Cainhoy Peninsula residents have their say on parks and rec needs
More than 50 Cainhoy Peninsula residents took part in a special parks and recreation input gathering session on February 18 hosted by the City of Charleston and SGA Architecture. The public program, designed to assess the community’s top needs, was held at Cainhoy Elementary/Middle School in Huger.
“We had a great turnout and a great response,” said Natasha Sexton, a principal with SGA Architecture. “It just went really well and was very well received.”
Many of the residents who attended cited the need for an indoor community recreation center as a top priority, added Sexton. Participants were asked to write down their recreational needs, both as individuals and as families, and to inform the city of any barriers they may have in seeing those needs met. Using color coded stars signifying specific parks and recreational opportunities, residents were asked to indicate on a large map the places where they would like to see those services offered.
“Most of the people who attended were from the Cainhoy area, and not Daniel Island,” said Sexton. “There was an overwhelming need for recreation in general, and big support for a community center and indoor recreation.”
According to City of Charleston Councilman Gary White, who also attended the session, citizens pointed to a need for access to water, walking trails, and playgrounds. Presently, there are no City of Charleston parks on the Cainhoy Peninsula, other than those on Daniel Island.
“In Cainhoy, it’s really just addressing the basic needs of parks and recreation,” added White. “The most interesting point of the evening was that they laid out the things in the area that everyone has access to. There was stuff on Daniel Island, and then when we came to Cainhoy, there was one park currently owned by a non-profit, a playground, and nothing else. It just really points to the fact that there is a big need in that area.”
Sexton noted that their assessment also included a large chunk of Berkeley County that lies outside the city limits, because the city was interested in capturing those voices as well.
“Our subject area crosses the city lines,” she added. “It is a contiguous community…The recommendation was that Berkeley County get involved. There is a legitimate need on the county side as well. It shouldn’t be just a City of Charleston issue. There should be some collaboration between the two. There are some citizens that are definitely underserved.”
Sexton and her team plan to have a draft of their report to the city in two to three weeks. They will also include responses from more than 700 surveys conducted online as part of the process, said White. A final document will be produced within the next one to two months, followed by a report to the public on their findings and recommendations. The city conducted a separate parks and recreation assessment on Daniel Island last year.
“In the entire region of Cainhoy Peninsula and Daniel Island, the population is certainly much more heavily weighted on Daniel Island,” added White. “…It will change over time. This is, as I see it, an opportunity to develop a road map for the Cainhoy area as it builds out and grows.”