BERKELEY COUNTY, S.C. (WCBD) – Some residents who live in Cane Bay Plantation say they are frustrated over the lack of lighting on some main roads like Cane Bay Boulevard, specifically in the back of the Berkeley County community where development is relatively new.

One person who we spoke with, and wanted to remain anonymous, said they love living in the neighborhood, but the problem is that they can see very little on the dark roads after the sun sets.

“All they do is give me the runaround. I’ve already contacted everyone,” the resident said.

Frustrated, the resident said she has reached out to the county, community developers, and the homeowner’s association to try and fix the problem.

“When it’s dark like that, and there’s no lighting for miles and miles, somebody’s gonna run into each other. You’ve got high beams coming your way- you can’t see. Or any deer or animal could come out. It’s such long stretches of road,” she said.

The resident believes this is a dangerous problem.

“When you’re trying to come home at night there’s a long stretch of cars behind me and we’re all doing 15 miles per hour because we’re afraid. We can’t see going forward on both sides. It’s like a wilderness. There’s absolutely no light,” she said.

At the front of Cane Bay Plantation, there are regular streetlights in place to keep the road lit up. She wants to see something similar in the rest of the community.

“We love it here,” said Ruben Vacari, who also lives in Cane Bay Plantation. He and his wife have lived in the community since last May.

They enjoy everything about living in the area but agree that some of the main streets in the community are way too dark at night.

“Yes. Driving at night, when we come home in the evenings — when we go to church on Wednesday and Sunday in the evening, it’s dark. Very dark. It would be nice if they did have some streetlamps like they do on the boulevard. There’s a lot of people whose sight is not as good as it used to be,” he said.

Vacari says his builder has been great to work with. He might see if they can help find a solution to the problem as well.

“The builder’s been good to us. He’s come to our aid whenever there’s an issue or anything like that. Maybe this is one thing that they might bring up and take care of.”

News 2 reached out to the county. They tell me the developer would handle lighting in the neighborhood. So, we reached out to Grambling Brouthers, the developer of Cane Bay, and left a message with them.

We also reached out to Associa Carolinas, the management company for the homeowners association at Cane Bay, who said they would have someone get back to us about this issue. We will provide that response here when available.

While Charleston's population is booming with new transplants, the Summerville and Goose Creek areas are developing just as quickly to accommodate the area's growth.

Summerville is located roughly 45 minutes from Downtown Charleston, serving as the ideal location for folks who want to move close to the city without being directly in the middle of the excitement.

Goose Creek is only 35 minutes from Downtown Charleston and is seeing a demographic of young families who hope to live near the city while finding affordable housing and nearby employment.

In recent years, both Summerville and Goose Creek have expanded with the development of several master-planned communities that offer housing, lifestyle, retail, dining, outdoor recreation and so much more. These areas have also developed several new businesses, restaurants, workspaces and corporate offices.

As Goose Creek's economy grows and thrives, many new projects and ventures are on the horizon in this Charleston community, specifically in Carnes Crossroads.

According to Post & Courier writer Barry Waldman's piece about new development in Carnes Crossroads, Carnes is now co-owned by Lennar Builders and Boston-based Freehold Communities, with approval to build about 4,500 homes.

This community is technically only a quarter built, with new projects on the way, such as the concept of "agrihood," a working farm and community gardens. Professional farmers will grow and supply produce, herbs and flowers to the community.

In September 2022, the city of Goose Creek announced a plan for growth in the community, including a walkable space for restaurants, offices and a green lawn for town events. Soon, this multi-planned community that is currently primarily residential with some outdoor amenities will expand to be more similar to larger communities like Cane Bay and Nexton.

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While there are currently a few dining options available, like East Bay Deli, Steel City Pizza Co., and Mi Fiesta, plenty more options will be coming soon as well.

As for business development in Summerville's large Nexton community, according to Warren L. Wise for the Post & Courier, Atelier Downtown Nexton is a new project coming soon to Nexton, planned by an affiliate of New Jersey-based Sharbell Development on 7.5 acres on Brighton Park Boulevard off of U.S. Highway 17A.

Located in the Nexton community, the project will include multiple two-story buildings up to 18,000 square feet. Office, service and commercial space will be for sale or lease.

In addition, The Hub in Nexton is expanding. This project is a collection of office and commercial buildings under development on Nexton Parkway and Brighton Park Boulevard, and new expansions will include commercial tenants Lombardi's Pizza Kitchen, The Co-op Frosé & Eatery, The Backyard Biergarten, Lowcountry Yoga and children's gym KidStrong.

Big things are also happening over at Cane Bay Plantation in Summerville. Buck Investments, led by Eddie Buck, recently paid $13 million for nearly 45 acres on the northwest corner of the future Fair Winds Boulevard intersection at U.S. Highway 176. The buildout of this section will happen over the next four years.

Cane Bay has also been selling multiple large parcels of land for new housing developments as it expands, and the community is now roughly the size of Spartanburg, South Carolina.

More growth and business developments are coming quickly for these three large, multi-planned communities that are shaping up to be more like cities in their own right.

BERKELEY COUNTY, S.C. (WCBD) – Deputies with the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO) are working to connect with the community they serve and they did that Wednesday night by hosting a community outreach forum.

The forum was held at Cane Bay High School where Sheriff Duane Lewis talked with community members about building a stronger relationship with the department.

BCSO is making connections and building relationships with members of the Cane Bay and Nexton communities.

“It’s an opportunity for the folks to meet the sheriff and also meet my staff,” Lewis said. “We provided them with a lot of statistics about what’s going on in their community.”

Lewis says it’s crucial for his department to interact with community members because the amount of people moving into the area continues to rise rapidly.

“We have to get out and meet them and give them an opportunity to learn who we are and what we do for them,” he said, “and try to figure out what their issues and problems are.”

Lewis told the group gathered in the auditorium that one of the biggest problems specific to the Cane Bay area is a large number of car break-ins.

“The number one thing about these car break-ins is they have to lock the door and take their valuables out,” Lewis said. “That’s the number one message tonight.”

Dominique Cooper who lives in the area says she’s witnessed the issue as well.

“We do,” Cooper said, “unfortunately, have a lot of people that in the era that I grew up in, you leave your door unlocked because you didn’t have to worry about. Some people still have that mindset, and they think, ‘Oh, it won’t happen to me,’ but unfortunately it’s a great opportunity for not-so-great people and they just take advantage of it.”

Cooper says it was imperative for her to be at Wednesday’s forum, both for the information and to build a rapport with the men and women sworn to protect her community.

“They work unselfishly,” she said. “They work for very little pay and they’re putting their lives on the line for us, so we need to build strong bonds with them.”

Lewis says there will be another community outreach forum in the north-end of Berkeley County next month.

Back in the state rankings. Back on top in the region.

Tuesday, Feb. 6, was an extra special day for the Cane Bay High School boys basketball team. The No. 9-ranked Cobras appeared in the Class 5A poll for the first time since the preseason. They then captured their second region crown in three seasons with a 59-56 victory over visiting Berkeley High School.

The region title in 2021-22 was the first in program history.

“Tonight is probably better than (the first region title),” said Cane Bay coach Shawn McKeen. “That first year, I knew what we had. We had a really, really good team. This year, this team here has been through so many ups and downs, so much adversity. We have had injuries. We have had illnesses. Nobody picked us to finish first. I’m not sure I picked us to win the region at the beginning of the season. We had a tough schedule, but we made it work.”

Cane Bay improved to 17-8 overall and 6-1 in region play. The Cobras end the regular season at home against Goose Creek (after press time). Win or lose, McKeen’s bunch is a No. 1 seed for the Class 5A playoffs.

He was proud of his team for pulling out a rugged game versus the Stags.

“These kids are resilient,” McKeen said. “They’re calm. They carry us through, especially our seniors. I think our younger kids are just naive enough to not let it bother them.”

Berkeley dropped to 16-8 overall and completed the region slate with a 5-3 mark, good enough for second place and at least one home playoff game. The Stags tied with Wando in the region standings but got the nod because of a season sweep of the Warriors.

Senior Isaac Smalls poured in 30 points for the Cobras, who built a 16-10 lead after a quarter. Berkeley, though, rallied to take a 27-22 halftime lead and continued to lead deep into the fourth quarter before Cane Bay wiggled off the hook, thanks to some Smalls free throws late.

Stratford High School’s baseball team won for the fifth time in six games. It claimed its first Region 6-5A series of the spring Tuesday, March 26, with a 9-3 victory over visiting Cane Bay.

Stratford won the series opener a day earlier, coasting past the Cobras 11-0 in five innings.

The Knights (6-7, 2-0 region) try to complete the sweep Friday, March 29 (after press time).

In game two of the series, leadoff hitter Jachin Davis collected two hits and three RBIs and earned the win on the mound. The Knights built up a 7-0 lead over Davis’ three innings.

Catcher Braydon Burnett added two RBIs for Stratford.

Outfielder Anthony Alvarez knocked in two runs for Cane Bay (5-5, 0-5 region), which is still seeking its first region victory.

In game one, Stratford pitcher Jarrett Wagner struck out 11 batters and allowed just one hit over five innings. Davis, Wagner, and infielder Gavin Garcia each tallied two hits, with Davis knocking in three runs.

Northwood baseball 5, 5

Goose Creek 3, 1

Northwood Academy’s baseball team swept Goose Creek in a home-and-home series March 25-26.

The Chargers edged the Gators 5-3 and 5-1 in the non-region set.

In the first game, Chargers pitcher Ryan Kerkhoff collected three hits and three RBIs, including a solo home run. He also threw four innings.

Jaxson Ranley tallied two hits for the Gators in the loss.

In game two, infielder Ben Defriece drove in two runs for the Chargers and Gabe Muckelvaney earned the win in relief. Muckelvaney fanned five batters over 2.1 innings and allowed just one hit.

BERKELEY COUNTY, S.C. (WCIV) — Last Tuesday, there was a meeting within the Berkeley County School District to discuss changing attendance lines within the county because of overcrowding in the Cane Bay area.

Although the measure was not voted on, the problem of overcrowding remains within the area.

Berkeley County as a whole has experienced a 34 percent increase in population over the last decade. That’s the second highest rate of any county in the state.

This is partially due to the popularity of the area’s school system and community. It’s why Cane Bay resident Ashley Hill moved to the area two years ago.

“The reason that I like it here so much is because we have a sense of community and how Cane Bay trails, I get to experience that and golf cars and stuff like that,” Hill said.

But the space has started to become crowded. Since 2010, the Cane Bay population has grown from 1,321 people to 12,362 residents.

Right now approximately 75 percent of the land is permitted for expected build-out.

“They are going up so quickly,” Hill said, “It has grown tremendously. The traffic around here has gotten a lot more aggressive. I believe that even with school days, I mean, just trying to figure out how to get into the elementary school or the middle school because they're so close to each other, it makes it difficult for the people who are trying to go to work.”

Cane Bay currently has 5,941 building permits issued and 510 are under construction.

That means the number of residents may grow even more than the current population of 12,000.

There are also 7,950 entitlements for expected build-out in the Cane Bay area.

So that begs the question: Are Berkeley County officials prepared to deal with the growth in the community?

I took that question straight to Berkeley County Supervisor Johnny Cribb and here was his response:

“In the last several years, there's not a whole lot that we've rezoned or approved, but it's really the entitlements that that are out there.”

Cribb says that he hasn’t approved many building permits during his three years in office. But despite that, there are still thousands of permitted builds that have yet to take place.

So I asked him what his plan for the future was.

“If you look at what's going on in the world right now, anybody pretends to know what's going to happen is they're playing make believe,” Cribb said.

He said that the current market place, partially due to the coronavirus pandemic, has made it hard to predict when build-outs will happen and what the area will look like in the future.

Not satisfied with the answer to my question, I went to other officials to get more answers.

I asked the Cane Bay representative of the Berkeley County Council Caldwell Pinckney about the growth in the community.

He said that council does realize the threat the growth in the area has and it will be dealt with eventually. However, he said it has “not gotten to the point where we have had to sit down and talk about it.”

“Even in the most aggressive scenario, [build-outs are] years away. So two or three years, there's no way you could build out all that out in two or three years,” Cribb said.

When asked if a building moratorium would be considered to slow down some of the developments in Berkeley County ,both Cribb and Pinckney said it wasn’t on the table at this time.

Cribb does say that he believes the main solution, and the focus for him right now, is the roadways around the Cane Bay area.

“You put $65 million to widen 176, $82 million for Nexton I-26 interchange, so people would have their own interchange and doing improvements in the community.” Cribb said, “The biggest thing is, for us, almost three years now I have been relentlessly pursuing what I can control. And it's any new things that come in, and frankly, how can we improve the quality of life for the people that have moved out there who are the ones that created the growth.”

Cribb also said he is working with water and sewer officials to prepare for the influx of houses coming in the area.

One question I did pose to Pinckney was if the county would consider utilizing impact fees to help fund the building of new schools in the Cane Bay area. Pinckney said that he does believe impact fees are in place to an extent, but are not covering the whole budget.

But for residents like Hill, they believe that there is a lot being overlooked which only adds to their concern about the future of Cane Bay.

“I'm concerned with the overpopulation. I do not feel like the county has taken any hasn't thought about with all these, you know, kids that are coming in. Where they're supposed to go.”