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Just a few turns off Savannah Highway, as the car dealerships and fast-food joints give way to expansive views of saltwater and marsh, a one-story home is nestled among a thicket of wildlife.

Four massive live oak trees anchor the lawn. Bird feeders dangle from the heavy branches. A gravel path snakes its way through nearly 100 species of flowering plants, trees, grasses, shrubs and more. Bees, butterflies and other animals flap and crawl, happy to call this place home.

Elliotte Quinn has created an oasis in his front yard.

Quinn, who moved with his family to Edgewater Park three years ago, is part of a growing number of property owners choosing to embrace native planting. The technique uses specific plant species to attract native pollinators, ultimately creating a balanced food web.

Proponents argue native plants help battle erosion, reduce air pollution and promote biodiversity. Pesticides and lawn mowers are no longer needed as the ecosystem begins to keep itself in check.

Native yards vastly differ depending on the gardener. But they almost never fit the mold of a traditional American lawn — grassy and weedless, with a few evergreen bushes framing the front, said David Manger, owner of Roots and Shoots, a native plant nursery in West Ashley.

A native yard, particularly to the untrained eye, can look wild and unkempt, Manger said. Some property owners find themselves fighting community associations, disapproving neighbors or government ordinances to keep their chosen aesthetic.

Quinn can attest. The father of three, who works during the day as a lawyer specializing in construction defects, has received two complaints in under a year from Charleston County’s zoning and planning department.

Code enforcement officers told him the front yard violated an ordinance concerning weeds and rank vegetation. The most recent complaint — a June 7 letter shared with The Post and Courier — threatened a summons and hefty fine if he didn’t get rid of the “overgrowth.”

Both times, after Quinn explained his choice to cultivate the yard with native plants, county officials dropped the case.

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‘Quinn’s Meadow’

Quinn’s passion for native planting exploded during summer 2020, in the throes of the COVID-19 pandemic. He started a vegetable garden with his young daughters, spurred by a childhood interest in wildlife and conservation.

They grew tomatoes and pumpkins, but worms began destroying the plants. Not wanting to spray the garden with pesticides, Quinn began reading about natural alternatives. He learned what he could plant to attract predator insects.

“That kind of spiraled off into something of an obsession with native plants,” he said.

Quinn ripped up the grass in his front yard, tossed out some seeds and bedded a few plants. He eventually hired someone to turn over the topsoil, put down compost and create gravel walkways.

The garden — which his daughters affectionately call “Quinn’s Meadow” — grew from there.

Green is the dominant color across the yard. But if a visitor sat on the front porch swing where Quinn likes to spend early mornings, they’d notice pockets of flowers interspersed with grass and fruit trees. They might hear the chirp of a painted bunting, delighting in its feathery rainbow of reds, blues and greens.

Manger, who used to lead the Charleston Permaculture Guild, said the number of people committing to sustainable agriculture has increased over the years. He’s noticed property owners beginning to steer away from typical yard spaces.

Edgewater Park, where Quinn lives, doesn’t have a homeowners association. But Manger said more people are coming to Roots and Shoots for advice on how to use native plants and work around stringent rules.

A compromise, for instance, could be to cover half of the yard with native plants and leave a small mowing strip of grass at the front, Manger said. This signals to neighbors the garden is both maintained and intentionally designed.

A fine line

Quinn first received an email from Charleston County in September 2022, he said. A code enforcement officer told him they’d gotten a complaint about his yard and wanted to talk.

By the time they spoke on the phone, the officer had driven by the property and realized the design was intentional — not the result of a lazy homeowner. The officer closed out the complaint.

Months later, on June 7, county officials notified Quinn they’d received another complaint of vegetation overgrowth. An officer inspected the property and found him in violation of a county ordinance prohibiting uncultivated, dense overgrowth, the letter states.

The county gave Quinn until June 22 to remove it, threatening him with a summons and $1,087 fine. He responded with an eight-page letter explaining why his yard complies with the ordinance.

Quinn spends hours each month intentionally cultivating his garden — planting, weeding and watering new plants — he wrote. Many of the native plants are considered priority species by the S.C. Department of Natural Resources. Prohibiting a property owner from growing them would conflict with state environmental and resource protection statutes, Quinn said.

County officials relented, deciding he hadn’t violated any ordinances. They closed the case.

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Quinn feels bothered by the whole situation but is grateful to have a legal background, he said. The homeowner wondered about others who might find themselves subject to similar scrutiny.

If a government went through with imposing a fine or issuing a summons for native planting, Quinn offered to represent them pro bono — to stand up for others who want to change how we do landscaping, he said.

A Charleston County spokeswoman refused to make anyone from its zoning and planning department available for an interview. The department takes all complaints seriously and investigates them, she said.

Manger hopes that as native planting becomes more common, code enforcement officers will have more tools in their arsenal to decipher a native lawn from an overgrown one.

“It’s definitely a fine line,” he said. “You’d kind of have to know what plants you’re looking at.”

Plenty of flowers and a general diversity of plant species are usually signs of a native yard, Manger said. But the best way to find out is by asking the gardener.

If you spoke to Quinn, he’d proudly show you his favorite flower: the swamp rose mallow. The native hibiscus, with big white petals and a dark-pink center, blooms only for a day.

If you’re lucky, you might catch a glimpse of a chimney bee pollinating the flower. This specialist insect primarily forages on hibiscus plants; Quinn knows he’d never see one if he had a traditional lawn.

Call Jocelyn Grzeszczak at 843-323-9175. Follow her on Twitter at @jocgrz.

My wife and I are raising our two boys in West Ashley. They play baseball and soccer at West Ashley and Ackerman Parks, First Tee at Shawdowmoss Golf & Country Club, and basketball at the Bees Landing Recreation Center. We ride our bikes and go for walks in our neighborhood of Carolina Bay. It’s where we shop, go out to eat and meet with friends. West Ashley is also where the current mayor has failed to lead time and time again over nearly eight years.

The reality is that planned and consistent improvements, shared-use paths, beautification, and integration of service and amenities in West Ashley has been slow, nonexistent in some areas and outright ignored in others. Put simply, the city has not consistently invested in improving the quality of life and capturing the vibrant spirit of the largest part of our beloved city.

This long overdue work is not right, fair nor equitable.

The Sumar Street redevelopment is a prime example. For that development, only one developer responded to the city’s request for a proposal. Going with one developer is not a good practice when dealing with public dollars for such a project.

That developer is seeking $100 for a 99-year lease and millions of dollars for the development’s parking needs, but putting $23 million toward an underground garage does not make that area prime for private sector investment.

Rather than complement the next door Ashley Landing redevelopment, the city chose to compete with it. The limited vision, planning and implementations continue because the mayor created a tie rather than vote in the majority in order to take meaningful action at the July City Council meeting.

The incumbent has moved too slowly to implement any of the recommendations from the Plan West Ashley document that the city spent $500,000 to produce. The West Ashley Project Coordinator has no budget, staff and authority to provide the needed services, engagement, and progress the largest part of our city has lacked.

A plan without the right level of personnel and budget to implement its findings creates illusions, false hope and frustrations. We can change this. The largest part of the city can’t be without the staff and resources to service residents and businesses.

Imagine what we can do for West Ashley and other parts of our city that have been left behind if we apply for more of the millions of available federal funds from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act. We have an opportunity to secure such funds, and I will make it a top priority to pursue this funding and bring such resources to our city.

My experience and current work at the local, state, and federal levels of government uniquely puts us in the best position to accomplish this.

We can stop imagining better gateways to West Ashley, better drainage, better roads and streets, sidewalks, safe bike lanes, connectivity, façade improvements, gathering spots and so much more — and start living it. We need a workhorse to get this done.

If you are happy with the level of leadership and service you have received over the past eight years, I’m not your person. However, if you want more and expect more from your mayor and city, I have something tangible to offer.

Clay Middleton is a native Charlestonian who is running for mayor. A Citadel graduate, he serves as a lieutenant colonel in the S.C. Army National Guard. He previously served as director of Business Services for the city of Charleston, where he led the Business & Neighborhood Services division. He also has served in the Obama administration and as a longtime aide to U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn.

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Wars have lasted fewer years than American Legion Post 179′s effort to replace its termite-chewed West Ashley headquarters. Now with the finish line in sight, a bank has put the construction project in doubt.

The new headquarters — a bar and commercial kitchen, really, with a small event rental space — is approaching completion on the site of the old Post 179 building on Ashley Hall Road.

“That’s where our juke box is going to be,” said Post 179 Vice Commander Tom Lynes, pointing to a bundle of wires hanging from a cutout in the drywall near the bar. He estimated the building is 90 percent finished.

The problem is, Post 179 has all but run out of money and First Citizens Bank & Trust has declared the group’s loan in default, partly due to “failure to adequately proceed with construction for the property securing the loan,” according to a letter from the bank shared by Commander John Coy.

“Nowhere within our contract indicates that we must finish the construction by a certain date and therefore they are coming up with some other untrue excuses in order to get hold of our property,” said Coy.

“They claim that the loan is in default because we have left the property in an unfinished state for an extended period of time,” he said, adding that is not the case. Work on the heat and air conditioning, electrical and handicap spaces have recently been completed.

“Members have been taken care of the property whenever we have not had any funds to keep the contractors working,” he said.

First Citizens spokeswoman Karen Stinneford said: “By law, we cannot comment on a customer’s account.”

The letter from a lawyer hired by the bank said the American Legion owed $288,768.95, plus interest and attorney fees, and the firm could take action “to collect on the debt and recover the collateral for the loan” if the alleged defaults were not fixed within 30 days. The letter was dated July 13.

Coy and Lynes said the post has never missed a payment, has no other debt and owns the property where the building is under construction.

“Even without the building, the land is plenty of collateral,” said Lynes, estimating the land is worth $1 million or more.

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Work began in early 2020, right before the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic caused delays and a sharp escalation in prices for construction materials and labor.

“An eight-month project has turned into four years,” said Lynes.

Coy said the original budget was $600,000. So far, it has cost $737,000.

The post has attempted to solicit donations, so far without much success. A Gofundme appeal that began in January 2022 sought to raise $100,000. It has collected $3,815 so far.

Lynes said the post is talking to a different lender, seeking a loan large enough to pay off First Citizens, finish construction, and pay for supplies to stock the bar and kitchen. The post’s main source of income was selling food and drinks before the old building was demolished.

Members of the post have done a good deal of the interior work themselves, sometimes using donated or salvaged material such as counter tops and cabinets. The nonprofit group has about 400 members.

The post’s effort to construct a new building date back to at least 2008, when a dispute among members of the veterans’ group erupted over the fate of a more than 5-acre property on Mutual Drive. One faction wanted to build a new post building there, another wanted to sell it.

The infighting escalated to the point where a member in a leadership position was kicked out of the legion, at least one lawsuit was filed, and the post was threatened with potential loss of its charter.

When the dust settled, the property on Mutual Drive was sold, but Post 179 ended up with less than $300,000 from the sale. It’s now an 18-house subdivision.

The redevelopment of the old Piggly Wiggly site near the Northbridge in West Ashley is continuing to move forward.

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - The redevelopment of the old Piggly Wiggly site near the Northbridge in West Ashley is continuing to move forward.

The city of Charleston presented three options to community members to hear their feedback on which option they preferred Thursday night.

Stormwater, traffic and noise were among the most common issues people shared at the meeting.

“All the water from the shopping center now comes to the pond in front of my house,” community member Nell Postell said.

City officials presented three options with the main difference being parking.

Option one is the most expensive option– costing the city around $43 million, but it was the most popular vote amongst community members.

It includes underground parking, which officials say could store water in the event of a storm.

“We have flooding problems everywhere, it’s all over the news, well this is how we can address it,” community member Kenneth Marolda said.

Option two includes an above ground parking garage and is about $10 million less expensive than the first proposal. It has the same commercial capacity as the first option but has less civic space.

Finally, option three includes a regular parking lot, decreasing the number of people the venue can hold and the total cost.

Although City of Charleston Mayor John Tecklenburg did not specifically say he favors the option with the underground parking, he stressed how important it is to him for the development to include as much civic space as possible.

“I feel the most important thing about this whole project and development is providing a place where families in West Ashley can gather together,” Tecklenburg said.

City officials say part of the city’s portion of this project will be paid for via a special tax district in place.

Because of the site’s location, and because it will be partially funded with taxpayer money, city officials stressed the importance of getting the community on board with the development.

“It’s really important to get public feedback on this because this is the gateway into West Ashley and the city of Charleston,” West Ashley Coordinator Eric Pohlman said.

The plans will next be brought in front of the city council for a vote on June 20.

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Some members of Charleston City Council squealed when they saw the price for reviving a dead pig.

And apparently they aren’t hog wild about any of the other options, either.

That leaves the fate of West Ashley’s Sumar Street redevelopment plan murky for another week, and that’s too bad. Because this is more important than some folks realize.

You see, the trajectory of revitalization in the biggest area of Charleston hinges on this decision. Not that you’d know it from council’s response.

Back in April, several council members said $45 million was way too much to spend on a redevelopment of the three-acre site of that old Piggly Wiggly off Sam Rittenberg Boulevard.

Which is kind of on-brand for the city’s historical treatment of West Ashley.

A little background: The city bought the site of the former grocery store years ago, at the demand of local residents, to keep it from becoming a convenience store. People who live in the area argued that the property, as the gateway to the city’s largest population hub, deserved something more substantial.

So the city contracted with a developer who came up with a design for West Ashley’s first significant municipal services building, along with neighborhood meeting space, a public park and some room for small businesses and restaurants.

Which, not coincidentally, is exactly what surveys showed West Ashley residents want there.

So that’s what architects designed … along with underground parking to make the most of a tight space. But evidently that seemed too extravagant for a part of town that doesn’t even rate a Logan’s or Bonefish Grill.

Council members demanded the developer give them some more, uh, cost-effective options.

Well, a City Council committee saw the cheaper options on Monday … and didn’t have much to say. Probably because they also saw how public opinion is running on this.

At a packed-house public meeting last week, residents were given three choices. 1) The current design. 2) The same development, only smaller, with a multistory parking deck that might save $8 million to $9 million … but unsurprisingly eats up much of the open space. 3) A development with about one-third the building space and a huge surface parking lot.

The results were telling: 72% voted to stick with the underground parking. Charles Smith, a member of the West Ashley Revitalization Commission since its inception, says there’s a reason for so much community unanimity these days.

“We have accepted less than the best for long enough,” Smith says. “This is a gateway project that sets the bar for everything that comes after it.”

He’s right, and here’s an example. Right now, the owner of Ashley Landing Shopping Center — which sits next to the Sumar Street site — is planning to move its Publix into the strip center across the parking lot and replace the grocery store with apartments.

Residents rightly worry about the developer getting all that right for the neighborhood. The city, Smith says, needs to set the example.

“How can we ask that developer to bring their A-game to that site if we’re not willing to bring our A-game next door?”

Yep. And all this will have a cascading effect down Sam Rittenberg Boulevard and along Savannah Highway. Smith notes the West Ashley Revitalization Commission understands the area is destined for more urban-level density, but would like to keep it in the areas currently covered in old, needing-to-be-replaced strip malls.

You know, instead of building them farther out and adding to everyone’s commute.

But some folks on council, which never blinks at spending twice as much on grout for the Italian marble at the Gaillard, are trying to be cheap here.

And it all seems to revolve around the difference in cost for underground parking versus a parking garage. But it’s not that big a deal.

The city’s portion of this redevelopment would be paid for with parking revenue and tax-increment financing — the same model considered for the infrastructure at Union Pier’s redevelopment. Can you imagine asking downtown residents to accept a cheaper alternative?

“You’d get laughed out of the room,” Smith notes.

Well, Charleston’s biggest population center deserves no less.

The council’s Committee on Real Estate heard the options on Monday, but didn’t recommend one plan over another. The usually plain-spoken council members didn’t really say much of anything that suggested how they feel about this latest development. What’s that mean?

Well, it means the showdown at next week’s City Council meeting could go any number of ways.

But you can bet if they send the developer back to the drawing board, literally, it will only bolster the perception that Charleston’s biggest community is considered its least important.

And that’s why we can’t have nice things.