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Dupont | Wappoo Community Plan

Beginning in 2015, the City of Charleston and Charleston County Planning Departments collaborated with property owners, residents, business owners, and stakeholders in the Dupont | Wappoo Area to develop a Master Plan that addresses the vision and desires of the public and that includes steps to implement that vision. Presentations and other information from the community meetings held in 2015 and 2016 can be found below. As a result of this effort, Charleston County Government and the City of Charleston Government adopted the DuPont | Wappoo Community Plan, which includes a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and amendments to the respective comprehensive plans and zoning and land development regulations ordinances overlay zoning district. The Memorandum of Understanding can be found by clicking here. The Community Plan can be found by clicking here. The Overlay Zoning District adopted by the County can be found by clicking here and the Comprehensive Plan amendments adopted by the County can be found by clicking here.

Now that these documents have been adopted, County and City staff have begun to work together to implement the strategies contained in the Community Plan.

Expanded opportunities for property owners in the area to develop or redevelop their land and establish new businesses and jobs.
The DuPont | Wappoo Community Watershed Master Plan kicked off in December 2016. This is a 10-month study (Dec. 2016 – Sept. 2017), jointly funded and coordinated by the City and County. The scope of work includes field work and data collection, mapping data management, watershed analysis and modeling, a plan report with assessment, and recommendations for drainage improvements and recommendations for new design standards.
During the development of the Plan, many residents expressed concerns regarding a shell of a building located in Randolph Park and the aging playground equipment. As a result, the City demolished the building and installed new playground equipment.
During the public input sessions, community members repeatedly said that they would like a local hardware store in the area to replace the True Value Hardware Store that had recently closed. City staff assisted in the efforts to recruit the new True Value Hardware Store at Ashley Oaks Plaza by relaying the community’s request, public input session results, and demographic information to the commercial broker and the new owner of the shopping center.
As part of the master planning process, many residents expressed a desire to create a safer connection between the West Ashley Greenway and the West Ashley Bikeway at the intersection of Savannah Highway and Wappoo Road. Providing these key pedestrian/bicycle links is important with regards to mobility, safety, and quality of life. The City, with a letter of support from the County, applied for and received Berkeley Charleston Dorchester Council of Governments (BCDCOG)/Transportation Alternative Program Grant funding for this project. The project is in the initial phase, which includes getting all the necessary documentation in place. Project completion is estimated to take 2.5-3 years.
The City requested sidewalk installation along Stinson Drive to connect Savannah Highway to the West Ashley Greenway. This request was approved and is being funded through either Charleston County Transportation Committee funding or the Charleston County Transportation Sales Tax Annual Allocation Program funding and will be installed sometime this year.
The City is working with Charleston County to make a change to the intersection geometry at Stinson Drive and the West Ashley Greenway to create a better and safer crossing (raised crosswalk). This will be installed sometime this year when Stinson Drive is repaved.
The City requested the following sidewalk improvements for 2018 Charleston County Transportation Sales Tax Annual Allocation Program funding approval (determinations on this funding have not yet been made):
- Betsy Road sidewalk installation, to connect Savannah Highway to the West Ashley Greenway and then extend it to Lord Calvert Drive.
- Braxton Avenue sidewalk installation, to connect Savannah Highway to Randloph Park, the adjacent residential neighborhood and the West Ashley Greenway.
- Wappoo Road multi-use path installation to connect the West Ashley Greenway to Savannah Highway and the Wet Ashley.
- Wappoo Road south sidewalk installation, to connect the West Ashley Greenway to the WPAL property/recently acquired property that will become a City park.
- Dupont Road sidewalk installation, to connect to sidewalks along Savannah Highway and Sam Rittenberg Boulevard.
The ground breaking for the Louis Waring Senior Center occurred January 23, 2017. The Waring Senior Center, a collaborative effort of the City, County, and Roper Hospital, is located less than three miles from the DuPont | Wappoo Community. Though the planning for this facility started prior to the DuPont | Wappoo Community workshops, many workshop participants indicated this was a community need.
The DuPont | Wappoo Community workshops highlighted the community’s interest in having a West Ashley Farmers Market. The County and City collaborated to identify a location for the Farmers Market in the DuPont | Wappoo Community, but this effort was unsuccessful. However, the City was able to deliver on this request by establishing a farmers market at Ackerman Park on Sycamore Avenue, less than three (3) miles from the DuPont | Wappoo Community. A 10-week pilot farmers market was held from September – November 2016. The pilot program was successful and the West Ashley Farmers Market is currently running again (April – October 2017).
Another concern of the residents and business owners in the DuPont | Wappoo Community was the increase in traffic on Savannah Highway and the need to better synchronize the signals along that road. This issue was addressed through a larger signal synchronization project conducted by the City of Charleston. The West Ashley signal synchronization improvements are nearly complete; they are currently being quality checked.

Randolph Park Improvements, 2017

If you have any questions, please contact Andrea Pietras, AICP, Deputy Director, at apietras@charlestoncounty.org or 843.202.7219.

Presentations and other information from the 2015 – 2016 DuPont – Wappoo Community Meetings:

Dupont | Wappoo Community Plan

Jan. 27, 2016 Community Meeting Video

Jan. 27, 2016 Community Meeting Presentation

Jan. 27, 2016 Community Meeting Packet

June 23, 2015 Workshop Wrap Up Presentation

Spring 2015 Roads and Development in the Community Video

West Ashley Farmers Market Survey

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