GOOSE CREEK, S.C. (WCBD) – Goose Creek could soon be home to… more chickens?

A new chicken ordinance in Goose Creek allows residents to have up to four chickens at their homes, but there are some rules you must follow.

“We’ve been trying to pass it for a while. It’s very contentious for reasonable reasons, and that is why our ordinance is so robust. It’s a four-page ordinance,” explained Goose Creek City Councilwoman Melissa Enos.

The ordinance allows homeowners to have up to four chickens, but no roosters, on their property. Renters can also have chickens with the landlord’s consent. Homeowners’ associations will still be allowed to ban chickens from neighborhoods. You must also have enough room in your yard for the chickens.

“You’re going to have to come down to the city and apply for a permit for $25, and the permit will have information on it that has the attached ordinance. You’ll have to have a coop, you have to have a chicken run- what the specifications of that is, your chicken food has to be in a rodent-proof container, all of those all of those sort of things. You can’t be able to see your chicken coop from your neighbor’s backyard, so you’ll either have to have a natural fence or a privacy fence. So, for all of those reasons you can’t have a rooster, you can’t have more than four chickens.”

The $25 permit will be an annual fee. Enos said that money will be used to help pay the code enforcement officers who will respond to complaints about chickens.

Some people have concerns about allowing chickens at all.

“One individual was saying he’s concerned about how it could increase rodents and snakes if your neighbor has one, what do you say to that,” we asked the city.

“Well, first of all, chickens are the closest thing to velociraptors- so they actually eat snakes. So, you’ll be okay with that. Responsible chicken owners have chicken mesh to keep them out of the coop and their food will be in rodent-proof containers,” Enos replied.

The ordinance is now in effect. Just head to city hall when they are open and apply.

GOOSE CREEK, S.C. (WCIV) — Two women are speaking publicly after living in Goose Creek rentals owned by Conrex Property Management, LLC - rentals they say had harsh conditions, with little to no help from management.

"We moved to 29 Montclair, a Conrex house in March 9, 2022," Valerie Swabb said. "The amount of things wrong with the house was crazy. The back doors would be rotting and they would come out and scrape it out and fill it with wood filler."

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Swabb, who moved out on April 10, went to Facebook to talk about the rental after seeing it is available to rent again. Conrex has an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau, but for Sawbb and her family, their experience living in the rental only got worse. She says she sent long emails to Conrex management detailing the house's problems, but no action was taken.

"I ran a mold test kit on the air vent where it was the strongest," she said. "In nearly three days, the entire petri dish was covered in literally three different types of mold. I sent every contact at Conrex an email with the photos and offered to give them a kit. I called their maintenance department and they would not respond to anything."

Others described having similar issues.

"Once we moved into the property, I reached out to them there were a lot of infestation issues with roaches, rats, and lizards," said Jennifer Jackson, who moved into her Goose Creek rental from out of state. "They refused to come out and do anything about it."

Jackson says she had to deal with mold, electricity, and infestations. She sent management a long video of the house, but says no one came out to check out the property.

"Because I couldn't make any progress on any of the things that needed to happen to make the house livable, I gave them 60 days notice and paid out the last," says Jackson.

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Both Swabb and Jackson say they plan to take action against Conrex.

"That house has the potential to be a really good house, especially for the area that it's built in, but it's just not done properly," Swabb said.

On May 10th 2023, Conrex Property Management responded with a statement saying:

At Conrex Property Management, we are committed to providing our valued residents with comfortable and safe homes, striving to ensure that their maintenance needs are promptly addressed.

After conducting a thorough review of our records, we have found no substantiating evidence to support the claims made by Ms. Val Swabb. Her assertions are contradicted by the findings of the home inspection conducted in April 2023.

Additionally, upon careful examination of the records pertaining to Ms. Jennifer Jackson, we did not discover any maintenance requests logged throughout her lease term.

So that the maintenance process is convenient for residents and also so that we maintain accurate documentation, we require residents to submit maintenance requests in writing using the online form available on our website. This procedure allows us to route and track maintenance requests until they are completed. As neither of these requests were submitted in our maintenance system, we are unable to provide any further details at this time.

In a move that will impact numerous homes backed up on a cut of land on Red Bank Road, Goose Creek is rezoning a 34-arce wooded parcel that serves as a buffer for residents who live in the area.

On May 9, City Council held the final reading and vote to approve the rezoning. For years, the area was zoned for general commercial. Now it is zoned for “planned development.”

The area with the address at 117 Red Bank road is proposed to have apartments as well as separate dwellings.

Bordering the 30-plus acres are homes along Pandora and Hastie drives. The area also sits near one of busiest intersections in Berkeley County, where Red Bank Road intersects with Highways 52 and 176.

The county tax map shows the site as having the last large stand of trees inside the area that is dense with both business and residential traffic.

The proposal presented by Beazer Homes to the planning commission shows the residential areas of Avalon Point Planned Development fills roughly 29 acres.

The plan includes 142 total residential lots, with 71 each of single-family residences and townhome units. An additional commercial area totals approximately 3.5 acres.

Some living along the fringe of planned development feel defeated. That includes Lisa and Steve Berry, who live on Pandora Drive.

Their home, coincidently, sits across the street from a home that has a plaque on the front stating it was the site of the first Goose Creek Council meeting in 1961.

Over the past few months, Lisa Berry has gone to a number of meeting to urge leaders to put the brakes on the effort. She and her husband have lived in their current home since 2005. Now, they might move.

“We are considering moving where I can get some acreage,” Lisa Berry said. “... I don’t want to end up in this scenario again.”

“I thought we were going to retire here. I have my dream kitchen. We just did siding and windows over the past few months. And it’s like, wow, somebody else is going to benefit.”

The Berrys said they’ve had the go-round with the elected leaders since the plan was first considered last fall.

“The other thing they would throw in my face, was, ‘Well, that’s zoned general commercial now. Somebody could come in there and do this or that,’” she said. “And I said, ‘why haven’t they?’”

There is no set time frame for work to begin on the project. So for the Berrys, there is a little more time to search for some new land. Lisa Berry said she has learned some lessons along the way in the losing effort — and has some words for those facing similar battles.

“The biggest think I’ve learned is ... silence is consent. I don’t like to say that but it’s kind of what it is,” she said. “I still say we should and make our voices known. I don’t know how else we are going to do it. These are our elected officials, but I still think things are falling on deaf ears.”

There was not much discussion on the plan during the final the reading on May 9. The vote passed unanimously.

GOOSE CREEK, S.C. (WCIV) — Tonight, the City of Goose Creek is expected finalize its plans for a new 300-unit apartment complex coming to Henry Brown Boulevard, as the city’s Board of Architectural Review will make its final recommendations to the developers for adjustments.

The complex will take up 24 acres adjacent to Henry Brown Blvd. With 10 three-story buildings surrounding a central pond. The complex will include amenities such as a dog park, pedestrian walkway and a five-story garage.

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However, it has been a long time coming to get to this point. The conceptual design was initially approved over a decade ago. The development is zoned under a “Pre-Existing Development” which outdates projects which were approved by the current city council and Goose Creek Mayor Greg Habib.

But with the population in goose creek growing by over 25 percent over the past decade, the main concern for residents is making sure the infrastructure is in place to fit the current state of the city.

“I feel that we're kind of at the mercy of the builder at this point, because they were approved so long ago, before the vision of what it should be for Goose Creek. So, anything that the [Board of Architectural Review] recommends or anything like that, it's kind of limited what they can do,” Goose Creek Resident Eric Bennett said.

How a new 300-unit apartment complex will shake up the Goose Creek area in the future. (WCIV)

“I really think that the city council, I think that the mayor is working with these builders and talking to them, and seeing how they can come to some middle ground and anytime that you're able to communicate, anytime that people are willing to meet in the middle, then everybody wins," Bennett continued.

Since the project was approved already the BAR can’t stop or reject the apartment complex from being built. The board of architectural review will make recommendations including lighting, signage and elevation at tonight’s meeting.

But the question for a lot of residents remains how those in charge will handle the project which was approved in a very different Goose Creek than we are seeing today.

There are already some changes in the works as the city has is nearly two years into their project to expand a portion of Henry Brown Blvd. from a two lane road to a four lane road.

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The bigger concern for residents is the infrastructure around the building, with one of the key elements being storm water management. This has been a problem for the city and greater Berkeley County area for a while, especially after we saw flooding impacts from Hurricane Ian and Tropical storm Nicole hit those areas.

While some say the complex isn’t a negative for the city, residents do say they want to see the right steps made in the implementation of this new building to fit into the city’s current structure.

“The challenge that you have, though is where does the money come to get that infrastructure put in place? And the answer to that is to the growth, right? Putting these projects and the impact fees that come from these projects towards that infrastructure, the tax revenue, and everything else from the property taxes and stuff is what's going to drive the ability to improve that infrastructure,” Bennett said.

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In a statement provided to us from the City of goose creek officials says in part quote:

All stormwater requirements required by the county will be in place for these or any developments.

But there was no statement on whether the city or county as a whole would plan to change any of those with the new building in place. It is important to note most of the Stormwater Management or external infrastructure management comes from Berkley County and not the city of Goose Creek.

City officials also said developers now need to have any new apartment complex approved by the current mayor and council for full approval. Something which was not in place when this complex was approved.

The city's Board of Architectural Review meeting is scheduled for Monday at 6 p.m.

A brand-new park opened in Goose Creek on Friday with the focus of being “a park built for everyone.”

Published: Fri Dec 16 2022

GOOSE CREEK, S.C. (WCSC) - A brand-new park opened in Goose Creek on Friday with the focus of being “a park built for everyone.”

The $9 million project, Central Creek Park, hopes to be inclusive towards everyone with volleyball and basketball courts, a splash pad, a food truck pavilion and pickleball courts.

Over 26,000 square-feet, ‘Debra’s Playground’ will offer a wide range of accessible activities for people with physical or visual disabilities. The surfacing is all wheelchair accessible, and the equipment is based on sensory items for everyone to enjoy.

Families who include children with disabilities were the first invited to play at the park after this morning’s ribbon cutting. Nicole Valentine, mother to her special needs daughter, says other parks have never really been concerned about including all the different aspects of sensory play before.

“It’s never really kept in mind the heart of all children to be fully inclusive, and even down to having the fence around for those kids who love to run,” Valentine says. “It’s very important and it does so much for parent’s safety concerns to be able to just come here, and you almost get a little bit of relief watching your children play and not be so stressed out.”

The City of Goose Creek hosted a tribute to the donors of the park ahead of the ribbon cutting ceremony. Goose Creek Recreation Director Crystal Reed addressed the city and sponsors after working for months on the development.

“Central Creek Park sets our community apart and creates opportunities to remove barriers, increase self-esteem, develop community culture where everyone benefits from health, fitness and social connections,” Crystal says. “Thousands of children and adults across Berkeley County of all abilities have benefited from our therapeutic recreation program over the past several years; because of you, we just raised the bar with Central Creek Park.”

Parents of children with special needs say that it means the world to them to see their children experience a park they can truly enjoy. Kathy Kackley, parent to Trista Kutceher, travel the U.S. together promoting inclusivity in parks and compared other parks to Central Creek Park.

“There’s something here for everyone; there’s something here everyone can do,” Kackley says. “We like to be inclusive in our play and in our life, and we are very appreciative that Goose Creek has stepped up and has a place for everybody to play together.”

Goose Creek Assistant Recreation Director, Nicole Herrera Murray, explains how the city worked to choose specific pieces of equipment for special needs children to use. After planning and researching for months, she says Friday was a dream come true.

“I’ve been dreaming of this day for a really long time. It’s really amazing to see everyone enjoying and hearing the screams behind us is just everything that I’ve ever wanted,” Murray says.

The public is invited to join in on the fun Friday from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. or Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 47 Old Moncks Corner Rd.

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