From the City of Charleston: The Proposed Ordinance – Revision 7 received 2/24/25
How we got to this point…
A landmark Old Windermere property, 8 Stocker Drive, was almost demolished and replaced with a structure that some thought was not consistent with neighborhood characteristics. Accordingly, the residents of Old Windermere raised concerns about protecting the character and charm of our beautiful neighborhood.
OWNA Board decided we should determine the nature and level of concerns. OWNA asked the City of Charleston to help with this. The City prepared a Questionnaire to determine the specific concerns of the residents (see attached).
The questionnaire had a section listing various aspects of character protection. The options went from basic “Demolition Review” up to “Protect Defining Characteristics”. Residents could fill out the form on-line, mail it in, or turn it into a Board member who would forward it to the City. The process and the tabulation of data was managed by the City.
To ensure all home owners had a chance to respond, the Board sent out emails, distributed copies door-to-door, visited homes in person to answer questions, and mailed copies to non-resident owners. Homes in the Savannah Hwy overlay district were excluded.
Over 70% of residents (people who actually live in the neighborhood) responded. Of those, over 90% selected character protections beyond the limited “demolition review”. To better define what protections the residents wanted, the City held small group meetings (6 in all). Once these meeting were held, the City created the ordinance based on the input received. A draft ordinance can be viewed on OWNACharleston.com.
The remaining actions to complete the ordinance are:
1) hold a neighborhood-wide meeting to present the ordinance and receive input
2) update the ordinance to incorporate actionable input
3) submit the ordinance to the Planning Division
4) once the Planning Division receives it, the ordinance will be submitted for approval to the Charleston City Council using established processes.
Regards,
Ron Sassard, OWNA President
11/23/24: For those of you who couldn’t make the meeting on November 20, 2024, here is some of the information that was shared on the storyboards that were displayed. The link to the Area Character Appraisal can be found HERE. More info to come, please be sure that OWNA has your email address if you are a resident of Old Windermere.
OWNA Charleston 