CHARLESTON, S.C. — Traffic jams, flooding and the pace of new construction dominated a Tuesday night forum on Daniel Island in Charleston, South Carolina, where Mayor William Cogswell told residents of the Cainhoy Peninsula the city is trying to steer growth rather than cheer it on.
Roughly 100 people came to the Daniel Island Recreation Center gym for the stop, the third of five neighborhood events in the city’s State of our City series. The next one is set for Nov. 5 on James Island.
The population between the Cooper and Wando rivers has more than doubled since 2010. Daniel Island is close to its cap of 7,500 units, while city estimates show the Point Hope community could eventually add about 10,000 more homes.
Cogswell said the city has a contract on 4 acres of the Mikasa Tract next to Point Hope, part of a push to acquire about 28 acres, 15 of them wetlands. The plan for that land is a fire station, a police station and a public works site, not new housing.
On traffic, the city has adjusted signal timing across Daniel Island and on Clements Ferry Road, where officers have also been writing more stops, some of them tied to a new e-bike ordinance. For flooding, Cogswell pointed to cleaning out ditches, pumping storm drains and upkeep of retention ponds as the work most likely to show results.
Residents will also get a say in about 62 donated acres off Oak Leaf Street, with a public input process planned for January. Early city ideas include athletic fields, trails and parking.
Section: More Charleston SC politics news
Filed under: Charleston SC Politics News
