James Island is one of Charleston’s oldest and most established communities, built around modest homes, mature trees, wetlands, and open space. Today, one of its last remaining 28-acre natural areas—behind The Pour House between Woodland Shores Road and Stefan Drive—is threatened by the proposed Riverland Oaks development.

We are calling on city leaders to both strengthen development review standards to ensure modern neighborhood compatibility, infrastructure capacity, flooding resilience, and traffic safety—and to explore public acquisition of this land as a permanent park or conservation area.

This petition is not about stopping growth. It is about insisting on better planning.

The proposed 95-townhome project would create a nearly mile-long corridor of dense, four-story buildings directly adjacent to established single-story neighborhoods. It would replace valuable natural buffers with rooftops and pavement, increasing pressure on wetlands that help absorb stormwater and reduce flooding. It would also add significant traffic to Riverland Drive, where congestion and pedestrian safety are already serious concerns.

The Planning Commission’s approval was an administrative step based on zoning written more than 30 years ago—not a determination that this project is compatible with today’s James Island. City leaders still have the opportunity to strengthen technical review standards, modernize outdated development regulations, and ensure that neighborhood compatibility, flooding, infrastructure capacity, traffic safety, and preservation of green space receive the scrutiny they deserve.

Once this land is developed, it will be lost forever.