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May
2004
Ivy Hall's Erika Criares featured in newspaper
Board members wanted
Town Council gives final approval to Oakland
Plantation
Zoning change on Gregorie Ferry Road gets
initial OK
Association fee for 2004 due
Cats on loose in neighborhood
Calling all babysitters!
IVY HALL'S ERIKA CRIARES FEATURED IN
NEWSPAPER
The Post and Courier ran a
wonderful, touching article on Ivy Hall resident and former board member
Erika Criares in its Sunday April 25th edition.
The article, beautifully
written by award-winning writer Jennifer Berry Hawes, gives a detailed
account of Erika's stroke in January and her remarkable recovery. Husband
Peter and newborn son Cameron are also prominently featured.
For anyone who missed it,
here's a link:
http://www.charleston.net/stories/042504/lif_25stroke.shtml
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BOARD MEMBERS WANTED
The nine-member Ivy Hall POA Board has
two vacancies to fill. Any neighborhood property owner interested in serving on
the nine-member panel is encouraged to contact Bob Lang via phone
(881-5475) or e-mail (info@ivyhall.org)
for more information.
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TOWN COUNCIL GIVES FINAL APPROVAL TO OAKLAND
PLANTATION
Site plan
Mount Pleasant Town Council
has approved the annexation and rezoning of 318 acres at
Oakland Plantation, allowing plans for a large shopping center across
from Ivy Hall to move forward.
Council gave final approval
to the measures at its April 13 meeting.
The development -- about
three-fourths the size of Towne Centre -- calls for 77 acres of land to
be used for retail, economic development and office space. Among large
retailers rumored to be looking at the site are Home Depot and Circuit
City. Restaurants and at least one gas station also are included in the
plans. Nearly all of the remaining acreage will be put into a
conservation easement.
At a Planning Commission
meeting in January, the Ivy Hall POA Board voiced concerns about the
number of historic trees that would be lost to make room for the
development (33, including six live oaks), the increased traffic that the
development would bring to upper Highway 17 (i.e., three new traffic
lights would need to be installed), and the potential for light pollution
(which could snuff out the stars we see here at night).
The developer, Tex Small of
Greenville-based Avtex Commercial Properties, assured the commission that
any live oaks that could be moved without being seriously harmed would be
transplanted. He also reminded the panel of his offer to pay a
substantial portion of the costs to widen Highway 17 to help alleviate
increased traffic. As for the lighting, he said he would consider our
concerns.
Given Small's assurances and
the high quality of the proposed project (it's supposed to look even more
upscale than Towne Centre with more green space and more sophisticated
architecture), the Ivy Hall POA Board unanimously decided to support the
annexation and rezoning. The board voiced that support at council's March 9
meeting.
We feel Ivy Hall home values, already rising
steadily, almost certainly would get an added boost with such an upscale
shopping center across the street.
Small says site work
and infrastructure preparations will begin soon. The first
shops likely will open in 2006, he said.
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ZONING CHANGE ON GREGORIE FERRY
ROAD GETS INITIAL OK
Subject property
Charleston County Council
has tentatively approved a zoning change request pertaining to a piece of
property that backs up to Ivy Hall.
The measure needs to pass
two more readings before it becomes final. Council's next meetings are
May 4th and May 18th.
The owner of the 7.23-acre parcel off Gregorie Ferry Road (see above map) wants to change the
zoning from Low Density Suburban Residential (RSL) to Community
Commercial (CC). Under the RSL distinction, the land is limited to
low-key uses such as detached housing or a library branch. Under a CC
distinction, the land would be open to a wide variety of uses -- including an apartment complex, homeless shelter, indoor shooting range,
motel, grocery store or gas station.
The owner has stated that
he wants to change the zoning to make the property more attractive to
prospective buyers. He said most other properties along Gregorie Ferry
Road are already zoned CC.
The property directly
backs up to two properties on Morningdale Drive (3059 and 3055), however
about 10 neighborhood properties are within a stone's throw of the
parcel. So far, the request has garnered virtually no opposition.
Any residents interested
in learning more about the request should call the county's Planning
Department staff at 202-7200. Council meetings are held at the Lonnie Hamilton Building,
4045 Bridge View Drive, in North Charleston. Meetings start at 7 p.m.
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ASSOCIATION FEE FOR 2004
DUE
All Ivy Hall property owners,
as required under our Covenants, must pay an annual assessment fee to the
Property Owners Association. The fee is used to pay for maintenance of
common areas, insurance and other neighborhood expenses. For a detailed
explanation of the annual assessment, read Article IV of the
Covenants.
Notices of this year's fee --
$143 -- were mailed in early December, and the payment deadline has
long passed. Property owners who haven't paid yet may do so by sending
a check made out to "Ivy Hall POA" to the following address:
Ivy Hall Property Owners
Association
P.O. Box 2327
Mt. Pleasant, SC 29465
Thank you for your
cooperation!
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CATS ON LOOSE IN NEIGHBORHOOD
The board has received
complaints recently about many cats roaming free around the neighborhood.
Such cats can be a nuisance:
putting paw prints all over cars, inciting fenced-in dogs to bark,
devouring cockroach-eating lizards and skinks, terrorizing birds, etc...
So if you own a cat, PLEASE
be respectful of your neighbors and keep it in your house or on your own
property. Thank you!
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CALLING ALL BABYSITTERS!
With so many young children
in Ivy Hall, there is a particularly strong need for babysitters here.
Any Ivy Hall teens or adults with babysitting skills who would like to
add their name to a contact list on this Web site are asked to e-mail Bob
Lang at info@ivyhall.org.
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