CHARLESTON — Parker’s Kitchen has ditched plans to build a gas station on a four-parcel swath along Savannah Highway, and neighbors in West Ashley are relieved.

The parcel in consideration is a 1.37-acre spot that has long been the home to Charleston Bicycle Co. and the permanently closed Carolina Rod and Gun store at 1319 Savannah Hwy., as well as two brick buildings next door.

Turns out those small brick houses, used commercially by Renasant Mortgage Lending and Charleston Community Acupuncture, would require wading through some red tape in order to tear them down. They were built in the 1950s and now have aged into the wheelhouse of Charleston’s Design Review Board — which is charged with protecting and improving “the visual and aesthetic character and economic value” of development a

See Full Page