Charleston City Councilman Keith Waring recently addressed the West Ashley – James Island Business Association (WAJIBA) to discuss the West Ashley revitalization plan. He emphasized that true West Ashley revitalization will require a financial commitment from City Council.
WAJIBA meets on the fourth Wednesday of each month at Bessinger’s BBQ, located at 1602 Savannah Hwy. All meetings are open to the public. It includes business leaders representing a broad spectrum of industries, many of whom are passionate about making West Ashley a better place to live, work and play.
Waring cited the forthcoming West Ashley Redevelopment Plan, which was presented to City Council at its July 19 meeting. $350,000 has been allocated to study the plan, which will examine economic development, transportation, zoning, drainage, public safety, parks, and other aspects of future West Ashley development. City Council has not yet approved the members of the Revitalization Commission, which may be taken up at its Sept. 13 meeting.
There have been numerous attempts to revitalize West Ashley, dating back to 2000, when city staff collaborated with the Old Charles Towne District Task Force to produce a drawing for the Charleston Gateway. That drawing featured a clock tower behind the former Piggly Wiggly property with the message, “Welcome To Charleston.”
The West Ashley Greenway Master Plan was initiated in 2009. The bicycle and pedestrian paths have been paved. The paths are heavily used, but the master plan’s call for improved aesthetics has a lot of room for improvement, with more frequent mowing and improved landscaping needed. The greenway also has drainage problems, particularly near the South Windermere Shopping Center. Plans for restrooms and water fountains have not been implemented.
In 2014, a West Ashley economic development strategy and Citadel Mall revitalization plan were presented to City Council. Pictures were shown of downtrodden West Ashley shopping centers adjacent to pictures of thriving shopping centers in other cities. No plans to upgrade our shopping centers were presented. The Citadel Mall plan focused on converting it to an open-air shopping center similar to the Tanger Outlet in North Charleston or the Mt. Pleasant Towne Centre.
Northbridge Park is a revitalization success story. Former City Councilman Paul Tinkler joined with Councilwoman Colleen Condon to ensure that West Ashley residents had access to a waterfront park. City Councilman Aubry Alexander succeeded Tinkler and built a coalition of West Ashley Councilman to approve funding for the $1.5 Million park, which opened in 2014.
Waring notes that it took a lot of money to revitalize our downtown area, and that the city must make a financial commitment to revitalize West Ashley. He notes that none of the 2 percent hospitality sales tax revenue collected for more than 20 years has gone to West Ashley projects. The tax generated $14.6 Million during the last fiscal year.
Other proposed sources of revenue for West Ashley revitalization include the accommodations tax on hotel rooms, revenue bonds, and a proposed Tax Incremental Finance District (TIF), which would use commercial property tax revenue to finance infrastructure improvements. The purpose of a TIF is to attract more private sector investment. Several TIF districts have attracted significant private sector investment downtown.
Standing with Waring at the WAJIBA meeting were West Ashley City Councilmen Bill Moody, Marvin Wagner and Dean Riegel, and former Councilmen Aubry Alexander and Larry Shirley. Waring used a metaphor for West Ashley’s limited clout by describing the contrast between the beautiful landscaping at Hampton Park (near The Citadel) with an irrigation system and the scant landscaping at Northbridge Park with no maintenance support.
Shirley told the crowd that West Ashley residents and businesses need to raise their visibility to get the projects they want funded. He told them that whenever a downtown issue is presented to City Council, City Hall is packed with advocates and that few turn out when West Ashley projects are on the agenda.
I know that everyone who reads West Of wants our area to be beautiful and prosperous. We have to make our voices heard so that West Ashley gets the attention it deserves. E-mail Mayor John Tecklenburg at TecklenburgJ@charleston-sc.gov and ask him to get the West Ashley revitalization process moving faster.
John Steinberger is the former chairman of the Charleston County Republican Party, a leading Fair Tax advocate, and a West Ashley resident. He can be reached at
John.steinberger@scfairtax.org.
(843) 766-WEST (9378)
publisher@westof.net
