Mount Pleasant Magazine Sept/Oct 2016

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Yet differences centered largely on how and where
Mount Pleasant should grow remain. And with those in
mind, Owens said he’s attempting to build unity every day.
“When the people speak, you either listen or you get
voted out, but you also want to do the right thing. You have
to build a consensus,” he said. “It has to marinate, and,
through that marinating process, you have to try to build a
consensus, bring people together – like minds, people of all
walks. People are going to disagree, but you have to benefit
the majority. You have to do what’s best for the majority.
You’re not going to please everybody all the time.”
Along Coleman Boulevard, Owens has been a strong
proponent of the town emphasizing a traditional “coastal
and eclectic look,” pointing to businesses such as the Publix
on Ben Sawyer Boulevard and the complex that includes
Royall Ace Hardware as worthy of emulation.
“What I don’t want is bricks-and-mortar that is more
representative of inner cities – Charleston, Greenville,
Columbia, Charlotte,” Owens said, noting that the look
could be appropriate in other areas of town, such as on
Johnnie Dodds Boulevard. “What I want is something
that’s amenable to everybody in the town of Mount
Pleasant. People that I’ve spoken to want the coastal flair.”
Owens has also been a strong proponent of lowering
building heights to 45 feet and a maximum of three stories
along much of the Coleman corridor. Those numbers
would allow for a mix of commercial and residential use, he
said. The Council had given overwhelming initial approval
to that plan as of this writing.
“Forty-five wasn’t an arbitrary number. It was something
that gave some flexibility in design,” Owens said. “We
could have been more rigid and said 40 feet. We could
have held everybody’s feet to the fire, but we were trying to
be flexible.”
Owens points to the Publix as an example of the “coastal and eclectic
look” he favors for Coleman Boulevard.
Photo by Rick Walo.
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