Personal Injury Attorney in Ravenel, SC

RAVENEL, S.C. (WCIV) — A proposal for new development that has riled up neighbors for months is one step closer to coming to the Town of Ravenel.

The Tumbleston family has requested to rezone 99 acres of land to build 100 single-family homes and create over 50 acres of green space. Their original request was withdrawn in March but then came back into conversation.

In a special-called meeting Monday night, the town council approved the rezoning request and the development agreement with little discussion. Under the new plan, a 100-foot greenspace buffer will be around the entire neighborhood and no construction will happen on the Drayton side of the neighborhood – except for the driveway entrance.

Susan Hendricks– a family member – said they think the project would help the growing town.

“The town has changed a lot from when my mom grew up and it has changed a lot from when I grew up,” Hendricks said. “It will continue to change and we want to be able to move forward and for there to be life here and not be just a dead town.”

READ MORE | "Ravenel rezoning debate heats up again with new proposal and public concerns."

But that change is exactly what other neighbors fear.

They worry this project will have a domino effect and could open the door for overdevelopment, inevitably changing the character of Ravenel.

“We were bonded by fear, not by anger. And we just don't know what's going to happen to the town that we love and want to stay the same,” said Stephanie Russell.

Russell has lived in Ravenel for three years and said its rural charm makes people love the area and want to live there.

Hendricks said her family has listened to the community’s concerns. Since putting the request back on the table, the family has added a promise to donate $2,000 for every approved home to the town’s housing needs – not to exceed $200,000.

“There are people in town that need help with new roofs, porches, repairs to their homes, and right now, the town does not have any type of benefit for that,” she explained.

READ MORE | "Ravenel Planning and Zoning Commission holding public hearing on rezoning plan on Thursday."

This will set a precedent for future development, Hendricks said.

Despite changes made to the original request like reducing the number of homes from 150 to 100, neighbors still say they don’t feel the town leaders took their concerns seriously.

“There are parts where we definitely have been heard and I absolutely appreciate that, but I do feel that at least at this juncture, this has been decided a while ago,” Russell said. “The ink's dry.”

Stephen W. Tumbleston, the mayor of Ravenel, has recused himself from all discussions on the matter as it is his family’s land and request.

The rezoning and development requests will go for a final vote in the next town council meeting on July 30.

RAVENEL, S.C. (WCSC) - Ravenel Town Council decided to table a vote Tuesday night on a housing development proposal that has riled neighbors.

Both the development agreement for the project and the rezoning request go hand-in-hand, and neither was voted on.

Councilman James Rodgers Jr. made the motion to table the matter due to the absence of Councilman Robert Cochran, saying his expertise within the Town of Ravenel should be valued and a part of the vote.

Tuesday’s vote and discussion followed the Tumbleston Trust, or property owners of the land in question, issuing changes to their original proposal they withdrew back in March before the council could vote.

They want to develop a 100-new-home subdivision on around 99 acres of land on Drayton Street. The changes include that the entire neighborhood will have a 100-foot greenspace buffer around it and there will be no construction on the Drayton Street side of the neighborhood except for the driveway entrance.

The Tumbleston family also made an addition to the plan, saying they will donate $2,000 for every approved and permitted home site in the neighborhood, “The Pasture at FarrField,” toward community housing needs, such as repairs.

“Sometimes just staying the same is what we all love,” Tumbleston Trust family member Susan Hendricks said. “Ravenel is very different now than when I was growing up and I think that’s the way life is, and when life changes, we hope that we can help it change for the best.”

Several residents have been fighting back against the proposal for months, saying it will take away the one little shred of peace they have in the heart of Ravenel.

The move to table the votes has left those opposing the development confused.

“I absolutely have no clue as to why they would table it,” Michael Felix said. “They had the full momentum of people wanting to approve it. Only time will tell of why they actually tabled it.”

Not everyone is against the subdivision, as many residents submitted letters that were read out loud to the council tonight saying they were in support of this.

“There is a growing support that we are very thankful for of our project, and this includes one of the main landowners that lives next door, and we are thankful for that,” Hendricks said.

Councilmembers will have to vote to take the development agreement and the rezoning request off the table, and it is unknown when that will happen.

Copyright 2024 WCSC. All rights reserved.

RAVENEL, S.C. (WCSC) - It’s back to the drawing board for the owners of a large piece of land in the Town of Ravenel.

A rezoning request for the town was withdrawn Tuesday afternoon hours before the council was set to vote on the controversial matter.

Residents have mixed emotions on the latest development, as many feel that the withdrawal is a win because their voices are being heard, but they say that this fight is far from over.

“I am cautiously optimistic, but again it makes me feel like we are left with more questions than we are with answers,” Stephanie Russell said.

If the council were to vote yes, the rezoning would have meant a subdivision, “the Pasture at FarrField,” with at least 100 homes on Drayton Street in the rural town, something residents were strongly against.

“This isn’t over by any stretch of the imagination, and the citizens here who have been vocal and present in making our feelings known aren’t going away either so they just need to come up with something that is reasonable,” Roy Smith said

Smith said he does applaud the property owners for listening to the community and pulling the plug for now.

Susan Hendricks, a Tumbleston Trust family member, said in a statement, “The public conversations over the past two weeks have identified a number of planning changes which can be made to enhance the Pasture at FarrField and help address housing needs in the area. Our family and legal team need more time to evaluate the requests and how they might be incorporated into our plan. Our family wants this done right, therefore we have withdrawn our current request. We know the Pasture at FarrField will provide a wonderful opportunity for growing local families to be able to enjoy desirable housing options and stay in Ravenel rather than having to leave town to find a place to live.”

“We just want them to build with the zoning that they currently have, and nobody would stand in their way of doing one home per one acre,” Olivia McCarty said. “We want to live with the environment and not destroy everything that makes this town beautiful.”

Mayor Pro Tem Buckey Waters confirmed Tuesday evening that if the owners are to request the rezone in the future, they will have to start the process over completely, starting by going to the planning and zoning commission. Waters also confirmed the owners can resubmit the rezoning request at any time.

Copyright 2024 WCSC. All rights reserved.

RAVENEL, S.C. (WCBD) – With five minutes on the clock, Ravenel residents took to the podium Wednesday night at a special public input meeting to share their concerns about a proposed rezoning request at a Drayton Street property.

The change in zoning would allow for a higher housing density on the 99-acre tract which is being eyed for a proposed neighborhood called the Pasture at FarrField. The plan includes 100 new single-family homes.

“It’s right in the smack, right down by the railroad tracks, right in the heart of Ravenel, right in the residential area,” said Roy Smith, a longtime resident of Ravenel.

The central location of the project is part of the problem for neighbors. Ron Sprovero is a retired engineer and lives in the town. He said the property borders a jurisdictional wetland.

“They’ve never addressed what happened with the runoff that goes down into the wetland, into the creek that ends up running over to Wallace Creek. So, that’s one of the big problems I have,” Sprovero told News 2.

The land is owned by Tumbleston Trust. Susan Hendricks is part of the Tumbleston family and gave the following statement.

“As a life-long resident of Ravenel, I want the best for my community and so does my family. We have listened to our neighbors’ feedback and have made proactive changes to the neighborhood plans. We have reduced the number of homes from 150 to 100. We have also added more than 50 acres of recreational greenspace and 100 foot natural buffers around the community to help preserve Ravenel’s charm. The Pasture at FarrField neighborhood is designed by locals with locals in mind.”

Still, many of the speakers worried the neighborhood will alter the rural character of Ravenel, which the town’s vision statement vows to maintain.

“We don’t want to be Summerville, we don’t want to be West Ashley, we want to be Ravenel and Ravenel is rural, and we welcome agricultural and families,” said Matthew Collins, who spoke up during the meeting.

The land belongs to the family of Ravenel Mayor Stephen Tumbleston. He has recused himself from conversations on the issues.

RAVENEL, S.C. (WCBD) – On Thursday evening, the Town of Ravenel held a council workshop to discuss rezoning a 99-acre property in the area.

It’s become an ongoing discussion that began in January and is something many residents have voiced concern over.

At the workshop, Tumbleston Trust, the company that owns the land and is looking to rezone, presented its proposed plans for the land and discussed everything from traffic impacts to waste control.

The Ravenel community filled their town hall to hear what would happen to the 99-acre piece of land in the area. If town leaders granted a zoning request, it would allow Tumbleston Trust to increase housing density in the area and change the current limit of one house per acre of land.

While the public could not give any verbal comments Thursday night, many opposed the rezoning.

“Like I said, nobody, not a single person, had any problem with it if they put one house per acre; that’s fine,” said Ravenel resident Roy Smith.

Yet, on Thursday, Tumbleston Trust shared a concept of what the developed land could look like, which included 120 houses, with 50 of the 99 acres being set aside for open green space and walking trails.

These conceptual plans led the discussion on Thursday between the landowners and the Ravenel town government.

The workshop lasted roughly an hour and a half as town leaders covered a handful of topics, including the specific septic systems for each house, the stormwater drainage of the area, requiring a hundred-foot vegetation buffer for the area, and the impacts the new housing would have on traffic. After a traffic report, land owners Thursday reported there would be no impact.

Still, after the meeting, New 2 talked with one resident about his thoughts on the discussion.

“After everything they talked about tonight, do you feel at ease at all, in any regard,” asked News 2.

“No, no, I don’t, I don’t,” he said. “Tonight, they had a ton more information to make an intelligent decision. However, it’s so incomplete,” said Smith.

These 99 acres belong to the family of Ravenel Mayor Stephen Tumbleston, who has recused himself from any conversation about the issues.

However, a Tumbleston family member, Susan Hendricks, released a statement in part, “We have deep roots in Ravenel, and we all see how our region is growing. We are proposing thoughtful growth which I believe maintains the charm of our community.”

News 2 reached out to mayor Tumbleston for comment and is still awaiting a response.

The next meeting regarding this rezoning request and land development will be a public comment session held this upcoming Wednesday.