Mount Pleasant Magazine Sept/Oct 2016

S a boy in the 1960S, firSt-

term Mount Pleasant Town Council

member Jim Owens would ride

his bike up and down the now-

demolished Silas Pearman Bridge –

while it was still under construction.

It’s not surprising that a person

with such hometown bona fides might have a different

perspective on Mount Pleasant than someone who has never

tried she-crab soup, hasn’t been to Pitt Street Pharmacy or

doesn’t remember a time before The Boulevard.

Over at least the past three years, Owens has been

on the front lines of the town’s most contentious topics,

including fast-paced growth, residential density and a

quickly evolving Coleman Boulevard. He formed the

Saving Shem Creek Facebook group – a less genteel cousin

of the Save Shem Creek Corp. page – lost a job because of

his public views on a controversial parking project and won

a seat on the Town Council.

Now he’s an integral piece of a four-man bloc on

the Council – backed by a vocal Old Village-centered

grass-roots group – that is trying to rein in what they see

as out-of-control growth. Disputes have arisen around

Photo by Jenn Cady.

Councilman Jim Owens might see Mount Pleasant from a different

perspective than someone who didn’t grow up in his hometown.

lowering building heights on Coleman Boulevard, reducing

density town-wide, regulating accessory dwelling units and

instituting permit allocations and building moratoriums.

Owens is confident that the group that fueled his rise to

the Council is eager for quick change, but the 57-year-old

father of five is also aware of the realities of political life that

call for compromise and restraint. Indeed, Council members

have been able to find common ground on everything from

numerous quality-of-life projects – such as the Shem Creek

pedestrian bridge – to increased business incentives.

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