Joe Riley may be gone from public office, but his legacy is living large along the banks of the Ashley River.
Riley had for decades fought to preserve public access to the water on his beloved peninsula, carving out parks from the grasp of developers that probably would have been happy to ring the harbor with huge condo buildings.
In his final two years in office, Riley made a real push on this side of the Ashley River to maintain public access to the wet stuff. As a result, several waterfront parks popped up, including Northbridge, Higgins Pier, and others.
Perhaps Riley was rightly envisioning that the public would be soon be choked out of a place to enjoy the natural views, especially as other peninsular problems had taken root in West Ashley, like a super-heated real estate market and traffic.
In Riley’s last month in office, City Council announced that it had finally acquired a several-acre plot along the Ashley River, right down the watershed from Higgins Pier in the Maryville/Ashleyville neighborhood off St. Andrews Boulevard.
The city and the previous owner had been sparring over the property for close to a year. Initially, the city had agreed to pay over $600,000 for the several-acre plot. But, during due diligence research into the property, city attorneys discovered that the land for sale was significantly larger than was listed on public records.
This discovery postponed the sale for months as the two sides bickered over price, with the city wanting to shell out a little more than half the original price. Eventually, a judge assigned the issue to mediation and the two began hashing out a compromise.
Along the way, according to City Councilman Keith Waring, who had pushed hard for the purchase, an attorney representing the family who had owned it made a settlement offer, $350,000, which the city accepted.
Waring and other observers likened the squabble over the land to one that occurred when the city bought what has become Melton Peter Demetre Park on James Island, formerly nicknamed Sunrise Park due to its spectacular morning views.
Waring’s push for the purchase came even though the park-to-be resides in Councilman James Lewis’ district, with whom Waring said he cooperated. “One is the loneliest number you’ll ever know on City Council, if you want to get anything done,” said Waring.
Charleston Parks Conservancy executive director Harry Lesesne called the property “gorgeous … spectacular.”
Lesesne, Riley’s senior advisor at the city before coming to the conservancy, said the purchase portends of “great policy for the city – when it’s possible to make the waterfront accessible to the public, you do it.”
The purchase may bolster a similar effort in Kathleen Wilson’s City Council district on James Island, where a similar piece of waterfront land has come up for sale along Harborview Road.
While the conservancy had no role in the purchase, Lesesne said his organization is excited to help the city in whatever way it can to better develop the park.
City spokesperson Jack O’Toole, Mayor John Tecklenburg’s right hand man, said last week there is no definitive timetable for developing the park, as there hasn’t even been enough time to even contact design firms or advertise for plans.
Waring said he would like to see a shelter replete with picnic tables constructed out on the spit of land that juts out into the river there.
From that vantage, much of the river’s viewshed is on full display, allowing for a vista than includes The Joe, The Citadel, and even Adventure, the replica ship moored along Charles Towne Landing.
Waring would also like discussed pulling up some of Bender Street’s asphalt, reclaiming the land for more park area to better highlight its natural beauty, which includes more than a dozen grand oaks. Additionally, he said the city has an opportunity to turn one of the former residences on the property into a historic site celebrating Maryville, the state’s first black township,
Special attention will likely be needed surrounding neighbors’ concerns, as the park will be located in the middle of the neighborhood. The city’s continued attempt to purchase the former WPAL radio land off Wappoo Road has engendered concern from nearby neighborhoods.
But, no matter what happens next at Bender Street, it appears it will hold the public’s access at a premium. And perhaps West Ashley has Joe Riley to thank for that.

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