Two fake stop signs have been found in one James Island neighborhood, which the mayor says has caused confusion and controversy between town officials and local

JAMES ISLAND, S.C. (WCSC) - Two fake stop signs have been found in one James Island neighborhood, which the mayor says has caused confusion and controversy between town officials and locals.

A neighbor’s security camera captured the Town of James Island’s public works department removing the illegal stop signs from the corner of Clearview Drive and Tennant Street on Oct. 21.

“You cannot put your own stop signs out. You can always come to the town and make a request, and it will always be merited,” Mayor Bill Woolsey said. “We won’t often be able to put them up, but you can’t put them up yourself, and how we respond is we immediately contact SCDOT. We would have been very surprised if they put a stop sign out there without telling us beforehand.”

A worker could be seen wiggling one of the signs a couple of times before lifting it out of the ground and placing it in the back of a truck.

Not only were the signs put in illegally, according to the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office, but the ground next to the street was painted with white stop bars, as well.

“It’s the first I’ve ever heard about it, and I hope it doesn’t spread,” Woolsey said. “[I’m surprised] someone would come and paint a line in the road and buy some online stop signs and install them themselves in the middle of the night or early in the morning.”

Deputies said they were patrolling the area the night before and didn’t see any new signs, but when they went back the next day, they said the signs, which were apparently purchased online, had been put in overnight.

The South Carolina Department of Transportation has also confirmed they have not installed any stop signs at the intersection.

Neighbors initially thought the stop signs were put in by DOT to help with speeders and said the fake signs hurts their ability to address the issue.

“I guess somebody duped us, and they were putting in fake stop signs,” neighbor Jim Boyd said. “They looked to all of us legitimate and 100% real. We are just in favor of anything and everything that we can get people to slow down. Yes, we understand first responders need to get here quickly as well, but we want everything and anything.”

However, Woolsey said he believes the signs did not pop up at random.

“If we find out who did it, they will be charged, and we believe that, most likely, it was someone who lives close by,” he said.

Woolsey also said there was a recent incident where an illegal speed bump was found and removed near the intersection. He said the speed bump had black and yellow stripes and was similar to one found in parking lots across the Lowcountry.

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A windowless white cinderblock building looked lifeless at 1:22 p.m. on a recent Friday afternoon, though a parking lot full of cars suggested otherwise.

After unsuccessfully trying to enter through a locked front door, I wandered to the right side of the single-story structure, opening the door to a cozy room full of people and the scent of fresh fried fish.

One couple sat down with their basket of flounder, french fries, hush puppies and coleslaw at a table by the fireplace, while three women across the room laughed as a tower of Jenga pieces fell to the floor. Most, however, crowded around the bar, or canteen, as it’s called at the PFC Ralph H. Johnson USMC American Legion Post 147 on James Island.

Established in 1919, The American Legion is a wartime veterans service organization with over 3 million members. Post 147 is one of about 12,000 American Legion posts across the country. Membership is open to veterans who served during wartime periods. Spouses and family members of those who served during wartime dates are eligible to join the American Legion Auxiliary or Sons of The American Legion.

But membership isn’t a requirement to come enjoy Friday Seafood Lunch at The American Legion Post 147.

“We’re glad to bring people in and, as I say, take care of veterans and their families, and veterans and their friends, if it comes to that,” said Post Commander Steve Driscoll, a Marine Corps veteran who worked in education for 48 years. “On a given day we’ll almost always have 100 if not 115 folks coming through the door.”

The bang for your buck is unmatched at Post 147’s Friday Seafood Lunch — a basket of flounder, french fries, hush puppies and coleslaw costs just $9. Add shrimp, oysters or both for an additional $3 each.

Beyond just the price, the group of volunteers churning out 100-plus orders of fish every Friday knows what they’re doing in the kitchen. Close your eyes, take a bite and you might feel as though you’re at a trendy new Lowcountry fish camp.

In this welcoming environment, people want to learn your name — whether it’s the volunteer chefs, four staff bartenders or canteen manager Tina Baugh, who has worked at Post 147 for 11 years.

Baugh and Driscoll both recounted the origin story of Friday Seafood Lunch, which started with a group of five members who garnered the nickname the Weenee Boys. Sam Brown, Jim Churchill, Trip Compton, Pat Clute and Mike Garvin, the post’s first kitchen crew, started serving hot dogs on Fridays as a way to fund improvements to the post. Hot dogs were traded for seafood in 2014, and years later, the meals were opened to the public, with 100 percent of proceeds going right back to Post 147.

“We opened up to the public and they were very receptive,” said Baugh, who took a short pause during our interview to tell one of the bartenders a customer’s regular drink order (Canadian Mist Whisky, cherry juice and sweet vermouth). “All we’ve got is that one sign out there.”

“We’ve picked up over time maybe 10, 15 members that way, which is always good,” added Driscoll. “The more members you have the greater chance you have of impacting change.”

Legionnaires participate in community activities and work with the students at four local high schools. They also support one another, welcoming newcomers with open arms.

Members of Post 147 now have a new canteen to gather in thanks to Friday Seafood Lunch and other meals that are open to the public, including Wednesday and Thursday lunch, Saturday dinner and Sunday breakfast.

Improvements include a raised ceiling, updates to the bar and the addition of a Purple Heart memorial, marked by a gorgeous stained glass window from the American Military Museum, which closed and never found a new home.

“They seem to like it a lot because it’s more open,” Driscoll said of the upgrades, completed in September. “It’s improved the service and certainly the ambiance.”

The atmosphere is quite nice, I concluded while dipping the last bits of flounder in a small pool of Texas Pete hot sauce.

Go see for yourself next Friday from 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m., when Driscoll will holler “last call for seafood!”

I’m fairly certain you’ll be glad I sent you.

JAMES ISLAND, S.C. (WCBD) – Charleston City leaders provided some insight on a flood-prone neighborhood on James Island that saw an excess of water after Hurricane Ian.

News 2 first introduced viewers to Michael Miller and his wife on Friday when Hurricane Ian flooded their home and others on Shoreham Road.

According to Miller, it took about five to six hours for the water to drain on the street and about three hours for it to recede inside his home.

“We just started getting as much of the water and as much of the dirt out as we could. Putting up fans, scrubbing down everything. Trying to assess the damage,” said Miller.

According to Charleston City leaders, Shoreham Road is known to flood because it sits in a low-lying area.

“It’s a neighborhood where when that water falls on the streets and on the roofs and on the properties it’s hard to move it out very quickly especially if we get higher tides,” explained Matthew Fountain, the Director of Stormwater Management for the City of Charleston.

There are a few projects in the works to help prevent flooding in the neighborhood. Fountain said one includes a rain garden that is set to be built at the site of a former flood-prone home the city acquired through federal grants.

He said the other small project consists of constructing a drainage swale system to help store more water in the neighborhood. While these projects can help with a typical thunderstorm/rain event, Fountain said it will take more to prevent flooding in a major storm like Ian.

“That neighborhood is going to experience flooding. That’s part of the reason we’ve looked at home acquisitions and demolition in that location giving people the opportunity if they have a heavily flooded home to have the city work with the federal government and eventually buy their homes,” explained Fountain.

Meanwhile, drainage projects on other parts of James Island seem to be showing signs of improvement. News 2 met with Charleston County Councilwoman Jenny Costa Honeycutt at the Charleston Municipal Golf Course where drainage improvements are underway.

She said Hurricane Ian was one of the first big storms to hit the area since rolling out the projects. Because of the work that was done over the last few years, Honeycutt said the water in the system was able to drain within one tide cycle, as opposed to sitting for days as it has in the past.

“One of the parts of the improvements that really helped was cleaning out the Stono River outfall and then back up the ditch system to the entire watershed, so that water could drain out faster. In conjunction, we also enhanced these ponds you see on the golf course to allow more water to stay in the system as the tides change,” explained Honeycutt.

According to city leaders, they monitor streets like Shoreham Road ahead of big storms, making sure the pipes aren’t clogged.

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CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - The City of Charleston’s Planning Commission on Wednesday will review plans for a new residential development on James Island.

The property has both low-lying wetlands and high ground, which appears to be causing concern for some James Island residents.

One James Island resident, Franny Henty, said she is concerned about the flooding problems that developments in low-lying areas may cause for surrounding neighbors.

Developers are proposing to build the ‘Harbor View Towns’ near the intersection of the James Island Expressway and Harbor View Road. According to the submitted plans, it will consist of six single-family and 10 multifamily units.

Henty lives off of Folly Road, right near Publix.

With the multiple jurisdictions interacting on James Island, she said she hopes the city is being careful with its stormwater retention plan, especially considering the low-lying areas and wetlands on the property.

“Adding so much development can flood out the neighbors, and that’s not apparent immediately, its apparent years later, Henty said.

City of Charleston Director of Planning, Preservation and Sustainability Robert Summerfield said the majority of the property is high land, but the portion of the property containing wetlands will be “pretty significantly” buffered away.

He said the developer’s plans include a stormwater retention plan, and even though the multiple jurisdictions can be confusing from a planning perspective, he is confident in the city’s stormwater requirements.

“This property is in the city, this property is not, and so on and so forth. But this one is in the city, has to meet all of our requirements. And again, our stormwater requirements, I would put those up against any in the state in terms of their stringent requirements to safeguard against future, and particularly downstream, flooding,” Summerfield said.

We are waiting to hear from the developer for comment.

Today’s planning commission meeting will take place at 5:00 p.m. in the Public Meeting Room on the first floor of 2 George Street.

The meeting will also be live streamed and recorded on the City of Charleston Public Meetings YouTube channel.

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CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCIV) — The 33rd Holiday Festival of Lights is back and as bright as ever.

It features over 2 million lights and more than 700 displays.

Guests are invited to drive along a three-mile stretch of colorful blinking bulbs and get out of the car for more holiday experiences.

"There's two areas in the park, Winter Wonderland and Santa's Village, and there's a lot more to see in those areas such as gift shops, Santa will be here in a few weeks. We have marshmallow roasting, food, all kinds of other great things that you have to experience while you're here," said Sarah Reynolds, Public Information Coordinator for Charleston County Parks.

Reynolds says almost 6 million people have come to the event since it opened in 1989.

She says it takes the staff more than an hour to turn on the displays.

"We have some really unique light displays, and you know, some iconic Charleston imagery that are reflected in the light displays here. So it's a really beautiful, really amazing event to drive through," Reynolds said.

Many people say they were ready to get into the holiday spirit. That’s why they attended this season’s debut.

"Every year is something different, and it just always makes people so happy," returning visitor Alexandra Yakobleba said.

Parks and recreation officials say there are more lights this year and you can buy tickets to see the displays from a dragon boat tour.

You get to dry you get to paddle next to like some of the light displays and so it's a really unique opportunity to see those light displays up close," Reynolds said.

Tickets can be bought online in advance or at the gate.

But they’ll be slightly more expensive on busier evenings.

"We have identified peak nights and regular nights at the Festival of Lights. So if you come on a regular night, you're going to be paying a lower admission rate for your vehicle. So we encourage everyone to check out our website, check out the calendar and try to come on a regular night if you can. And we're also offering advance ticket purchases so you don't have to buy your ticket at the gate," Reynolds said.

"Whoever is seeing this, you have got to come out here," Yakobleba said.

If you didn't make it opening night, the festival will be open each night from 5:30 to 10 p.m. through December 31st.