haydee and More, LLC

Joshua K. Roten, Attorney at Law, LLC

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Katie Mae’s Klassy Flea and Antique Mart

Knight Law Firm

Knight’s Septic Tank

Laura Jones & Company

Live Fire Training Academy

Low Country Fish Camp

Lowcountry Specific Chiropractic

Lyortega Multiservices, LLC

Maggie Rose Boutique

Main Street Bike Shop

Main Street Reads

Matt’s Burgers

MCM Law Group

Mod Beaute Studio

Oak Road Brewery

One Coast Design

Palmetto Gaming

Palmetto Primary Care

People, Places & Quilts

Piazza Home

Printing Associates of Summerville

Public Works Art Center

Puma’s Italian Ice & Hot Dog Shack

SC Home 4 You, Inc

Sew Fabulous, LLC

Shuckin’ Shack

Simple Treasures

Skin Solutions Day Spa

SpokeWorks Bicycle Workshop

St. Paul’s Anglican Church

Stilo Diaz, LLC

Strain, Inc

Sts. Cyril & Methodius Orthodox Christian Church

Summerville Antique Gallery

Summerville Country Club

Summerville Family YMCA

Summerville Home Educators Enrichment Programs

Summerville Journal Scene

Summerville Orchestra

Summerville Photo Experience

The ARK of SC

The Eclectic Chef

The Flowertown Players

The Winchester Spa and Salon

Thornton Investments

TLC Accounting Solutions

Train Town Toy & Hobby

A Louisville, Ky.-based breakfast chain with an emphasis on biscuits will open its first South Carolina location in Summerville this year, with plans to also open a Fort Mill location.

Biscuit Belly, a Kentucky based “craft casual” brunch restaurant serving up warm hospitality and chef-driven gourmet biscuit breakfast sandwiches, will open a store this fall at 118 West Richardson Ave., Summerville, according to a news release. The chain will also open stores in Norfolk, Va., and Raleigh, N.C., this year.

Biscuit Belly’s current franchise group, DGB Tenn LLC, will be spear-heading the brand’s new locations. Additionally, it expects further expansion into the northern Virginia market as early as fall 2024, the release stated.

“Growing with Biscuit Belly has been an incredible experience so far,” said Clint Umphrey, operating partner for DGB, said in the release. “The brand has created a delicious and craveable menu based on some damn good biscuits and in return, has cultivated a strong following from its customers. We are thrilled to be close to the opening of our two next locations in Norfolk and Raleigh and can’t wait to integrate into the communities.”

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The brand has also announced that current franchise partners, Todd Gallinek and Deepen Patel, have signed leases for their first two locations coming to the greater Charlotte market, including Fort Mill in South Carolina, at 2147 W. Highway 160 Suite 101.

“We’re thrilled to finally be able to announce the addresses for our first two locations coming to the Charlotte area,” said Deepen Patel, Biscuit Belly franchisee, in the release. “We know that Biscuit Belly will be a perfect fit for Charlotte’s vibrant food scene and the community will appreciate the better brunch experience the brand provides.”

Founded by Lauren and Chad Coulter in 2019, and franchising since 2020, Biscuit Belly has become a staple in their home state of Kentucky, the release stated. Known for their chef-inspired offerings revolving around a scratch-made biscuit, boozy beverages, and a bright, modern environment, it has seen rapid success locally and is eager to continue expansion across expanded markets.

“We’re thrilled to finally have nailed down the addresses for our newest locations in Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina,” said Chad Coulter, founder and CEO of Biscuit Belly, in the release. “We’re confident in our partners abilities to uphold the standards we set ourselves to of bringing a better brunch experience and damn good biscuits to communities throughout the country.”

SUMMERVILLE, S.C. (WCSC) - Monday marks the start of early voting for what has proved to be a controversial referendum for the Dorchester School District Two community.

Every weekday through May 10, voters will be able to make their voices heard ahead of time at the Marcia O’Brien Conference Center from 8:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. That center is located at 200 Stadium Circle in Summerville, behind Summerville Elementary School. The special election will be held on May 14.

The Dorchester School District Two Board of Trustees approved a resolution to hold this election in the hopes of addressing issues caused by Dorchester County’s rapid growth, including overcrowding, high student-to-teacher ratios and aging school infrastructure.

The question on the ballot reads as follows:

Shall the Board of Trustees of School District No. 2 of Dorchester County, South Carolina (the “School District”) be empowered to issue, at one time or from time to time, general obligation bonds of the School District, in a principal amount of not exceeding $200,000,000, the proceeds of which shall be used to finance the costs (including architectural, engineering, legal and related fees, and land acquisition, if necessary) of the following:

In the slideshow created by school district officials to better explain the need for the referendum and how it would achieve the district’s goals, data regarding current enrollment shows that three different schools in the district are over capacity and several are at or near theirs.

Additionally, the slides cite new housing developments and planned developments to show that growth is set to continue at what they say is an unsustainable rate.

The district says it has been working toward this referendum, its first in 12 years, since 2020 as they began to complete comprehensive studies of their facilities and demographics in preparation for this referendum.

It also says it has planned financially for this referendum.

Several signs asking people to “Vote Yes For Schools,” were vandalized last week shortly after they were put up, with some marking through the messaging completely and others writing “Vote No For Tax.”

“Dorchester Two Citizens for School Improvements”, the group asking community members to vote yes for the referendum, is holding a press conference in Hutchinson Square in Summerville on Monday at 5 p.m.

District officials say this referendum is the first of its kind with no tax or millage rate increases.

The school district has provided several educational resources for those who wish to vote on the matter, including a slideshow, a video and additional information that can be accessed in an FAQ document.

To vote on this referendum, ID is required, as well as a valid voter registration and having been registered more than 30 days ahead of the May 14 vote.

Copyright 2024 WCSC. All rights reserved.