Plumbers in Awendaw, SC

AWENDAW, S.C. (WCBD) – Officials in Awendaw responded to a vehicle fire overnight on Guerins Bridge Road.

According to Awendaw McClellanville Fire District, crews responded to reports of a vehicle fire in the 1400 block of Guerins Bridge Road around midnight.

Upon arrival, first responders extinguished the fire. Crews remained on scene to clean up the incident.

No injuries were reported.

Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

The best Tina Turner merch to commemorate her incredible …

Shirts & Tops / 2 hours ago

It’s incredibly difficult to describe Tina Turner’s illustrious musical career as anything but “simply the best.”

Build an outdoor gym in your backyard with these …

Fitness Equipment / 6 hours ago

Exercise is vital to maintaining health, but it can be even more fun when you do it outside. You can purchase just a few simple items to make your outdoor gym.

Here are all the Dyson Memorial Day deals

Cleaning Tools & Supplies / 7 hours ago

You can purchase your Dyson dream products at deep discounts during the Dyson Memorial Day sales event.

AWENDAW, S.C. (WCIV) — Many Awendaw residents are calling it a "win" after the town's Zoning Commission denied a request Monday evening to rezone 66 acres for a possible development.

The land in question is in the vicinity of Boomstraw Hill Road and Sewee Road and was recently annexed into the town limits from Charleston County.

Developer David Weekley Homes recently acquired the neighboring Awendaw Village development, and made a brief presentation at Monday's meeting answering questions from board members and the public.

Read More: Proposed plan to build 72-home subdivision in Awendaw

Their proposal included creating lot sizes of 20,000 square-feet per home with a little more than 60 homes planned. But the current Agricultural zoning designation only provides for a minimum 30,000 square-foot lots. A change to Residential zoning would have decreased that limit to 12,500.

Allen Rioux serves on Awendaw's Board of Zoning Appeals and said the consensus from citizens is a desire to keep development density low.

"We're certainly not anti-development or anti-developer. We understand that this is a desirable place to be, and - in fact - we think that development is important for our community, for our tax base," Rioux said. "But, what the community is against is high-density development. We need to be reasonable. We have great resources here and we need to be careful that we don't negatively impact them."

Read More: Environmentalists fear impacts of 200 new homes near Awendaw wildlife refuge

Others at Monday's meeting called the request premature.

David Weekley Homes faces some challenges with the land. First and foremost, access.

The parcels are currently land-locked, meaning there's no road legal road access. However, a phase to development of their recently acquired Awendaw Village off Highway 17 would provide an adjacent connection to the 66-acres.

Read More: People still concerned after hearing developer's redevelopment plan for Union Pier

A few residents from Awendaw Village were at the zoning meeting and voiced their concerns over unfulfilled promises from their original developer.

David Weekley Homes will likely need to return before town council or the Zoning Commission with an updated development proposal.

AWENDAW, S.C. (WCIV) — Social media forums are buzzing in the Awendaw-McClellanville area.

Mosquitos have people swatting from the second they step outside.

It’s a problem that has crept into the freshly painted walls of Howard AME Church off of Rutledge Road.

“Every day it’s getting worse and worse and worse right now,” said Vince Green, who has been remodeling the church for more than two months.

TRENDING: New York-style bagel shop to open Wednesday in Mount Pleasant

Renovations are nearing completion, but an unwanted pest is now itching to cause trouble.

“I’ve used up two cans of spray, Cutter, already,” Green said Monday afternoon. “So, it’s really, really bad.”

Green said the situation is bad on the outside, but worse on the inside. Mosquitos have planted themselves along windows and walls of the church. Green, like many others in the area, have noticed this problem grow substantially over the last week.

“We kind of figured it was coming,” said Brian Hayes, manager of Charleston County Mosquito Control.

Between Hurricane Ian and the Lowcountry’s recent temperatures, Hayes said it’s a timeline that makes sense.

READ MORE: SC Ports has record-breaking year, breaks ground on new intermodal facility

“The cooler weather kind of prolongs how long the mosquitos are in the lava stage,” Hayes said. “But now that we’ve passed that 14-day period, all these mosquitos have hatched off.”

Despite the county’s varied attack from the air and ground, Hayes admitted there are certain challenges McClellanville presents.

“There are certain places that we’re restricted from spraying,” he said. “We’re restricted to only spraying on one product, which we’ve been using a long time. So, you know, we use the same product for a while, it’s not as effective.”

Despite limitations, Hayes insists the county is doing all it can, as quickly as possible.

“[We’ve received] well over 200 to 300 requests probably since Friday, so we’re well aware of the situation out there,” he said. “[We] completely understand things are really, really bad, and we’re doing all we can to assist the people up there.”

There is some good news, according to Hayes. Charleston County said it is unlikely this species of mosquito carries any diseases, and is hoping this week’s cooler temperatures will kill off large populations.

AWENDAW — Elliott Summey, head of South Carolina’s largest airport, used the town of Awendaw’s natural resources for personal gain during his private company’s work on an unfinished park here, a new lawsuit by the town alleges.

The lawsuit echoes the findings in “Sand Man,” a report last year by The Post and Courier-led Uncovered investigative reporting collaboration.

That report revealed how Summey’s company, Jackson Development, mined millions of dollars in sand and dirt from the park site, then left Awendaw in the dark about how much money he made and how much money taxpayers should have received in royalties.

Filed June 10, the town’s 16-page complaint went a few steps further.

Among its allegations:

Summey, a former Charleston County Council chairman and son of North Charleston Mayor Keith Summey, said his attorney has been trying to resolve disputes through arbitration and mediation.

“Now that the town has filed a lawsuit, this will allow all the facts to be presented in a fair, transparent and public manner,” he said. Summey declined to discuss specific allegations raised by the lawsuit.

Awendaw Town Attorney Toya Hampton acknowledged that “passions are running high” about the park. “The Town is standing up for its rights under the agreement through the lawsuit.”

The lawsuit didn’t specify an amount it’s seeking.

The lawsuit is the latest chapter in the controversial project.

In 2009, Charleston County Council voted to use Greenbelt money to buy 290 acres off Doar Road. On council then, Summey was a deciding vote. Three years later, Summey created Jackson Development — and scored a deal to mine the land’s sand.

The deal called for Jackson Development to spend $500,000 to help Awendaw build a park. Once it hit that $500,000 mark, Summey’s company was supposed to pay Awendaw an additional 50 cents for every cubic yard excavated from the site — and more if the price of dirt rose, which it did significantly over the coming years.

The town hoped to use these royalties to finish the park.

But Summey’s company turned over far less royalty money than the town expected, about $150,000.

And while the site has a large lake from the sand mining operation, the park itself remains unfinished. The town recently unveiled a new plan featuring disc golf, an amphitheater and space for overnight camping. But it remains unclear how the town will pay for this work.

With the park project in limbo, Summey and the town have been battling over the royalties.

According to the town’s agreement with Jackson Development, Summey’s company was supposed to hand over detailed receipts, canceled checks, invoices and other documentation about his mining progress.

But Summey and his contractor, Robert Collins Co., failed to do so, the lawsuit alleged.

Amid this vacuum of documentation, Awendaw Town Council in October 2020 hired the Greenville-based Wyche firm to challenge Summey.

Summey, meanwhile, left his County Council post for a job as chief executive officer of Charleston International Airport, earning more than $318,000 in salary and perks.

The lawsuit raises new questions about Summey’s mix of public and private ventures.

Summey has created about 20 private corporations, according to state and court records. Most appear to involve real estate ventures, with the notable exception of Jackson Development.

The lawsuit alleged that Jackson Development was a “corporate fiction ... used by Summey as a means of evading legal obligations,” and that Summey should be personally liable.

The lawsuit also discussed a large berm Summey and his company built on the site.

Running parallel to Doar Road, the berm was supposed to protect a nearby neighborhood from dust and noise. A permit from the state Department of Health and Environmental Control required that the berm be made from topsoil from the park site.

But according to the lawsuit, Summey and his company violated the permit by packing the berm with concrete, asphalt, rebar, items of clothing and other trash, earning at least $100,000.

Doing this violated DHEC permit requirements and will force the town to spend at least $150,000 to fix new drainage problems created by the berm, the lawsuit alleged.

According to a DHEC inspection report in 2020, Summey’s company was supposed to remove the berm.

The lawsuit also claimed that Summey and his company sold timber from the Awendaw tract without paying the town.

It concluded by alleging Summey misused and converted the town’s resources “for personal gain to fund Defendants’ own businesses at the expense of the Town and its residents and taxpayers.”

The Awendaw project’s problems have had a ripple effect beyond Elliott Summey.

A North Charleston city employee, DeLisa Reynolds, alleges that Mayor Keith Summey retaliated against her after one of her family members posted a negative comment on Instagram about Elliott Summey’s work in Awendaw. She has filed formal complaints with the city of North Charleston and the S.C. Human Rights Commission.

Thirteen years have passed since Charleston County voted to buy the Doar Road property with public Greenbelt money. But the park site remains empty, save for a few dirt roads, a power pole, a water well and a large berm overlooking a lake.

Beyond what happened and didn’t happen in Awendaw, the project highlights a weakness in the state ethics laws.

In The Post and Courier’s October report, Summey said he was told by the State Ethics Commission that he didn’t have to report the money he made in Awendaw, prompting a government watchdog to say that it was “appalling that millions of dollars are not really accounted for.”

Good news, folks. After a two-year hiatus, the 25th Annual Awendaw Blue Crab Festival is returning this month.

What to expect

Hosted by the Town of Awendaw on Sat., Aug. 27, this annual, family-friendly celebration is expected to bring in 3,000+ guests at its 300-acre event venue at the Town of Awendaw Municipal Park at 7997 Doar Rd.

Though some might assume the event will only offer blue crab, the festival is set to feature local food trucks, more than 75 art + retail vendors, beer and wine, live music by The Secrets — aka one of Charleston’s longest-running funk shows — pontoon boat and hayrides, and a kids’ area.

And of course, there will be bushels of Lowcountry Blue Crabs served by the bucket in three flavors: Traditional, garlic, and cajun. Heads up: Crab buckets, beer and wine, hayrides, and boat rides will all require tickets.

General admission tickets are available for $10 if purchased in advance, or $15 at the door. If you’re looking to go all out this year, grab a VIP ticket for $125. A portion of the admission proceeds is set to be donated to “Build the Park” and other Awendaw charities.

But some (or all) of this may not be new information to you — seeing as how the annual celebration dates back to around 1994. So what’s the story?

How it began

In 1994, a group of Awendaw residents gathered to enjoy a few bushels of crab under an oak tree at Town Hall when the idea of a blue crab festival dawned on them.

What began as a small get-together became the annual Awendaw Blue Crab Festival that we know and love. It’s as simple as that.

Blue crabs in the Lowcountry

Though sometimes regarded as aggressive in nature, the blue crab is admired in the Lowcountry and said to support commercial fishery. The crustacean actually requires both inshore brackish and high salinity ocean waters to fulfill its life cycle — so it sounds like we’ve got the perfect environment.

Though there are other small swimming crabs in the family, this is the only crab with recreational and commercial importance in the state. The meat is used for various quintessential Lowcountry dishes — peep this story by Charleston Magazine featuring eight recipes from local restaurants.

We hope you head to this year’s Awendaw Blue Crab Festival with a new appreciation for the festival + the blue crab’s significance in the Lowcountry. Let’s get to crab crackin’, Charleston. *