Letter to the Editor - January 24, 2019

Publix, what are your plans for Daniel Island?

Fifteen months ago, Publix proposed plans for the expansion of its Daniel Island store to the Charleston Board of Architectural Review. Daniel Island residents were excited by the news. The board asked Publix to make some reasonable changes to the plans it submitted -- improve the facade that faces Island Park Drive, provide some parking calculations, and create renderings of the building as viewed from I-526. No re-submission of plans has been reported in the news.

Publix is an important economic driver for Daniel Island. Every time residents go off-island to shop for groceries, they are likely to make other purchases off-island as well. Those purchases --whether a tank of gas, a manicure, or a bottle of wine -- deprive other Daniel Island merchants of a customer. A larger, full-inventory supermarket is essential to the success of other Daniel Island businesses.

Daniel Island loves the service and friendliness of its local Publix market. Publix made a significant investment in Daniel Island by purchasing its property, and adjacent property in the shopping center, in 2016. Now is the time to invest further in the future of Daniel Island by expanding Publix as promised. Please announce your timeline. We’ve waited long enough!

Kim Kolts

Marilyn Geiger

Daniel Island