A new development is coming to a neighborhood right off of Maybank Highway has some neighbors talking.

JOHNS ISLAND, S.C. (WCSC) - A new development is coming to a neighborhood right off of Maybank Highway has some neighbors talking.

As you hit Timberline Drive and Maybank Highway, it takes you directly into the new neighborhood, Maybank Village. The new development is hard to miss as it sits at the front of the community.

The groundwork for a new Spinx gas station has just begun. The project has been in the works since 2021, and members of the neighborhood say they’re not happy with the development. There is only one way into the upcoming gas station, and it requires drivers to enter the neighborhood first, then turn right to get into the station.

Residents say they don’t understand why Maybank Highway needs another gas station with several stretching across the highway already.

“Why? We don’t need a gas station here. If you go a mile down Maybank that way, there’s two gas stations. If you go down Maybank that way two miles, there’s two more gas stations. So why do you need a gas station here in the middle of Maybank that’s going to cause horrendous traffic jams,” Treasurer for the Homeowners Association Bill Antonucci said.

There are serious concerns about the bright lights and noise that might come along with the Spinx Station as well.

“This gas station is coming so close to our residential properties. These people in this house right here are going to have gas pumps and gas tanks right in their backyard. The people that are building this site, people in the city council, and the people in the zoning departments don’t seem to care. We’ve had people write to them and nobody seems to care. Nobody is responding,” Antonucci said.

Despite the frustration from members of the community, the City of Charleston is allowed to do this based on zoning regulations.

“The business in question is being built under the site’s base zoning, which is a property right protected by state law,” a city spokesperson said in a statement. “That’s why the city strongly supports a comprehensive, all-of-the-above traffic-relief strategy for Johns Island, including the widening of Maybank Highway, the construction of both the northern and southern pitchforks and the completion of I-526. The city will continue to work closely with our state and county partners until Johns Island residents see real traffic relief as a result of these and other critical roadroads projects.”

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The first steps are underway toward a proposed golf course as Charleston County leaders considered it at a meeting Monday.

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - The first steps are underway toward a proposed golf course as Charleston County leaders considered it at a meeting Monday.

The new course would be built between Bohicket and River Roads and Charleston County Planning Commission discussed the golf course and the accompanying neighborhood.

Dana Beach, the Founder of the Coastal Conservation League, said the development is important because it will set a precedent for the rest of Johns island. He said it’s important to clearly define the edges of Charleston County’s Urban Growth Boundary to avoid increased development on the island in the future.

The Orange Hill Project pushes right up against that boundary, which was set by the county to limit urban sprawl.

The 933-acre project includes a private golf course and 121 homes. While a plan for a golf course and neighborhood was already approved by the County for this area in 2004, the plan developers presented Monday actually reduces the number of homes plotted on the land and changes the location of the golf course and its entry point.

Beach said he’s happy to see the number of homes decreasing; however, he thinks the best thing Orange Hill developers could do for the Island is to place the undeveloped land under a conservation easement, essentially protecting the undeveloped land from further development forever.

“It really signifies a commitment to the future of the island, as a place that is not highly developed,” Beach said.

When asked if they would put a conservation easement on the undeveloped land in the project, developers said it was something they would consider. But they said over 200 acres of the property already have wetland covenants in place that protect the property from being developed.

“It’s difficult to have preservation covenants placed on wetlands, we have to get through the permitting process before that would happen,” Ray Pantlik, with South Street Partners, said.

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Trident Medical Center has submitted a Certificate of Need to the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control to build a $277 million hospital on Johns Island. The application is for a 50-bed acute care hospital between Maybank Highway and Cane Slash Road, across from the Live Oak Square development.

Projections for Johns Island Hospital show that within the first three years it will create nearly 300 jobs, contribute $10 million in non-income taxes to support the community and pay $70 million in salaries, wages and benefits, the organization said in a release.

“We are excited to continue making medical care more accessible to residents in our historically underserved communities,” Trident Health President and CEO Christina Oh said in the news release. “Currently on Johns Island and neighboring communities, it can take residents 30 to 45 minutes to drive to their nearest hospital, and often longer in heavy traffic and inclement weather. Our goal is to increase access to timely, high quality and affordable health care services.”

Trident Medical Center’s chief of the medical staff and medical director of emergency services, Dr. Scott Hayes, said he sees firsthand the results of delayed care.

“For residents who live far from emergency medical care and who may be experiencing a medical emergency like a heart attack or a stroke, minutes can mean the difference between life and death,” he said in the news release. “Access to care close to home is critical, especially in areas like Johns Island and the surrounding communities, that have frequent traffic delays.”

Trident Health surgeon Dr. Thomas Litton, who lived on Johns Island for 20 years and recently moved from there largely due to increasing traffic congestion and limited access routes off the island, said, “The rapid population growth and development of Johns Island, as well as its role as the sole gateway to Kiawah, Seabrook and Wadmalaw Islands, has created a strong need for a full-service hospital in the area. Residents on those islands have never had a full-service hospital. Trident’s hospital on Johns Island and their freestanding ER on James Island will greatly improve residents’ access to much-needed medical care.”

Johns Island Hospital will be located seven miles from James Island Emergency, Trident’s new freestanding ER at 945 Folly Road, Charleston, that will open in the next few weeks.

Plans call for Johns Island Hospital to have 50 beds with space to expand to 150 beds, 40 medical/surgical/stepdown beds, 10 ICU beds, 20 ER rooms, four operating rooms, two endoscopy suites and a cardiac catheterization lab. The hospital also would have two CT scanners, an MRI, two diagnostic radiology suites and a fluoroscopy room.

In addition to the hospital, services would include medical offices for primary care and specialists as well as outpatient imaging and support such as breast imaging, rehabilitation and other outpatient therapy services.

“From our first discussions about building a hospital on Johns Island, we have been committed to creating a thoughtful plan that preserves the natural beauty of Johns Island,” Oh said in the release. “We will honor the strong Gullah Geechee cultures of the community; we will partner with the areas’ community and businesses; and will promote the important and unique contributions of Johns Island’s agricultural community.”

The proposed Johns Island Hospital is in addition to nearly $140M in capital investments currently underway at Trident Health’s hospitals, Trident Medical Center and Summerville

JOHNS ISLAND — A Mexican-inspired restaurant is now open in a brand-new building, just like many of the structures that line this busy stretch of Maybank Highway. Like its modern home, the cocktail menu at Colectivo, which debuted Sept. 6, is firmly planted in this era of dining.

Classic cocktails are turned up a notch with house-made ingredients (see: Butterfly Southside) and served in the correlating glass — the Cap n’ Cup with Cappelletti Aperitivo and mezcal arrives in a Nick & Nora, while lighter options like the Spice Tea with amaro, lemon and coconut milk are served in tall Collins glasses. The list of 10 drinks is joined by local craft beers, a non-alcoholic margarita and a multi-page list of mezcals, a smoky spirit that has become trendy of late.

The dinner menu has its contemporary flair, too.

Birria bone marrow sopes capitalize on diners’ fondness for the unctuous, fatty tissue meat, which can be scooped straight from two bones and placed on a masa tart with sweet potato. Seasonal fruit — watermelon and jicama when we went — is tossed in a sticky chamoy sauce and sprinkled with Sour Patch Watermelons. (Yes, the sour chewy candy.) An Arizona-style quesadilla glistens with bubbling cheese while resting on a pizza stand.

At Colectivo, traditional Mexican dishes are paired with creative cheffy spins, showcasing the spirit of a chef who doesn’t take himself too seriously.

That chef is Arizona-born Alex Yellan, who owns Colectivo with business partners Chad and Holly Dennis. Yellan spent time at Mexican restaurants D.F. in Portland, Ore., and Empellon Taqueria in New York City, among others, before moving to Charleston to join Sean Brock at Minero, where he helped launch the tortilla program.

He left Minero for a few years to work at Tu before returning in 2019 as executive chef. (This was before Minero closed its East Bay Street location and moved to Johns Island, two miles away from Colectivo.) Yellan ran the kitchen at The Tippling House before striking out on his own.

Drawing on his many years of experience, Yellan is honoring the home-cooked meals he had during two long stints in Mexico. Colectivo’s food is representative of the dishes he started to crave when he came home.

“There were just piles of tortillas everywhere, there was chicharron as far as the eye could see,” said Yellan, recalling meals cooked by the family he was staying with in the Yucatán. “It just changed what I thought about Mexican food.”

Rather than stacked on the table, tortillas are neatly wrapped and presented at Colectivo. Patrons can choose between flour and corn before filling the tortilla with braised beef belly, charred spring onion, salsa verde, onions and cilantro — that’s the Suadero. It pairs particularly well with the aromatic flour tortillas, made with White Sonora that is sourced from Hayden Flour Mills in Arizona.

To make those tortillas, the heirloom flour is combined with salt, lard and, later, warm water. After resting for an hour, it is cut into balls. Some head for the big iron press that forms the base for Colectivo’s open-faced quesadilla, while the rest are run through a tortilla machine and finished on the griddle, bringing out the flour’s nutty scent.

Another labor of love, the beef belly is salted for 24 hours and paired with lard, onions and bay leaf, then braised for eight to 10 hours. Colectivo’s barbacoa (lamb), carnitas ribs and cochinita pibil (Yucatán-style pork) are also cooked overnight.

Platters come with meat, tortillas, small sides and salsas ($22-$26), more than enough for two people. Make sure to leave room for Colectivo’s shareable botanas (snacks) and mariscos (seafood).

Seafood is a big part of Mexico’s culture and cuisine — the country has 7,000 miles of coastline, 4,500 of which faces the Pacific Ocean. That means mariscos restaurants and food stands are prevalent in Mexico. One of the mariscos dishes often found is the cóctel, a Mexican shrimp cocktail that is much different than ones served at fancy American steakhouses.

Yellan’s take on a classic cóctel arrives in a tall glass, brimming with shrimp and octopus submerged in a spicy gazpacho-like sauce and served with saltines and tostadas for dipping. A dish steeped in tradition, this is one botana that should be ordered at Colectivo, though I must note that the sauce has a gentle but persistent kick.

While this and the candy-topped watermelon and jicama appetizer require a slight sense of adventure on the part of the diner, other nostalgic Colectivo will please even the pickiest of guests.

Choose from guacamole, tamales, ceviche and shrimp tacos, with sides like Mexican red rice and and fingerlings with liquid gouda cheese. The other night, it was hard not to spot the other tables with pizza stands, holding the thin open-faced quesadillas colored by roasted poblano pepper spirals slicing through melty cheese.

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Clemson University’s Historic Preservation program is launching the Johns Island Preservation Field School. The summer field school program funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the Vernacular Architecture Forum focuses on researching and documenting late 19th and early 20th century public buildings and their role within the African American community on Johns Island, SC.

Alongside Clemson’s Historic Preservation program, the Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture at the College of Charleston, the Progressive Club and the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor Commission (GGCHCC) are hosting this three-week program—the field school runs from May 22 to June 9.

“The field school brings together African American studies, public history, history, historic preservation and other thinking and skills, all surrounding important and story-laden historic places and the people associated with these built environments,” explained Amalia Leifeste, associate professor of historic preservation at Clemson University.

The program includes workshops by historic preservation faculty, history faculty, archivist, scholars and local community educators, teaching participants about life in the Johns Island community during the Reconstruction, Jim Crow and Civil Rights periods. Through hands-on training in historic preservation documentation and research methods, including archival research, measured drawing, photography, laser scanning, photogrammetry and GIS, participants will learn how to document the physical fabric and cultural narratives associated with the historic buildings and landscapes on Johns Island.

“This is the kind of work that can bring new people into the field of historic preservation and assists in continuing to evolve the field to include buildings and people not always centered in historic conversations,” Leifeste said.

Johns Island residents will also be encouraged to apply to the second year of the field school (Summer of 2024), and they will be given priority along with applicants demonstrating historic or cultural ties to Johns Island or the broader Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor. Residents will also be invited to participate in one-day workshops with topics including reading buildings with Jobie Hill. Community members will be compensated for their time in attending these workshops.

Public Preservation Events

Johns Island Preservation Field School also offers three public events during its three-week tenure on the island. The public is invited to panel discussions, student presentations and a preservation advocacy discussion. Following are the events that are open to the public: