Plumbers in West Ashley, SC

Danielle and Brent Sweatman understand the complicated relationship between sobriety and the food and beverage space. The couple, who have worked in the industry for years, are two years sober.

“We knew how it feels to be uncomfortable with limited options and wanted to change that,” said Danielle, who with her husband Brent, opened Sweatman’s Garden — a sodary and fondue Lounge at 90 Folly Road Boulevard in the South Windermere Shopping Center.

Brent said they chose the location for a few reasons.

“We live in West Ashley and have been living in Byrnes Down for about five years. Because we love our community, we wanted to provide a cool hangout spot close to home for both drinkers and non-drinkers.”

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According to Brent, he and his wife were happy to fill a much-needed niche in the community.

“There are so many young people in the area that are becoming part of the sober curious movement and it was important to us to provide an inclusive space for the people that would want to take advantage of it,” he said.

And with the rise of mocktail culture, their timing couldn’t be better. According to research conducted by NielsenIQ, the non-alcoholic beverage sector is expanding rapidly as alcohol consumption declines, with popularity soaring over the past five years — a trend driven by Gen Z and millennials.

An Instagram-worthy experience

When the couple moved into what was Florence’s Lowcountry Kitchen, they were presented with a tabula rasa, enabling Danielle, as she says, “to go wild.”

She transformed plain, white walls into ones with a dark green hue and festooned them with dozens of thriving plants. Quirky and colorful seating areas are Instagram-worthy, like the attractive curved yellow couch which faces tufted lilac chairs and is separated by a ‘70s-era coffee table.

“We set them up to appear like little living rooms,” said Danielle, adding that she loves maximalism and color. “I was inspired by an art-deco, 70s funky vibe,” she said.

The offerings

Brent is no stranger to libation creation, having helped open the King Street Diner known as the Rarebit featuring homemade ginger beer, tonic, sodas and bitters.

“We’re doing 12 different taps, featuring our tonic and ginger beer and additional playful, fun stuff when it comes to our sodas, like plum rose citrus and a delicious habanero fresca sweetened with monk fruit, which is currently getting a lot of love, along with our root beer,” said Danielle.

For an additional $5, customers can add their choice of alcohol, or a cannabis-based infusion to their sodas. Sometimes customers opt for both non-alcoholic and alcoholic beverages in the same evening.

“I’ve seen some of them take a non-alcohol root beer break from drinking,” said Danielle

The couple also decided to offer a limited menu featuring fondue.

“We’re serving savory fondue, like Mediterranean and beer cheese and also offering sweet options like white chocolate and milk chocolate,” said Danielle, explaining that she loves cheese and chocolate, but that they also wanted to make the menu a fun, interactive experience that doesn’t take staff too much time to create. For now, the business employs a total of seven staff members.

As for the future, Danielle said they are working on finding their bearings at the moment. “We were intentionally a little mysterious about being open to see what worked and what didn’t, but we may consider live entertainment in the future, if all goes well,” she said.

Stefanie Kalina-Metzger is a contributing writer for SC Biz News.

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - Members of the West Ashley Revitalization Committee were given an update on Wednesday regarding the highly-debated old Piggly Wiggly lot on Sumar Street.

It has been years of back-and-forth debate and trying to bring development to the empty Sumar Street lot.

Over the summer, the plan was that the citizens of West Ashley would vote on three different options to bring to the lot.

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The first option took home the crown as it garnered over 72% of the overall votes from the community. This option would bring an underground parking with room to add businesses, outdoor areas and a civil building for meetings like tonight’s West Ashley Revitalization Commission.

The West Ashley Revitalization Committee has had to hold its meetings at several different locations due to the lack of infrastructure in West Ashley.

“Where we are tonight is a perfect example of why I want to see Sumar Street developed,” said Commissioner of the West Ashley Revitalization Commission, Kenneth Marolda. “We are at the West Ashley Revitalization Commission but we are held at the Citadel Mall tonight. This commission moves from place to place because it doesn’t have a permanent home. There’s no consistent forum for this commission to meet in West Ashley.”

Wednesday’s meeting was less to bring an update on the actual empty lot, but more so to let the public know of what’s to come next week.

On Sep. 21, the Sumar St. discussion will head to the Community Development Committee where the new option four is expected to be discussed.

While the city council has asked for this option to include the price tag of including a civic center and green space, the details of this option is not yet known, and Marolda has his worries.

“Option four is meant to be a compromise. Anytime there’s a compromise there’s a back and forth with debate. So we’ll have to see what happens with it, said Marolda.

So many of those that live here are ready for this project to finally break ground.

“At a certain point it gets down to trying to do something,” said Member of West Ashley Connects, James Ward. I think we need to at least break out of phase 1. {And} out of it as soon as we can, because people get impatient with bureaucracies and time and we do need to show progress. We also need that conversation so we build an authentic way that’s meaningful for everybody as much as we possibly can.”

Anybody that is interested in what happens next can attend the next Community Development Committee meeting on Sept. 21.

Copyright 2023 WCSC. All rights reserved.

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - A woman and her son say more should have been done after she was without a landline for over one month.

Queen Little has lived in the North Forest Acres neighborhood in West Ashley for over 40 years.

Her phone line has been out since June 5. Queen suspects it was cut during construction work on Playground Road.

For the last six weeks, Queen’s son, Darrin Little, has been persistently calling their phone carrier, AT&T.

“They gave me a date for when it would be on, that day came and went and it wasn’t on,” Darrin said. “Called again, called again, called again, kept getting dates and dates and dates.”

Queen has underlying health issues, and Darrin said not having a working landline in her house is dangerous.

“She needs a means of communicating with me, with my brothers, in an emergency she needs that phone,” Darrin said.

Queen said she keeps minutes on her cell phone but rarely uses it. She said she feels more comfortable with a permanent, dependable option, like her landline.

“I’m a senior citizen, I’m 78 next month. I need things like that,” Queen said. “And especially having COPD, I could have a flare-up any time.”

One day after Live 5 News reached out to AT&T, phone access was restored to Queen’s household.

The phone rang for the first time in Queen’s household in over a month during a Live 5 News interview with Darrin and Queen. It was AT&T calling to let them know phone access was restored.

“We’ve been calling for weeks, and nothing has happened until Live 5 reached out to them, and now ironically, the phone’s on,” Darrin said. “Our conversation didn’t matter, but when you guys reached out to them, it mattered.”

Queen said she has had a lonely month without a phone, describing her home as a “ghost house.”

“They fixed it today because y’all came here and I appreciate y’all doing it, but it should never have been that way because I’m a paying customer,” Queen said.

It wasn’t only Queen that went without a landline.

Betty Poaches lives a couple of streets over from Queen, and also went without landline access for six weeks.

Poaches has lived in the North Forest Acres neighborhood since 1959. She is not able to use a cell phone because of her hearing aids.

Her daughter said over the last six weeks she’s worried about her mother’s safety.

“Without her having a phone I came here every day, because she had no protection,” her daughter, Regina Gamble, said.

A spokesperson from AT&T provided the following statement:

We’ve restored home phone service to this customer following repairs to a section of our cable that experienced water damage during recent heavy rains. We apologize for the delay.

Copyright 2023 WCSC. All rights reserved.

After some last-minute funding maneuvers, Charleston approved the terms of a construction contract for a long-awaited bike and pedestrian bridge connecting downtown and West Ashley.

It now awaits federal approval before the mayor can sign off on it and work can begin.

As construction firms submitted proposals for the project this summer, local leaders became aware that their most recent cost projections were insufficient.

That’s when the estimate ballooned from $42 million about a year ago to about $74 million today. As a result, city officials had to secure more funding from county, state and federal agencies. In addition to dipping into the city’s hospitality tax funds, the Medical University of South Carolina chipped in too.

In total, the city’s contribution to the project via hospitality tax funds stands at $13 million.

Construction bidders attributed the higher-than-expected cost projections to rising interest rates, as well as increased labor and material costs. The winning bid came in at $73.8 million.

City leaders had considered scaling the project back when the new estimates were calculated but Councilman Mike Seekings said South Carolina Transportation Secretary Christy Hall was determined to find additional help from all levels of government to bring the project across the finish line.

“Secretary Hall put her money where her mouth is,” he said.

With Hall’s help securing an additional $30 million committed from various agencies, the city was able to move forward with a contract with civil contractor, Superior Construction.

Charleston City Council voted 11-1 on Sept. 26 to authorize the mayor to sign off on the contract once it gets approval from the Federal Highway Administration. Councilwoman Caroline Parker voted against the authorization and Councilman William Dudley Gregorie was absent.

If all goes according to plans, the contract will be signed within the next few weeks and design work can begin. Signing the contract locks down a “guaranteed maximum price” from the contractor, which can only fluctuate within a certain percentage of the total project cost. Any additional overrun would need special approval from City Council.

Design is expected to take about one year and construction about three years, said Jason Kronsberg, Charleston parks director and the project manager for the effort.

There should only be minor disruptions to road and boat traffic during construction, he added. It will tie into the existing West Ashley Greenway and cross the Ashley just south of the U.S. Highway 17 vehicular bridges.

Despite the cost estimate struggles, city leaders struck an optimistic tone saying that the project will be transformative for the city.

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“It’s a game changer,” Kronsberg said. “Its a significant infrastructure project that will be just as successful as the Ravenel Bridge bike and pedestrian lane when it was first implemented ... If you build it, they will come.”

Councilman Peter Shahid, who is running for mayor, said the project is not only a recreational amenity but also an important piece of the city’s transportation network. It will provide commuters who travel on foot or ride bikes a safe crossing to the city’s employment hub and also could relieve some traffic on the existing vehicular bridges in the same area.

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) — Charleston city leaders are moving forward with plans to redevelop a shopping center on Sam Rittenburg Boulevard in West Ashley.

The City of Charleston’s Design Review Board gave conceptual approval on Monday to a new Publix grocery store and retail space that will be built in the Ashley Landing Mall shopping center where a Publix currently sits.

The existing Publix is located closer to Sumar Street and was built in the 90s. The new plans are to move the grocery store to the opposite side of the property closer to Charlestowne Drive and add new retail and restaurant space next door.

There is currently a 130,000-square-foot building in that spot, which includes businesses like Dollar Tree and Big Lots inside. The Design Review Board also moved forward with the approval of a partial demolition of the shopping center, which includes these businesses. Robert Summerfield, the city’s Director of Planning, Preservation and Sustainability, said the leases for the businesses were not renewed in preparation for the redevelopment of the area.

Summerfield added that the plans to revamp the shopping center are in line with the city’s goals to revitalize parts of West Ashley.

“This is right in line with the ideas for the plan, it keeps a major shopping experience with the grocery store right there — keeps it anchored in the community and in that shopping center for those neighborhoods in that area,” he explained.

However, Suzanne Germroth, who lives in Charleston, said she is concerned about the neighborhood losing the businesses currently there because of the project.

“A lot of people rely on these discount stores to maintain their livelihood and what they can afford,” she said. “And I don’t understand why this perfectly wonderful building here has to move across the street.”

Summerfield said the current Publix will stay open until the new one is complete, and the plans for what will happen with the existing Publix building have not been decided.

“Publix has actually done this in a number of places in the markets that they work in. You know they’ll close the store one night in its current space and they’ll open the next morning in the new space,” he said. “In the old space, that again will be I believe in phase two of their development plan.”

This was the first time the conceptual plans for the project went in front of the Design Review Board. The next step for the project will be a preliminary review.