80-home plan on courseDeveloper seeking go-ahead to build on defunct golf links By Warren Wise (Contact)
The Post and Courier
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Houses may soon be rising where golfers once teed off at King's Grant. Developer Dave Mikulski is seeking North Charleston's approval for a development plan that calls for 80 single-family homes on the 178-acre defunct golf course on the Ashley River. 
The Post and Courier Residents in nearby King's Grant subdivision fought the land's development in court but finally agreed in 2006 to allow the bankrupt 18-hole golf course to be developed as long as the developer kept amenities such as a pool, tennis courts and clubhouse along with green space and no more than 80 houses. "It's almost exactly the way he laid it out initially," said King's Grant President Lynn Whitner. King's Grant homeowners must approve the development plan by court order, Whitner said. The subdivision is not in the city of North Charleston, but the old golf course is, so it needed city approval first. It's not likely that homeowners will oppose the current plan. "We have questions about one lot, but that should be worked out by the end of the week," she said. They are trying to determine if building on the lot would be in clubhouse's river view. Mikulski said it is not. The development plan calls for a mixed-use community with residential and commercial uses as well as green space. In addition to the home sites, which would fan out from two streets called Kings Marsh Lane and Salt Marsh Parkway on what was once fairways, the development would have a restaurant and bar, clubhouse, private-event venue, banquet hall, sales and management center, maintenance shed, day-use marina and environmentally friendly parking. Most of the old golf course — 170 acres — would be part of a residential district. The remaining 8 acres would be part of a neighborhood commercial district centered on the clubhouse and along a sliver at the far western edge of the tract along the Ashley River. Only 155 acres of the golf course is high land. The project will be built in two phases over three years, Mikulski said. None of the houses will back up to existing homes in King's Grant along Fairington Drive, but the proposed entrance to the new subdivision will be along an old golf course easement between two existing houses on Fairington Drive just east of Foxcroft Lane. The plan will go to North Charleston City Council in June after the city's Planning Commission voted 5-1 Monday to approve the proposal with the condition that sidewalks be added. Mikulski had not added sidewalks because King's Grant residents did not want them. They wanted the new neighborhood to blend with theirs. North Charleston, however, requires sidewalks for all new subdivisions, and most of the Planning Commission insisted on them. Melinda Lucka, the attorney representing Mikulski, said the developer would not have an objection to adding sidewalks. Whitner did not either. "We don't want to see this delayed," Whitner told the commission. "Y'all want your taxes, and we want that project completed." Mikulski is excited the plan is moving forward and said he should have the clubhouse completed by this fall. "I don't expect any hiccups," he said. "We will start construction as soon as we get the last clearance." Reach Warren Wise at 745-5850 or wwise@postandcourier.com. |
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Comments
This article has 15 comment(s)
Posted by Mayor on May 14, 2008 at 12:40 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Another 160 cars trying to get on Dorchester Road. Brilliant!
Posted by Native_Ink on May 14, 2008 at 6:29 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Great. More green space hits the dust. And this golf course was the Trojan horse North Charleston used to get its greedy claws on Watson Hill, which makes it all the more the symbol of the over-building that's dominated the Lowcountry for the last ten years. I hope the developer can't sell a single one of these homes. I hope they sit on the market forever. Then when he inevitably turns up in the P&C, whining and hoping for a government bailout, I'll have a nice long laugh.
Posted by waterbug on May 14, 2008 at 7:30 a.m. (Suggest removal)
that entire area was a landfill with all the scrap wood ,etc. from the houses built discarded there. It is constantly , even as you read this comment settling as the wood continues to rot. That was the reason they never could get the fairways smooth, and keep them that way!!!
Posted by Early on May 14, 2008 at 8:01 a.m. (Suggest removal)
More trailers in the school yards!
Posted by Early on May 14, 2008 at 8:01 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Wait a minute, I thought we were in a housing slump?????
Posted by Slappa on May 14, 2008 at 8:30 a.m. (Suggest removal)
JohnQ- You should be happy the northerners are coming since they will be bringing up the IQ of Dorchester County. Y'all and your developer/over crowding complaints are pathetic, 80 homes on a crappy golf course and you think thats going to significantly effect traffic...come on, it was the dumb planning in your area, unlike Mayor Joe, that has caused this mess and y'all voted in your town officials didn't you ? Proper Planning Prevents Piss Poor People, my 5 P's.
Posted by Zod on May 14, 2008 at 10:01 a.m. (Suggest removal)
One house for every two acres in a suburb?
I cannot find a complaint with the proposition......
Posted by Larz13 on May 14, 2008 at 10:38 a.m. (Suggest removal)
JohnQ-
Us northerners go for the higher priced real estate in downtown Chas, the islands and Mt. P. You can keep your No. Chuck failed golf course estates.
Posted by Charles_Town on May 14, 2008 at 12:13 p.m. (Suggest removal)
The way this course used to flood during a good rain,... no way would I buy a house in there.
Posted by JohnS on May 14, 2008 at 1:29 p.m. (Suggest removal)
The golf course homowners ought to set up some taco stands in the back yard for the new workforce taking away the fairway view.
Posted by Mayor on May 14, 2008 at 3:41 p.m. (Suggest removal)
This is the only golf course I ever played, where water skiiers were above my head, on the Ashley River.
What a piece of crap land this is. The only good thing about this swamp, is the hand crafted, chain saw art on old oaks, from Hugo. That was the only thing to look at.
Bufort Blanton did a great job when he owned the facility. Once he was gone it fell into total disrepair. I had many a fun day playing golf on that pathetic goat ranch.
Posted by dwfrance on May 14, 2008 at 5:18 p.m. (Suggest removal)
crap...just what these crapy roads need more cars
Posted by Slappa on May 14, 2008 at 5:18 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Amen Mayor. i'm sure the developer will be able to squeeze 80 homes on the re-worked high areas of the course. It was so wet you couldn't walk a dog out there.
Posted by ForPnC on May 14, 2008 at 6:06 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Another housing area?! What the hell is wrong with the decision makers around here? Stupidity reigns supreme!
Posted by summerville_guy on May 14, 2008 at 10:49 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Slappa's comment is unintentionally hilarious. He claims that northerners are smarter than us South Carolinians, and then he states this, and I quote:
"Proper Planning Prevents Piss Poor People, my 5 P's."
I guess my South Carolina education has failed me, because I could have sworn there were 6 P's there!