November Meet-n-Greet

Next Tuesday, November 11, 6:30pm, EVO Pizza

Everyone should plan on mixing with neighbors from OTP as well as those coming from the greater Park Circle area. The wood-fired pizza is excellent, so please head downtown N Chas for a bite with your new best friends.

October Meet-n-Greet

Tuesday, October 21st, 6:30pm, OTP neighbors are gathering at Park Circle Coffee (located downtown North Charleston on Montague) for an informal meet-n-greet. If you are a resident, neighbor or you are currently building your home here, please consider yourself invited. The first and only other one we had was well attended.

For those of you who do not know, Park Circle Coffee recently expanded to include The Doghouse, a quaint hot dog joint. So come enjoy dinner, a dog, and/or a beer or cup of joe.

See you Tuesday!

Recycle those CFLs

In response to the popularity of Compact Florescent Lightbulbs (CFLs), Charleston County now accepts CFLs for recycling at the following locations.

• Bee’s Ferry Road Convenience Center, 1344 Bee’s Ferry Road, Charleston (West Ashley), S.C. 29414
  
• Adams Run Convenience Center, 8326 Old Jacksonboro Road, S.C. 29426
  
• Hollywood Convenience Center, 5305 Highway 165, Hollywood, S.C. 29449
  
• Edisto Convenience Center, 2844 Highway 174, Edisto Island, S.C. 29438
  
• Wadmalaw Convenience Center, 1558 Liberia Road, Wadmalaw Island, S.C. 29487
  
• Charleston County Recycling Center, 13 Romney Street, Charleston, S.C. 29403
  
• Maxville Road Convenience Center, 6380 Maxville Road, Awendaw, S.C. 29429
  
• River Road Convenience Center, 1775 River Road, McClellanville, S.C. 29458
  

These additional eight locations are a great opportunity and add to the many locations you can recycle these major energy savers.  In addition to the County locations, Home Depot will also accept your spent bulbs.  Remember though that you can not recycle your bulbs in your biweekly pickup.

Neighbor in Charleston Magazine

OTP resident Ben Leigh is part of a feature article on the Sustainability Institute located just down the road from Oak Terrace. The article gives a short overview of the ways this North Charleston non-profit helps individuals and businesses make a difference for the environment and their pocketbooks through energy efficiency.

Click here to read the article.

Oak Terrace Preserve Feature in Charleston Post & Courier

The Oak Terrace Preserve neighborhood was featured in this Saturday's Post and Courier.  Sara and I are a bit proud to be featured in the article along with Nikki, Joel, Tisha, and Jonathan.

Here's the article.

Rockin' in North Chas

Wilco rocked it last night at the North Charleston Performing Arts Center. Lyle Lovette last month, Jeff Tweedy this month and Bruce Springsteen set for the 16th of this month, North Charleston is definitely drawing quality performances.

Summer Fun in OTP

The lack of activity around here might suggest that nothing is happening in OTP, but actually, the opposite is true. We just have not had the time to report lately. Here are a few highlights:

1. Second alley paver installation is nearly finished.

2. A total of 30 houses are now occupied.

3. 13 lots are under construction, 4 of which are sold.

4. National Night Out, held last Tuesday night in the well-landscaped pocket park in front of the School for the Arts was a great success.

Sign of the Times

The Neighborhood now has a new and official sign. You can see a part of the lovely landscaping they've done near the entrance as well. Predominantly native plants, all of the plants in these landscaped areas are drought tolerant and low maintenance.

Let's Make Some Noise for Noisette

I don't think any of us needed an award to realize how exceptional the recent developments of North Charleston have been going, but a pat on the back never hurt anyone. So, thanks, Cottage Living, for naming Noisette among the Top 10 Neighborhoods of 2008.

Oak Terrace Preserve (pictured) was featured in CLs web clips. Click here to select the Noisette video tour.

Local Issue: Montenay/Veolia Incinerator

This message came from a fellow Park Circle resident and supporter of conservation and community health.

Friends,

In case you haven’t heard, an important issue impacting future air quality in North Charleston is before us. The Montenay/Veolia Incinerator, which is located in the North Charleston neck area, has been burning Charleston County’s trash for the last 20 years, and they are currently negotiating with Charleston County Council to do the same for the next 20 years.

Incinerators are extremely dangerous to public health, and the County Council already realizes that the alternatives to the incinerator contract are more economically beneficial to the county. In fact, after crunching the numbers and reviewing three other options, County Council voted unanimously last March to stop using the incinerator at the end of 2009. Unfortunately, they are reconsidering this decision and putting the incinerator contract back on the table.

Shifting our waste disposal strategy from incineration to other alternatives such as
aggressive recycling and waste reduction programs is a huge opportunity to improve our air quality and stop reduce other environmental degradation issues associated with incineration and with landfills.

County Council is having a public hearing on this issue next Tuesday, June 24, at 6:30 pm. The meeting will be held at Gethsemane Community Center at 2449 Beacon St. in Charleston. Please spread the word and plan to attend!

For more information on the incinerator and its health impacts, please check out “The Charleston County Incinerator” from the Charleston Chapter Sierra Club’s website.

For more information about what has been happening with County Council, please
check out these articles:

• Tony Bartlelme, "County Incinerator No Longer Adds Up," The Post and Courier (Feb 1, 2008)
  


• Stratton Lawrence, "County Poised for 20 More Years of Burning Garbage,"
  Charleston City Paper (May 14, 2008)

Please consider this issue carefully.

The incinerator has been impacting human health in Charleston County for 20 years now, and it is time for us all to take action to protect the health of our families and our neighbors.

Sincerely,

Kristen French, Ph.D.
Community Clean Air Project

Middle Loop Alley Construction starts this week

Surveyors completed their work on Friday.
Construction starts this week.

Shayne mentioned the alley work in her previous post, Alley Information. This week is when all the fun is supposed to begin for those of us on the middle loop. Please remember that once they start construction, park on the street and do not use the alleys. This includes putting garbage and recycling on the front streets on their regular schedules. Finally also remember not to block the mailboxes when you park or put out your garbage as the mailman will not leave mail at boxes that are blocked.

North Charleston Farmers Market moves to Park Circle

The North Charleston farmer's market is moving from it's currently inconvenient place and time to a new locale.  Starting Thursday June 19th, the farmer's market will be held weekly from 2pm t0 6pm at the Felix C. Davis Community Center at the Center of Park circle. 

Great place to get your local produce and support local farmers.  See you all there.

Rēhava Real Estate Store

Rēhava, a new real estate store located in North Charleston (next to Tanger Outlet's Starbucks), is changing how we deal with buying and selling our homes. With their Grand Opening set for July 10th, they are already causing quite a stir in the market by offering 50% of their buyer commission back to the buyer. That means that if you use them to help you purchase a $300,000 home, they pay you $4500, tax-free. That can certainly alleviate some moving costs or buy a nice new patio set. Rēhava also offers many great selling incentives. I think we were their first customers, before they had an office, and the 50% commission rebate was offered to us after we agreed to use them. You cannot walk away a dissatisfied customer with them. They just won't let it happen.

$20 Target or Lowes with New Home Purchase

You have 12 months from closing to apply for a $20 gift card from Target or Lowes when you purchase a new home in OTP. See http://www.newhomesguidecharleston.com/gift/ for details. Who doesn't want that?

OTP goes Facebook

If you have a facebook page, you may now join the Oak Terrace Preserve group. It is bare-bones right now, but at least we got the name. Search under the Charleston network.

Alley Information

As most of you Oak Terrace Preserve residents know, our back alleys are undergoing a nice upgrade. Concrete pavers are being installed. The following link will take you to another resident's blog entry featuring a photo of a completed alleyway as well as a pdf file containing a letter from The Noisette Company regarding the process. The letter basically says that the outer loop (closest to Dolphin) from Phase III to Essex has a completed alley and the middle loop should begin construction on June 18th. Allow approximately 60 days for completion. You should park elsewhere during this time. The letter also provides contact information for those who would like to pay for matching paver installation in the driveway.


Dorn's blog entry:
http://www.earth-art.com/OurHouse/2008/06/new-alleys.html

pdf - Elias Deeb, Noisette, letter:
file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/shayne/Desktop/sdwlk_aly_ltr_080611.pdf

Back Alleys

The alley between Dolphin and Celtic is supposed to be totally finished by the end of the week (per Elias). This includes fill-in between properties and pavers. I'm told the workers who are handling the pavers are also doing the fill-in. If you are interested in extending the pavers to cover your driveway, you are in for sticker-shock. The current quote is $7.50/sq ft. Gulp. That translates to an estimated $3K for a two-car pad.

Home Telephone Co Update

I spoke with someone at HTC this morning and they anticipate going "live" with services mid-June - end of June 2008. For those of you who do not know, HTC is an independent telecommunications company located in Moncks Corner, South Carolina. They are expanding into new neighborhoods only. They will be available here at OTP as well as the Mixson Project. Services may be bundled and include cable tv; high speed internet; residential phone line, local and long distance; wireless phone and security. I am to receive a price list tomorrow. The spokesperson mentioned some signing incentives and other promotions would be circulated around the neighborhood in the near future.

Trash and Recycling Update

Well, I usually hate trash-talking, but I think another update is in order. While pavers are going into the neighborhood alleys, residents should temporarily place trash cans and recycling bins in the front on the respective days. Note: Those recycling guys come early!

Oak Terrace Preserve

Phase I is in full swing. Since our move in February, 5 homes seem to have become occupied and 3 others have SOLD signs on them. Very exciting progress!

Recycling Correction

Hi, OTP folks. Change of plans. The recycling people did pick up the bins from the back alley, not the front street (same as garbage pickup). Plan to use the back alley for both pick ups in the future.

Recycling Day, Thursday, April 3

Just a reminder that today is a recycling day. When I last spoke with the recycling center, I was informed that bins should be placed on the front curbs of houses, not the back alleys. Please let me know if you have heard otherwise.

More Related Press

http://www.carolinaliving.com/relocating/goinggreen-carolinas.asp

Welcome to the New American City
http://activerain.com/blogsview/136933/Welcome-to-the-New

ION Group, building our new neighbors - The Mixson Project
http://iongroup.com/blog/new-charleston-green/

OTP Press

Troy Watson/About Town blog entry, November 5, 2007
http://troywatsoncharleston.blogspot.com/2007/11/oak-terrace-preserve.html

Charleston Business Journal, January 22, 2007
http://www.charlestonbusiness.com/pub/13_2/news/8500-1.html

The "official" OTP site:
http://www.oakterracepreservesc.com/

Introduction

Oak Terrace Preserve is a new neighborhood in the Noisette Area of North Charleston, SC. This Lowcountry community is designed to be sustainable, meaning protection of the environment is considered in every aspect of construction. Translation: No clear-cutting. Lower utility bills due to the usage of energy-efficient appliances and materials. In addition, the builders sacrifice nothing when it comes to attractive, quality homes with instant character. I'm a new homeowner and a fan.

This is an "unauthorized" blog where homeowners, perspective buyers and the otherwise curious can comment, ask questions and simply read about all things OTP.