Developer: Tree removal in DI’s ‘best interest’

Despite a legal challenge by the Daniel Island Neighborhood Association, the developer approved by the City of Charleston to remove two dozen mature trees for townhome construction said the city’s decision is ultimately in the best interest of Daniel Island.

 

Holder Properties, the Georgia-based developer building the large-scale Nowell Creek Village community off Daniel Island Drive, won an appeal to the city’s zoning board in July to move forward with its plan to clear the trees for 24 townhomes.

 

“We followed the City of Charleston’s established process for requesting a variance, providing clear and comprehensive information from professional experts to satisfy the required criteria,” Holder Properties told The Daniel Island News. “After careful review, the members of the Board of Zoning Appeals approved the request. We are confident their decision was sound and in the best interest of Daniel Island, and we hope they will stand by it.”

 

Earlier this month, the volunteer-based neighborhood association filed a petition with the Ninth Circuit Court of Common Pleas asking the court to overturn the decision if “pre-litigation mediation” is not successful.

 

“DINA continues its action against the Holder development at Nowell Creek based on the community’s overwhelming opposition to the removal of the visual buffer of 24 protected trees to build rental townhomes,” said DINA president Jarrod Brooks, who is also a Berkeley County Councilmember. “The DINA board believes the City of Charleston’s BZA-SD erred in its decision that Holder met the hardship test to allow the variance.”

 

Holder purchased the 36-acre property situated between Nowell Creek and Beresford Creek at the former home of the Charleston Battery stadium and Blackbaud headquarters, for $35.5 million in 2019. Blackbaud had relocated its headquarters in 2018 to another Daniel Island site, and shortly after, the stadium was sold outright to Holder.

 

“At Nowell Creek Village, we have transformed an asphalt lot, an aging office building, and an abandoned soccer field into a vibrant, welcoming community with public greenspace, water access, and a mix of residential and commercial offerings,” Holder representatives said. “With more than 800 new trees planted, we are proud of our record as good stewards of the land and remain committed to bringing our vision for Nowell Creek Village to life.”

 

The city’s legal team said the “city is not taking any legal position on this appeal.”

 

DINA’s attorney, Andy Gowder of Austen & Gowder, said, “The next step in this process is a hearing before a circuit court judge on the merits of the appeal based on the record.”