News Briefs - May 16, 2019

MARRIOTT HOTEL

Concept drawings for a new Courtyard Marriott on Fairchild Street were approved by the City of Charleston Design Review Board on May 6. The building’s proposed site is adjacent to Starbucks and Blackbaud’s headquarters. The board asked for the applicant, architect Bill Marshall, to provide a perspective image from the adjacent highest point on I-526. Reg Poteat, whose LinkedIn profile identifies him as the owner of several Marriott properties in North Carolina, is listed on the DRB agenda as the owner of the property.

ROBERT DANIEL DRIVE APARTMENTS

Woodfield Investments and applicant Seamon Whiteside and Associates sent their construction plan for a new Daniel Island apartment complex to the Technical Review Committee on May 2. The TRC asked the owner and applicant to revise and resubmit the project. This was the first review, and it includes a road extension and an added cul-de-sac to Robert Daniel Drive. The apartment development is planned for 251 units.

DINA SAFETY CAMPAIGN

The Daniel Island Neighborhood Association will promote a campaign to encourage safer streets on the island over the next three months. According to DINA President Marie Delcioppo, the initiative will educate residents on general rules of the road, such as proper street parking, child safety seats, locking car doors, and pedestrian rules. “Every Wednesday, we’ll post a social media image that will have that week’s tip and a blurb about it,” said Delcioppo. “We’ll post questions in it so we can start to engage a conversation.” The campaign will begin on May 15.

MYSTERIOUS GREEN PELLETS FOUND ON ISLAND

Residents reported that green pellets have been found around the island in parks, back yards, and streets. The small granular substance is smooth and about the size of a large pebble. The Daniel Island Property Owners’ Association has not identified the substance or the source of its dispersal, but is advising anyone with a pet or child who has ingested a pellet to seek medical attention immediately. At the May 7 Daniel Island Neighborhood Association meeting, Lieutenant James Byrne of the Charleston Police Department said that the most similar substance he could find to the green grains is rat poison, but he said that no final verdict has been reached as to what it actually is.