CoolSculpting in North Charleston, SC

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) — Questions are growing after several community cats that had been living for years near a North Charleston The Home Depot suddenly disappeared.

Caregivers say the cats weren’t just strays — they were part of a managed colony under a trap-neuter-return program, where animals are sterilized, vaccinated, and returned to the area they know.

For Jennifer Conlon, those cats became part of her daily life.

“They’ve been with us for years. We’ve spent so much time fixing them, feeding them…they have homes here,” Conlon said.

But recently, she says, that routine was disrupted.

“A couple of them disappeared… and we found out they were trapping them over at Home Depot,” she said.

Advocates say posts began circulating online, alleging that a trapper had been hired to remove cats from the property.

Maggie Cloninger, president and co-founder of Hope for Feral Hearts, says there are still more questions than answers.

“There was a post in a private group saying this Home Depot had set out traps to remove colony cats that have lived here for years… and we haven’t been able to confirm where they went,” Cloninger said.

In a statement to Live 5 News, Home Depot acknowledged the situation, saying in part that it has asked the store to stop working with the trapper involved.

Still, caregivers say the biggest concern remains the cats’ whereabouts.

Under Charleston County ordinance, free-roaming cats that are part of a managed TNR program are allowed to remain in the community if properly cared for.

Animal welfare experts say those programs are designed to reduce overpopulation and stabilize colonies over time.

“Spaying and neutering these cats and returning them where they live… it prevents more from moving in. It’s what actually controls the population,” a representative with Charleston Animal Society said.

Advocates say if cats need to be removed, there is typically a process involving animal control, microchip checks and relocation to a verified rescue or sanctuary.

They say it’s unclear whether those steps were followed in this case.

Cloninger says relocating cats improperly can put them at serious risk.

“They rely on caregivers for food and shelter… so putting them somewhere unfamiliar—they don’t know how to survive. Right now, they could be fighting for their lives,” she said.

For those who cared for them, the situation is personal.

Until more information is released, caregivers say they’re left asking one question: “Where are the cats?”

CHARLESTON — Community members got their first real glimpse at potential designs for future affordable housing that city staff and architects from Europe and Savannah have been working on this week.

The $125,000 week-long design effort is part of Mayor William Cogswell’s housing initiative called Project 3500 that aims to add 3,500 new affordable units by 2032 and redevelop wide swaths of the peninsula.

Most onlookers March 18 marveled at the sketches and mock-ups that embrace Charleston’s historic charm. But some expressed concerns about whether longtime low-income residents currently living at sites the city is targeting will be displaced.

Others wondered whether those residents might not have been able to attend the 5 p.m. weekday event held at the city’s Dock Street Theater downtown.

“This is very much still a work in progress,” Cogswell said adding that critiques about the accessibility of the location were valid.

Before any of the designs are finalized, Cogswell said city staff will go on the road and take them to the neighborhoods where residents will be most impacted.

To meet the city’s ambitious housing goal, Cogswell wants to redevelop nearly 100 acres across the peninsula combining properties the city owns with Charleston Housing Authority sites that were already earmarked for redevelopment, along with land the county owns along Morrison Drive.

Cogswell brought in architects and designers he and other city leaders met during a tour of Europe late last year to help plan and design the targeted sites into communities of density-packed, smaller buildings that look like downtown Charleston, rather than the tall boxy apartment complexes that have popped up along the upper peninsula.

“I’m gravitating toward the designs that keep it looking historic,” said Bri Meyer, a student blacksmith at the American College of the Building Arts. “Beauty shouldn’t dictate what you can afford.”

The city hopes developers, who will eventually take the designs and build them, will partner with the college in an effort to keep building costs down and also keep that future skilled workforce local.

Cassandra Stilley, who is studying stonemasonry, said the city is taking a novel approach by considering historic designs and materials to make new spaces where you can’t tell which apartment is affordable and which is “high end.”

City says it wants feedback, but how will it be documented?

Cogswell began the March 18 open house by saying that the design teams wanted feedback. But there was no way to record any suggestions, compliments or critiques residents brought. Cogswell said they were listening and would incorporate the verbal feedback as they move forward.

On March 16, at the kick-off event, Cogswell was caught off guard when the audience members asked questions about costs and the potential displacement of residents living at the targeted sites.

“It doesn’t feel true to genuine feedback,” said Lin Jay, an organizer with the Friends of Gadsden Creek.

Only a few acres remain of the once vibrant tidal creek that runs near Gadsden Green, one of the housing authority properties that is being redesigned. Jay said mock-up panels on display showed part of the remaining creek filled in and built over, which she said is alarming.

She’s less interested in the designs and called it “shiny stuff.” Her focus is wanting to preserve the natural amenity that the creek provides to the community surrounding it.

“I don’t think anyone’s against affordable housing,” said Margaret Ling, who lives near the Wagner Terrace neighborhood. “But are we actually listening to the people who live there?”

Cogswell has said that adding nearby city properties to the mix allows for a staggered build out, which will also help ensure that those currently living in Housing Authority properties won’t be displaced while the re-development happens.

“This effort is about creating housing that reflects Charleston and works for the people who call it home,” Cogswell said in a statement the city sent after this story published online. “We are committed to a thoughtful process, and we look forward to hearing from residents in the weeks ahead.”

The city plans to distribute comment cards at the final workshop on March 20, launch an online feedback form to collect input from residents across the city, and bring the preliminary design concepts directly into neighborhoods through a series of community meetings and pop-up events, according to the news release.

The week-long workshop will end March 20 with a wrap-up presentation where the design team will show the week’s progress and discuss next steps. That event starts at 5 p.m. at Dock Street Theater, 135 Church St.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect the updated location of the final workshop on March 20, and the city’s response to how it will handle feedback going forward.