Personal Injury Attorney in Walterboro, SC

WALTERBORO, S.C. (WCSC) - One state representative hopes $125,000 worth of state funding can give an area of downtown Walterboro a facelift.

Washington Street in Walterboro is considered their Main Street and is home to shopping, dining and a waterfall. But the waterfall is out of commission due to plumbing issues.

But Mayor Bill Young says he hopes the $125,000 can get both water and newcomers flowing into the Washington Street Plaza.

“It’s become such a used area for different events,” Young said. “For the Veteran’s Day Memorial Service, for the Veteran’s Day parade. A lot of children go there and take their prom pictures. We’ve had some weddings there.”

This plaza is also home to the Colleton County Veteran’s War Memorial, which honors Colleton County vets from World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War and the Global War on Terrorism.

Rep. Robby Robbins, who represents Colleton and Dorchester Counties, says he hopes to enhance the veterans’ services held at the plaza.

“It’s very patriotic and it’s very much appreciated by the veterans of Colleton County,” Robbins said.

The state funding would cover the replacement of internal plumbing for the waterfall, a new backsplash, revamped landscaping, benches and new restroom facilities.

“It should improve things greatly and we are very appreciative to get this funding so that we can do this,” Young said. “Because it’s one of those things that probably wouldn’t get done right now except for the funding Rep. Robbins got us.”

The design and engineering phase is already in the works and the city hopes to have that completed by November. Following that, they will put out a bid and award the project by next February with construction expected to be completed by June.

“It’s just one of those things that makes Walterboro kind of a special, unique place,” Young said. “I don’t know many cities who have a waterfall right in the middle of their main street. It’s a great place for tourists to visit and it’s a great place for our locals to enjoy.”

Robbins says he wants to make this as enticing as they can for anybody who wants to come.

“Come visit downtown Walterboro,” Robbins said. “It’s a great place.”

Copyright 2024 WCSC. All rights reserved.

WALTERBORO, S.C. (WCSC) - One woman says a Walterboro restaurant discriminated against her and her family when workers refused to seat them without seeing an identification card from her service animal, claiming service dogs are pets.

Kelli Sanderson, her husband, youngest son and service animal walked into El Pueblo Restaurant in Walterboro last Friday when employees demanded to see an identification card for her dog.

Sanderson explained she told workers what laws and regulations allow the restaurant to require and ask, yet they still refused service.

“My frustration with that was that they were unwilling to let me show them correct, valid information,” Sanderson said.

South Carolina law allows a service dog to enter public businesses without an identification card or jacket. There is no state or federal licensing system or any specific card to show that a dog is a “service dog.”

To protect the privacy of the person with the disability, a business can ask only two questions if a person comes in with a service dog, according to Disability Rights SC:

Sanderson said she told and answered both of these questions to the employees of El Pueblo, but they did not listen.

Sanderson’s psychiatric service dog, Galena, helps mitigate medical episodes by doing deep pressure therapy, tactile stimulation and grounding.

“She’s not a pet. Service dogs are equivalent to medical equipment,” Sanderson said. “At home, yes, she gets off-duty time and she gets to be a dog, but when we’re out somewhere she’s not a pet. She’s working and helping me go out and do things that I struggle with otherwise.”

A person answering the phone at El Pueblo Restaurant hung up three times Thursday when asked for a comment.

During a visit to the restaurant on Friday, El Pueblo management refused to comment.

In South Carolina, interfering with a service animal is a misdemeanor.

Debates around the overuse or misrepresentation of service animals versus emotional support animals has been a topic of conversation in recent years as emotional support animals have become more common.

“My thing is, so many people just think they can take their dog anywhere and then we run into issues where we legitimate handlers can’t go places where we need to go because of people abusing the system,” Sanderson said.

South Carolina law states public accommodations do not have to allow an emotional service animal inside even if the owner may have a legal right to use it in other places such as housing or the workplace.

There is also no legal right to take an emotional support animal into any public accommodation.

“I definitely think that businesses need to know basic ADA law,” Sanderson said. “They need to know how, why and what accommodations you should be making to people and making sure that they enforce that and know their rights.”

Copyright 2024 WCSC. All rights reserved.

Walterboro, South Carolina, is located in Colleton County and was founded in 1783 as a summer retreat for low country rice plantation owners. In 2016, the town has a population of about 5,000 people. The downtown farmers market wanted to support vendors who needed a low-cost, commercial kitchen in which they could create value-added products, learn how to navigate regulatory requirements, receive small business development training, and help develop the local foods culture of the low country region. In 2016, the community hosted a Local Foods, Local Places workshop to explore how to ensure the long-term success of a new commercial kitchen and leverage its central location to help revitalize downtown.

The idea for a commercial kitchen began to take hold in 2013, most of the first year was spent applying for funds. By January 2014, plans were finalized, and construction bidding began, with construction launching in May.

To fund construction, Colleton County secured a zero-interest, $1 million loan for a commercial kitchen from the Palmetto Rural Telephone Cooperative through the USDA Rural Economic Development Loan and Grant Program. The program provided funds to the local utility sponsors, who then used the funds to support local projects that create and retain jobs in rural areas. Using the USDA Rural Economic Development Loan, the county redeveloped a vacant building into the Colleton Commercial Kitchen and connected it to the Colleton Museum and Farmers Market.

In June 2014, the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control granted final approvals for the kitchen, so operation could begin. The county ultimately paid for the loan using revenue from the project and hospitality tax revenue.

In September 2015, the kitchen got its first user, and less than a year later, the kitchen won the South Carolina Association of Counties award for "most innovative project undertaken to improve the lives of citizens in that country."

In 2016, the Colleton Museum and Farmers Market participated in the Local Foods, Local Places program to strategize for the facility’s long-term success and bolster downtown redevelopment. As of March 2017, the kitchen had 10 users.

The kitchen offered a food-production facility that could be leased by the hour, small business training, and a retail café and market where kitchen users could sell their products. After two years of operation, the kitchen:

Matt Mardell, program manager at the kitchen, noted, "Our gift shop used to take in maybe $40 a month, but now it's bringing in about $40,000 a quarter. It's a massive financial impact driven by local business, which in turn is great for economic development."

Beyond the success of the kitchen itself, the building renovation, creation of a retail café, and street beautification and landscaping improvements have contributed to downtown’s vitality and spurred redevelopment on parcels in the immediate surroundings. Several existing businesses and an apartment building were renovated, and a gym and law offices opened in vacant buildings nearby.

Published July 2017.

Source: Personal communication with Matt Mardell, Program Manager, Colleton County Commercial Kitchen.

This case study appears in the Local Foods, Local Places Toolkit.