Mobile Home Sales in Plantersville, SC

A piece of Georgetown history is soon closing its doors leaving some in the shrimping industry wondering where they will dock their boats.Independent Seafood, on the water at the end of Cannon Street, is closing. The property has been sold and houses will be built on the site, a source told GAB News. This will not only bring an end to a place where freshly caught seafood has been sold for more than 80 years – we are also told the docks where shrimp boats are kept will be removed. It is unknown right now where the boats will go once the docks are removed. Bryan Gray, a regular customer of Independent Seafood, told Charleston TV station WCBD he does not know where he will get his seafood. “I love to come get my salmon and stuff,” Gray told the TV station. “You know, they got some real good salmon. I’m just kind of upset right now, I don’t know what we’re going to do.”Georgetown Mayor Carol Jayroe told GAB News she too is unsure what will happen to the shrimp boats. This is a developing story. We will provide updates as more information is received.

Bill DoarJAN 27, 2023 • I grew up living at 107 Cannon Street just across Front from the Tarbox home and riverfront property. Glennie Tarbox and I have been friends for 80 plus years. We spent many hours playing and dreaming on this property. I recall the first fish house. I am sad to see the property change; however the Tarbox has the right to do with their property as they please. Hopefully the new owners will see to it that the property is not abused TinaJAN 24, 2023 • Hate to hear this. We have done a lot of business here. Palmetto State Seafood I'm Moncks Corner is really good too if you looking for a new place. Very nice people and clean store. Independent will be greatly missed by many.Jeff WildesJAN 23, 2023 • I’d like to offer a different view from the majority of comments. I don’t have a vested interest in this other than presenting a balanced view. I don’t even know the owner of Independent Seafood. I agree that it is sad when a business like this closes. Any business that’s operated for 80 years has earned the right to generate a host of emotions when it closes. I was only an occasional customer but I’m sure their regular customers will miss them greatly. However, I don’t think it is fair to be critical of the owner for selling, the buyer for buying, or the City for permitting a different use of the land. The owner has invested significant financial resources and much of his life into this business. He’s taken enormous personal financial risk to operate this business. He’s benefitted during the good times but suffered during the difficult years. It is his property and he has the right to sell it to the highest bidder in order to provide a retirement for him and his family and a legacy for his heirs. The buyer is also taking enormous personal financial risk to invest into a property that he/she has no guarantee of any financial reward. According to the news article, the property will be developed into homes, something frequently mentioned as a scarcity in the City and often questioned as to why the City doesn’t have more. Oddly enough, the City is often accused of being the reason for the shortage of housing within its boundaries because of being too restrictive in its ordinances. Yet, here it is accused of just the opposite for allowing homes to be built here. I’m not faulting the writers who lament the passing of an era, the loss of an icon, etc. These are legitimate and appropriate emotions and I suspect the owner of Independent Seafood appreciates the impact they have had on the community. It is not necessary however to have a “bad guy” in the story. Any of the readers of this story (or anyone else for that matter) could have purchased the business and continued it in its present structure if they had made an appropriate offer. Additionally, someone could still go offer the buyer a high enough price, buy it from him and continue it as a seafood business. Changes come — they are inevitable. Why not be grateful to the owner of Independent Seafood for its years of service to the community, encouraging and supportive to the buyer in his/her new venture, and thankful to the City for providing a much needed resource.A. HarterJAN 23, 2023 • That is a shame. Folks could try Postons.B.M. HowellJAN 23, 2023 • We are losing our family atmosphere to the bars and lowlife. Next they will want to bring in the gambling boats in place of the shrimp boats and loose all of our history. Whose getting the payoffs?R. High JAN 23, 2023 • People have a right to do what they will with their property, for a better life, generational money, whatever. The question of historic or economic significance is in the hands of local officials. They decide what buildings and etc to allow and what not to allow.PJAN 23, 2023 • It is all about the $$$ that we will be losing all of our history

Plantersville Elementary School – with 68 students currently enrolled – is the smallest elementary school in South Carolina.Because of that, some Georgetown County School Board members are asking if it is worth the cost to keep the school open or if it would be better for those students to attend Kensington Elementary and/or Browns Ferry Elementary. During Tuesday’s school board meeting, Board member Patti Hammel said she feels it is time to at least begin exploring the idea of a merger between Plantersville Elementary and possibly Browns Ferry or Kensington. Lisa Johnson, the district’s Associate Superintendent for Finance and Technology, told the school board because Plantersville Elementary is such a small school, the cost per student is higher than in other schools.The cost per student at Plantersville Elementary in 2022 was $27,695, up from $22,183 in 2019. In comparison, the 2022 cost per student at Sampit Elementary was $16,738. At Browns Ferry Elementary, it was $19,456. There are 20 staff members at Plantersville Elementary. “That paints a very clear picture of the expenditures we are making per student in some of our smaller environments,” Hammel said, noting the district is “paying a tremendous amount of money per pupil as compared to the other schools.”Hammel said “it is concerning that we are spending that many dollars.”She said she would like district staff to compile a list of where the Plantersville students live in proximity to other elementary schools such as Kensington and Browns Ferry. She said the student population at Kensington Elementary has decreased in recent years meaning there is room for Plantersville students. Hammel said if such a change were to take place, there is “lots of repurposing” that can be done to keep the current Plantersville school building in use for the community. School Board member Scott DuBose asked if there has ever been consideration to combining Plantersville and Browns Ferry Elementary Schools. Johnson said it was a topic that was approached “back during the recession when we were having budget cuts” but the idea did not gain much traction. Hammel said the enrollment at the smaller schools has decreased since that time.“Combining some school populations would free up some dollars,” she said.

GEORGETOWN — The Georgetown County School District schools with the highest poverty index in the district — those in the Carvers Bay area — will become magnet schools, thanks to a $15 million federal grant.

The Georgetown district was one of 19 nationwide applicants to receive the Magnet Schools Assistance Program grant that it applied for this spring, district superintendent Keith Price announced at an Oct. 4 district school board meeting.

“We are incredibly excited about this opportunity and we have already begun our steps for planning and implementation,” Price said. “I would like to thank all of our principals and their staff in our Carvers Bay-area schools for their assistance in the application process and for our board for your support for this program. And now, the hard work begins.”

Price said the district received all of the funding it was eligible for — about $15 million over five years — from the federal Magnet Schools Assistance Program, which provides grants to school districts under federal desegregation orders. The program is planned to take effect in the 2023-24 academic year.

The Georgetown County School District has been under a federal desegregation order since 1969. Board member Michael Cafaro asked Price on Oct. 4 whether the program should get the district out from under its desegregation order. Price replied that the grant program is designed to do exactly that. Price also confirmed for Cafaro that students from around Georgetown County can attend the magnet schools.

The Carvers Bay area — home of Brown’s Ferry, Plantersville and Pleasant Hill Elementary schools, Carvers Bay Middle School and Carvers Bay High School — was chosen for the program, Price previously said, because its schools have the lowest enrollment, highest rate of minority enrollment and highest poverty index in the district.

On May 17, principals of the five Carvers Bay-area schools outlined plans for how their curricula would transform under the magnet program. Brown’s Ferry Elementary School would become Brown’s Ferry Elementary School for the Creative and Performing Arts. Pleasant Hill Elementary would become Pleasant Hill Elementary Stream Academy, with a focus on science, technology, reading, engineering, arts and mathematics, hence “stream.”

Plantersville Elementary School would become Plantersville Elementary Digital Immersion School, which would use collaboration with Coastal Carolina University and Boeing to continue the school’s technology education, including coding. Carvers Bay Middle School would become Carvers Bay Middle STEAM Academy, with a focus similar to that of Pleasant Hill: science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics.

Carvers Bay High School would become Carvers Bay Early College and Career High School. Principal Larry Odom said a military magnet model was previously considered but ultimately voted down. In addition to current college prep, honors and dual enrollment programs, the school’s early college program would allow students to obtain associate degrees in the arts or science by graduation, Odom said.

A plan for protecting Georgetown County’s natural resources no longer calls for a minimum 50-foot buffer between wetlands and development.

“We’ve had input from both sides,” said Matt Millwood, the senior planner who compiled six drafts of the plan this year. “We don’t want to put a number in that.”

Instead, a minimum buffer will be defined when the planning staff starts work on a wetlands ordinance, one of the measures called for in the update to the natural resources element of the county’s comprehensive plan.

State law mandates that local governments adopt a comprehensive plan with 10 elements that cover topics such as natural resources, housing, land use and transportation. The land-use element gets the most attention because it establishes the legal basis for the zoning ordinance.

Last year, the county put a revision to the land-use element on hold as it sought a way to get more public input. A survey conducted as part of that process found 96 percent of respondents rated natural resources as the county’s most important feature and over 80 percent favor stronger protection through the zoning regulations.

The Planning Commission held a public hearing on the natural resources plan last month, but deferred a vote in order to get more input from the rural areas of the county. The planning staff sent information about the plan to 10 people it identified as stakeholders and to churches. It held a workshop in the Choppee community.

“It’s a great plan,” said Marvin Neal, a Plantersville resident and a former commission member. He said it was important to get the additional input from the rural communities because “there’s a lot of encroachment on our natural resources.”

The commission voted unanimously last week to recommend County Council approve the plan.

The month’s delay also provided time for Millwood to add language requested by the S.C. Environmental Law Project that encourages the county to limit the use of septic tanks to treat wastewater.

Earlier this month, the law project filed an action in Charleston County asking the courts to find that the state Department of Health and Environmental Control is required to review septic tank permits for consistency with the Coastal Zone Management Act and provide public notice of permit requests.

The issue arose due to the use of septic tanks in high-density developments near coastal waters.

“Septic systems are not inherently problematic when sited correctly, but we are increasingly seeing developers cluster septic systems by the dozens and even hundreds within sensitive coastal areas,” Emily Nellermore, staff attorney with SCELP, said when the action was filed.

Last week, she called the commission vote on the natural resources plan “a crucial step.”

But she added, “the county of Georgetown really needs to seek out and find more resources to see that the strategies are implemented.”

The plan notes that one of the threats to natural resources is the lack of staff and funds to enforce its regulations.

Among the goals in the plan are reducing human impact on the environment by restricting single-use plastics, seeking grants to help buy sensitive habitats, creating a marshfront management plan and preserving forest lands through stricter standards for rezoning.

Along with creating a wetlands ordinance, the plan calls for continued strengthening of the exisiting tree ordinance.

Commission member Sandra Bundy questioned language that includes “height allowance” in the list of incentives that could be used to promote wetland protections.

“We’re going to end up looking like Myrtle Beach,” she said.

Holly Richardson, the planning director, said she understood the concern, but added, “we’re not necessarily talking about the Waccamaw Neck.”

Elizabeth Krauss, who chairs the commission, suggested adding text that confirms the county’s 35-foot height limit as the standard.

“That height wording scares me,” commission member Marla Hamby said.

Millwood explained that the goal would be to allow taller buildings in order to preserve valuable resources.

Krauss said including the language in the comprehensive plan, could lead developers to think they could build higher.

After the vote, Hamby asked Nellermoe for her recommendation on a wetlands setback.

“There are a lot of things that need to be considered, including the type of use for the land,” Nellermoe said. “Even the scientific community is not clear if there’s one best number. I think there are many numbers.”

But she added, “50 feet is probably the minimum.”

Georgetown County Board of Education: First and third Tuesdays, 5:30 p.m., Beck Education Center. For details, go to gcsd.k12.sc.us. Georgetown County Council: Second and fourth Tuesdays, 5:30 p.m., Council Chambers, 129 Screven St., Georgetown. For details, go to georgetowncountysc.org. Pawleys Island Town Council: Second Mondays, 5 p.m. Town Hall, 323 Myrtle Ave. For details, go to townofpawleysisland.com. , .

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GEORGETOWN — The five public schools in Georgetown County’s Carvers Bay area will shift focus to subjects ranging from performing arts to technology if the county school district’s magnet school program outlined at a May 17 work session ultimately goes through.

Georgetown County School District is eligible for about $15 million over five years from the federal Magnet Schools Assistance Program, which provides grants to school districts under federal desegregation orders, Superintendent Keith Price said. The Georgetown County School District has been under a federal desegregation order since 1969.

Price said the district should hear about the status of its grant application in September. If approved, the programs would take effect in the 2023-24 academic year.

The Carvers Bay area — home of Brown’s Ferry, Plantersville and Pleasant Hill Elementary schools, Carvers Bay Middle School and Carvers Bay High School — was chosen for the program, Price said, because its schools have the lowest enrollment, highest rate of minority enrollment and highest poverty index in the district.

If the plan is adopted, Brown’s Ferry Elementary School would become Brown’s Ferry Elementary School for the Creative and Performing Arts. Principal Tawanna Grant told the district board of directors that creative arts, an “infusion” of arts and technology into the core curriculum was an important addition after speaking with parents of students.

“When speaking with my parents, they felt that the performing arts was definitely the niche of their children, but they also felt that technology, as well, was very important because of the era that we’re in,” Grant said.

Pleasant Hill Elementary would become Pleasant Hill Elementary Stream Academy, with a focus on science, technology, reading, engineering, arts and mathematics, hence “stream.”

“In our case, an emphasis on environmental science,” principal Teddy Graham said. “Why environmental science? Someone asked me when I retire, what am I going to do? Farm? And I said, ‘Well, everybody in Pleasant Hill is not a farmer.’ But that is our heritage.”

Plantersville Elementary School would become Plantersville Elementary Digital Immersion School, which would use collaboration with Coastal Carolina University and Boeing to continue the school’s technology education, including coding.

“What is digital immersion?” principal Darryl Stanley said. “Digital immersion refers to merger of the physical world with the digital world of data.”

Carver’s Bay Middle School would become Carvers Bay Middle STEAM Academy, with a focus similar to that of Pleasant Hill: science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics.

Carvers Bay High School would become Carvers Bay Early College and Career High School. A military magnet model was previously considered but ultimately voted down, principal Larry Odom said.

“I think some of the discouraging factors were we would probably lose enrollment with students because of the discipline that comes along with a military magnet,” Odom said.

In addition to current college prep, honors and dual enrollment programs, the school’s early college program would allow students to obtain associate’s degrees in the arts or science by graduation.

“What is attractive about the early college high school?” Odom said. “Well, pathways. The different pathways that we can offer our students.”

The Georgetown County magnet school program, dubbed Pathways to Success, aims to increase enrollment and academic achievement, and decrease minority isolation and opportunity gap for students, Price said.

“With all of the work that we’ve been doing over the past two years, along with the goals of our strategic plan that guided us this year, ‘Pathways to Success’ was a fitting name for our program as our spoken goal has been to prepare every student for success in their chosen pathway,” Price said.