Lifetime Citizen Portal Access — AI Briefings, Alerts & Unlimited Follows
Local rugby club urges investment at Stanley Chisholm Park; city staff flag environmental and scheduling limits
Loading...
Summary
Members of the Charleston Outlaw Rugby Club asked the Recreation Committee to let them invest in and expand community access to Stanley Chisholm Park. City staff said field use is heavily scheduled, lighting would require breaching a landfill cap and regulated mitigation, and available permit windows favor youth programs without lights.
Members of the Charleston Outlaw Rugby Club urged the Charleston City Recreation Committee on April 16 to allow a public–private investment that would expand use and make improvements at Coach Stanley Chisholm Park.
Bertrand Valero, a long-time Outlaw club member, told the committee the fenced Dolphin Cove park is “chained up, barely used” and urged the city to let the club invest to open and develop the site for broader community use. Chris Maloney, identified in the meeting as a local resident and referenced by other speakers as the club’s president, outlined a proposal to improve field conditions, add shade or weather protection, and prioritize lighting. Timothy Quinn, another Outlaw member, said field safety and surface problems — including gravel and anthills — risk player injuries and that the club is willing to help fund improvements.
But city staff cautioned the committee that several constraints limit what the city can allow and where. “This is a contaminated site,” Edmund Moe, interim section chief in the capital projects division, said, explaining the property was capped through a voluntary cleanup in 2009. Staff described a two-foot soil cap and a required vegetated buffer; installing permanent lighting would require boring through that cap and managing spoils, a regulated and costly process. Moe said the city has cost estimates from prior reviews but that work on a capped landfill is expensive and requires environmental oversight.
Recreation staff member Lori Yarbrough (Recreation Department) described scheduling limits that also reduce the utility of an unlit field: most youth activities run between about 5:00 and 7:30 p.m. on weekdays, so unlit fields are in high demand during a narrow window and lighted fields can be used later into the evening. Staff said the city manages 31 permit groups and that Stanley Chisholm Park had 44 approved permits in 2025 and 20 approved so far in 2026; Charleston rugby accounted for a minority of those dates.
Committee members and staff suggested several next steps: meet with club leaders to refine the proposal, confirm which field uses are restricted by grants or agreements, and identify potential engineering options that could allow limited improvements without breaching environmental caps. Council members said the city can provide a package of permit and liability requirements to make priority decisions more transparent.
The committee did not take formal action on the rugby proposal during the meeting; staff and club representatives agreed to follow up with additional technical information and a revised proposal.
