AC Repair in Summerville, SC

Once Summerville got warmed up the only thing that slowed it down much were penalties.

The Green Wave claimed a 34-14 win over visiting Berkeley Friday, Nov. 10, in the second round of the Class 5A Football playoffs. Summerville found the end zone on five of its first seven possessions to jump out to a 34-7 lead during the first two quarters.

“We have to get better with the penalty situation, but their guys had a little something to do with that tonight,” said Ian Rafferty, Summerville head coach. “It was kind of a chippy game. Hopefully we will get better with that and shore up our extra-point and field goal stuff. Other than that, we just need to get healthy and prepare for the third round.”

Senior Yannick Smith had touchdown receptions of 53 and 47 yards. The receiver also threw a 33-yard scoring pass to Kemori DeWeese and a pair of two-point conversion passes, all in the first half. Both of Smith’s touchdown catches came on passes from quarterback Jaden Cummings, who had the reception on Smith’s first conversion pass.

Cummings also connected with Keshon Washington on a 35-yard touchdown pass. Senior running back Trae Green chewed up a lot of ground rushing the ball and scored on a 22-yard run.

Berkeley had a good enough start, forcing Summerville to punt on its first possession and then marching up field to score on its first possession. Stags’ freshman quarterback Henry Rivers broke free for a 60-yard run to move the ball inside Summerville’s 10-yard line and then completed a five-yard touchdown pass to receiver Kevin Boone.

Rivers, however, was injured while being tackled on the Berkeley sideline on the Stags’ next possession and missed the rest of the game. Berkeley did not manage another score until early in the fourth quarter when junior quarterback Jaden Harwell had an 11-yard TD run.

“I hate that their quarterback got hurt,” Rafferty said. “It probably would have been a little better ball game if he didn’t. We also had adversity this week. We had some guys out, some guys who were sick, but we did fine. We took all our starters out at halftime and we won by 20 points. In the playoffs, winning is what matters.”

Summerville will face Carolina Forest in the third round. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 17, at Carolina Forest.

The Green Wave opened its season Friday, Aug. 25, with a game at Carolina Forest and defeated the Panthers 33-26. Both teams went on to win their region, but Summerville enters the playoff game with a 12-0 record while Carolina Forest is 9-3 coming off its 28-21 second-round win over West Ashley.

“Carolina Forest is a physical football team that is well coached,” Rafferty said. “We need to do a better job of stopping their run this time and the hard part is we have to travel. We will have to handle that because they will be prepared. It will be a really good football game. The last time it went down to the wire.”

Berkeley finishes its season with a 6-6 record.

“We came out tonight and we competed,” said Eric Lodge, Berkeley head coach. “Our quarterback went down early, which really took a lot of the wind out of our sails, but we stood in there defensively and continued to fight the whole game. I’m just proud of our guys. We did a lot to set the foundation for our program this season and there is a lot to build on. We have a lot of young guys so we are looking forward to the years to come.”

Nov. 10

SHS Football v. Berkeley 7:30 p.m.

FDHS Football @ White Knkoll 7:30 p.m.

PWPS Football v. Hilton Head Christian 7:30 p.m.

Nov. 11

5A Cross Country State Meet @ Newberry 9 a.m.

SCISA Cheerleading Championships @ Cardinal Newman 9 a.m.

SUMMERVILLE, S.C. (WCSC) - Some businesses say prioritizing a sense of place in the town of Summerville is most important and sometimes that means new development, despite what some people might think.

Dorchester County has a proposed plan to turn 500 N. Main St., also known as their main county building, into a hotel, retail spaces, a parking garage and more.

Some businesses located in the heart of Summerville, like Eva’s Restaurant, think change is about time.

“If we don’t have growth, we don’t have a future,” general manager Tina Howard said.

Eva’s Restaurant has been serving the town since 1944. With the proposed development, Howard says she’s not worried about competition.

“I think it would benefit us as a small business with, you know, bringing in tourists,” Howard said. “...I don’t feel it would hurt us personally because we have such a strong, established business.”

Diane Frankenberger, the owner of People, Places & Quilts, says she’s watched Summerville grow for over 30 years. She says with the old post office as the new public works art center, the old Coca-Cola company as the new YMCA and an old hardware store as her own business, she believes both the county and town councils prioritize preservation.

“You have to go forward with the future,” Frankenberger said. “We still can’t have the same houses around here and the old town hall and no computers and blah blah blah. And so, it’s keeping a sense of place, but moving forward with an eye towards the future.”

The county has already approved plans to preserve part of the county building, which once was the old hospital, and improve the current Veteran’s monument.

“I think when people are calling names or say, ‘Don’t do something,’ let’s wait and see and work together and make the best use of what we’ve got there,” Frankenberger said.

Howard says she wants her 6-year-old grandson to be able to experience a flourishing Summerville, just like she has all her life.

“A lot of people complain about the growth and ‘People will stop coming here, we’re full, don’t come here,’” Howard said. “Without growth, we don’t have a future. The future is growth.”

Frankenberger says she’s ready to move forward.

“No more gas on the fire,” Frankenberger said. “Let’s put water on the fire.”

Dorchester County provided the following statement about the proposed plan:

Dorchester County is looking forward to having greater capacity and flexibility to complete the following projects from fee revenues of the redevelopment:

Funding to preserve the façade of the old hospital building.

A new civic park and improvements to the Veterans Memorial.

An additional $8 Million in funding to DD2 schools to supplement $2 Million from the TIF.

Provide $20 Million in funding for a Community Recreation Facility in the Summerville area.

Provide $2 Million in additional funding for streetscaping and improvements to Main Street and Cedar Street.

Provide credits for workforce housing for teachers, firefighters, law enforcement, and first responders within the multi-family development for at least 15 years.

A modern County office building and additional Class A Office Space in the downtown area.

A new downtown hotel and restaurant to provide much-needed retail and hospitality amenities in the downtown area.

Create additional parking by providing for the construction of a parking garage in the downtown area.

Copyright 2023 WCSC. All rights reserved.

SUMMERVILLE — With Ricky Waring retiring, the mayoral seat in this growing community 20 miles north of Charleston is up for grabs.

The candidates: Dickie Miler, a Summerville native and real estate broker; Russ Touchberry, another Summerville native and current town councilman; and Vickie Fagan, who relocated from Staten Island more than a decade ago.

The Post and Courier spoke with the mayoral candidates about some of the big issues and concerns residents have in Summerville.

Fate of the old hospital

Miler said the property at 500 N. Main St., which has become a hot-button issue over the past few months, should be preserved. He has been a vocal opponent of the redevelopment of the property but said if there is redevelopment it should be strategic, sensible and promote enough economic vitality to warrant any changes made.

Touchberry hopes to preserve the old hospital as well, acknowledging it’s an important property. He also said its redevelopment can benefit the town and if done right could be a model for how other properties can be remade.

“We’ve lost the look and feel of Summerville on that side of the railroad tracks all the way to I-26,” Touchberry said. “This is an opportunity for us to have this reinvestment and reestablish our brand, which is what made us so special to begin with.”

Fagan also wants the property to be preserved but believes it can be repurposed as is. With all the available parking, the space could be used for emergency personnel, she said.

Growth and development

Miler said he supports a strategic approach to Summerville’s growth and would want to annex all he could on the periphery to protect the town’s border from neighboring cities like North Charleston and Goose Creek, which are also growing quickly.

“If we annex things on the outside, then we can control how we develop on the inside,” Miler said. “When and if we have to move and grow, we do it the way we want to do it, bringing the developer we want to bring in, have the neighborhood designed the way we want it.”

Touchberry pointed out that Summerville’s municipal boundaries are irregular but could be fixed by aligning the town’s comprehensive plan with the plans of Berkeley and Dorchester counties, and making sure all zoning standards line up as well. He added that if the town doesn’t have a strategic annexation plan, Summerville could easily be encircled by other municipalities.

Fagan said she’d like to assemble a task force for growth management and include voices from elected officials, civic groups and businesses. She said she values input from everyone and paying attention to how growth is affecting people in different areas can help the town come up with a plan as a united front.

Traffic and transport

Miler said he would want to incorporate more public transportation and improve sidewalks and bike paths so people can get around without a car.

“Building more roads is not always the answer,” Miler said.

He added he would be willing to reduce the median for some roads and even remove parking spots — like the parallel parking spots on Main Street at Hutchinson Square — so traffic isn’t as backed up.

Touchberry has been advocating for infrastructure improvements, such as sidewalk repairs, but one of his biggest priorities is finding a way to connect the Berlin G. Myers Parkway to Interstate 26 without the need to use, or cross, Main Street. He said he’s working with the Berkeley-Charleston-Dorchester Council of Governments, as well as Berkeley County and the town, to study that corridor and identify solutions.

Touchberry added that the town missed an opportunity in having the Lowcountry Rapid Transit stop in Summerville; the furthest it is planned to go for now is Ladson. He said he’s ready to fight to make sure the second phase is completed, so the workforce in Summerville can use it to get to Charleston and reduce commute time.

Trump is speaking Monday afternoon at Sportsman Boats in his first visit to South Carolina since the Silver Elephant Gala last month.

SUMMERVILLE, S.C. (WCSC) - Former President Donald Trump took the stage at a campaign event in Summerville Monday predicting a record-breaking win in the South Carolina Primary as he campaigned for a second term as commander-in-chief.

Trump is speaking Monday afternoon at Sportsman Boats in his first visit to South Carolina since the Silver Elephant Gala last month.

He told the crowd that his last two years in office were the best two years South Carolina boat builders and South Carolina businesses have ever had, saying that boat builders couldn’t make the boats fast enough.

“When I left the office business was roaring like a 400 horsepower Mercury outboard motor,” Trump said. “But then the economy slammed into a pile of rocks known as crooked Joe Biden.”

He promised to end Biden’s “war on American energy” and reclaim energy independence.

“In other words, we will drill, baby, drill,” he said.

Trump said he won South Carolina twice by record numbers and pledged to do it again.

“We did phenomenally here. We’ve always done well here and we’re going to do it at a level that nobody’s ever seen,” he said. “So we broke the record twice. We’re going to break it a third time. We’re going to break our own record.”

He said he intends to “take back our country and we’re going to make America great again.”

Before Trump’s speech, South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster told the crowd he went into the State House about a month after Trump went into the White House.

“And South Carolina has been booming ever since,” he said. “But then in January 2021, everything changed.”

McMaster said his administration has had to fight the Biden Administration “every day.” He cited the Biden Administration’s COVID-19 vaccine mandates for military personnel, and accused it of destroying the nation’s borders and the nation’s energy independence.

“From 2016 until now, [the Biden Administration] has been doing anything and everything they could, legal, illegal, ethical, unethical, unheard of, unprecedented, to do one thing: That includes two bogus impeachments and full-of-baloney indictments to do what? To stop one man, to stop our man from being president of the United States,” McMaster said.

Gov. Henry McMaster praised former President Donald Trump Monday at a campaign event held in Summerville.

Dorchester County deputies said earlier on Monday that Trump’s visit to Summerville would cause delays on Highway 78 from Summerville east of Berlin G. Myers Parkway to Jedburg Road at Mallard Road. Drivers in the area are asked to search for alternate routes if they don’t live or work along Highway 78 and are encouraged to use other entrances to neighborhoods in the area.

Traffic delays are expected to last through about 5 p.m. Monday but the delays could be extended.

Dorchester County deputies are warning of traffic delays ahead of former President Donald Trump’s visit to the Lowcountry.

Copyright 2023 WCSC. All rights reserved.

Construction has begun on Marlowe Summerville, a 278-unit rental complex on a 27.9-acre site in Summerville.

It is the first foray into South Carolina for The Resmark Companies, a Los Angeles-based real estate investment management company, which is partnering with Greystar Real Estate Partners, a Charleston-headquartered investment and development company with offices across the country and on four continents.

Marlowe is a Greystar brand marketed as “​​​​​​suburban luxury living.” The Summerville project on N. Main Street and College Park Road is the first Marlowe brand in the state, according to a news release.

“We are excited to make our first investment in the Charleston MSA with Greystar, a long-term and trusted partner,” Ziv Cohen, chief investment officer of Resmark, said in the news release. “Having worked together for a decade, we recognize that Greystar brings rigorous attention to design, quality and detail that results in great consumer response and community acceptance.”

Pre-leasing at Marlowe Summerville is expected to begin next fall, according to Stephen O’Neil, senior vice president for investments at Resmark. The community will offer amenities including a clubhouse equipped with a fitness center and co-working spaces, resort-style pool, grilling stations, pickleball courts, dog park and outdoor dog wash, as well as a grand central amenity lawn with shuffleboard, cornhole and a community garden.

O’Neil said in the release that Resmark was drawn to the site because of “Summerville’s location as a top-tier suburban market near Charleston, its attractive demographics, access to commuting routes and rapidly expanding employer base are all factors that underscore a strong outlook for multifamily development.”

The company also pointed to the site’s proximity to Camp Hall 10 miles away, a 7,000-acre commerce park that has attracted nearly $5 billion in investment and projected to create as many as 1,500 jobs for workers who will need a place to live, the release said.

“Summerville is a highly desirable submarket twenty miles northwest of downtown Charleston that is attracting young professionals and families drawn to its quality of life and historic charm,” Ben Liebetrau, managing director of development for Greystar Development and Construction Services. “As we are headquartered in Charleston, we are extremely pleased to bring Greystar’s Marlowe brand to our backyard.”

Of the 278 rental homes, 263 will be constructed in 10 separate three-story walk-up garden-style buildings. Fifteen two-story townhomes, each with a fenced yard and attached garage, will be located in two separate buildings. Ranging in size from 560 square feet to 2,114 square feet, the project unit mix will include 16 studios, 127 one-bedrooms, 118 two-bedrooms and 17 three-bedrooms, the release stated. Each unit will offer features such as granite countertops, wood-like luxury vinyl flooring and stainless-steel appliances.

Resmark is a real estate investment manager that provides capital to homebuilders, land developers and multifamily developers across the country.