James Island presents plans for Millpoint Park after December acquisition

The Town of James Island discussed the recent purchase and planned use of the James Island Family Park at Millpoint at a neighborhood meeting, describing the 4.2 acres of high ground and 2.3 acres of marshland and announcing a community meeting set for Feb. 25 to gather public input.

Town staff told attendees the property, purchased from Rod Welch and commonly called Millpoint Park, will be preserved through the Charleston County Green Belt Program and developed as a passive park that emphasizes conservation, historical interpretation and low-impact recreation. "Millpoint Park ... will help fill in the growing landscape of green space. It'll be protected in perpetuity through the Charleston County Green Belt Program," a Town staff member said during the presentation.

The park lies in the Stone Post neighborhood and includes a historic structure and at least one recovered millstone the town plans to display with interpretive signage. "This stunning property will offer our residents the chance to experience this pristine and scenic area and learn about the extensive history of James Island," the Town staff member said. Meeting attendees heard that the site contains mature maritime forest, magnolias and live oaks and that the property once hosted a tide-powered mill and an early South Carolina Agricultural Society experimental station.

Town staff described short-term, low-impact amenities under consideration: picnic tables and benches (a donation has been made toward those), a possible kayak or paddle-access point timed to tides, marked parking inside the property and a small pavilion with restroom facilities if sewer connections are feasible. Staff said the town will start with modest parking improvements and consider porous materials to reduce runoff. "For starters, we're just gonna do some balusters and define parking area and see," the Town staff member said. They estimated initial visitor parking at roughly 20 to 30 cars per week but said that figure was provisional.

Speakers flagged safety and operations questions. Staff noted an existing wooden "pirate ship" play structure on the site that "probably gonna have to be lowered some to the ground because it's pretty high and could potentially be a liability once we open the park." They also described planned gate hours—typically open in the morning and closed by about 5 p.m.—and said the town will install a second gate farther inside the property to funnel visitors to an internal parking area so neighboring residential streets are not used for parking.

Several procedural and permitting steps remain. Staff said a land survey was not completed because some work had unknowingly encroached into protected tree areas; those encroachments are being removed and the town is awaiting approval from OCRM before major work proceeds. In addition to the Feb. 25 community meeting, the town will post an online survey and accept written feedback. The staff member said the town envisions limited museum-style openings for the historic building, likely staffed by volunteers from the History Council, rather than full-time staffing.

Other town updates mentioned at the meeting included a final walkthrough to turn the old library building back to the county following a settled lawsuit, as well as planning for a new design-build multiuse building near town hall funded in part by grants. Those items were presented separately from the Millpoint Park discussion.

Next steps for Millpoint Park are completing the required surveys, removing the tree encroachments identified during fieldwork, obtaining any needed OCRM approvals, and holding the Feb. 25 community meeting to solicit detailed public input. The town said it will set signage, parking and gate procedures with neighbor input and pursue modest initial amenities while monitoring demand and costs.