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Late Sunday afternoon, our media outlet received reports regarding a pair of alleged sexual assaults – or attempted sexual assaults – on a neighborhood trail in Sanctuary Cove, part of the sprawling Cane Bay community in Berkeley County, South Carolina.

Both victims were underage females. One of the victims was nearly raped, according to our sources.

After the second assault took place, one resident reached out to us expressing concern that local authorities were “telling exactly NO one that there is a potential serial offender assaulting young girls in Cane Bay.”

“They have no problem sending out headlines for every car that has been rummaged through or elderly person that went for a long walk and may be missing … but they don’t find it a good idea to warn people their daughters could be in harms way while on the trails?” the resident asked.

We reached out to our law enforcement sources first thing Monday morning. As our inquiries were making their way up the flagpole, the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO) issued a news release at approximately 4:32 p.m. EST on Monday announcing it was investigating the two assaults – and searching for a specific suspect.

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“On Monday, November 27 just after 8:00 p.m. (EST), Berkeley County dispatch received a call in reference to an assault,” the release noted. “Deputies arrived at the victim’s house to collect information and learned the victim was assaulted. The victim is a 14-year-old female. The victim described to investigators she was attacked from behind. Due to the way the victim was assaulted, she was unable to provide a description to investigators, initially. The investigation determined the victim was assaulted on the trails near Shadybrook Drive and Cane Bay Boulevard.”

The second incident was reported just five days later.

“On Saturday, December 2 just before 7:00 p.m., Berkeley County dispatch received a call in reference to an assault,” the release noted. “Deputies learned the victim was assaulted and dropped her phone during the incident. The victim is a 15-year-old female. The victim was able to get away from the assailant. Deputies located the victim’s phone on the trail behind Bella Vista Court. The victim was able to provide deputies with a description of the man who attacked her.”

According to the sheriff’s office, the suspect being sought in connection with the assault(s) is a “younger white male with facial hair” who has a skinny build and is approximately 5-foot-7 to 5-foot-8 inches tall. BCSO is searching for this suspect with assistance from the S.C. State Law Enforcement Division (SLED).

“We are using every resource possible to identify a suspect and make an arrest,” sheriff Duane Lewis said. “Detectives are working around the clock to complete this investigation. We have also requested assistance from SLED. I am urging all parents and guardians to please not allow your children to walk alone on the trails at night. Please make sure you are aware of your surroundings.”

Lewis said his agency has increased patrols in the area as it continues to investigate the assaults and has asked Cane Bay neighbors to report any suspicious activity to Berkeley County dispatch at 843-719-4169.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …

Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and seven children.

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BERKELEY COUNTY, S.C. (WCBD) – Some residents who live in Cane Bay Plantation say they are frustrated over the lack of lighting on some main roads like Cane Bay Boulevard, specifically in the back of the Berkeley County community where development is relatively new.

One person who we spoke with, and wanted to remain anonymous, said they love living in the neighborhood, but the problem is that they can see very little on the dark roads after the sun sets.

“All they do is give me the runaround. I’ve already contacted everyone,” the resident said.

Frustrated, the resident said she has reached out to the county, community developers, and the homeowner’s association to try and fix the problem.

“When it’s dark like that, and there’s no lighting for miles and miles, somebody’s gonna run into each other. You’ve got high beams coming your way- you can’t see. Or any deer or animal could come out. It’s such long stretches of road,” she said.

The resident believes this is a dangerous problem.

“When you’re trying to come home at night there’s a long stretch of cars behind me and we’re all doing 15 miles per hour because we’re afraid. We can’t see going forward on both sides. It’s like a wilderness. There’s absolutely no light,” she said.

At the front of Cane Bay Plantation, there are regular streetlights in place to keep the road lit up. She wants to see something similar in the rest of the community.

“We love it here,” said Ruben Vacari, who also lives in Cane Bay Plantation. He and his wife have lived in the community since last May.

They enjoy everything about living in the area but agree that some of the main streets in the community are way too dark at night.

“Yes. Driving at night, when we come home in the evenings — when we go to church on Wednesday and Sunday in the evening, it’s dark. Very dark. It would be nice if they did have some streetlamps like they do on the boulevard. There’s a lot of people whose sight is not as good as it used to be,” he said.

Vacari says his builder has been great to work with. He might see if they can help find a solution to the problem as well.

“The builder’s been good to us. He’s come to our aid whenever there’s an issue or anything like that. Maybe this is one thing that they might bring up and take care of.”

News 2 reached out to the county. They tell me the developer would handle lighting in the neighborhood. So, we reached out to Grambling Brouthers, the developer of Cane Bay, and left a message with them.

We also reached out to Associa Carolinas, the management company for the homeowners association at Cane Bay, who said they would have someone get back to us about this issue. We will provide that response here when available.

While Charleston's population is booming with new transplants, the Summerville and Goose Creek areas are developing just as quickly to accommodate the area's growth.

Summerville is located roughly 45 minutes from Downtown Charleston, serving as the ideal location for folks who want to move close to the city without being directly in the middle of the excitement.

Goose Creek is only 35 minutes from Downtown Charleston and is seeing a demographic of young families who hope to live near the city while finding affordable housing and nearby employment.

In recent years, both Summerville and Goose Creek have expanded with the development of several master-planned communities that offer housing, lifestyle, retail, dining, outdoor recreation and so much more. These areas have also developed several new businesses, restaurants, workspaces and corporate offices.

As Goose Creek's economy grows and thrives, many new projects and ventures are on the horizon in this Charleston community, specifically in Carnes Crossroads.

According to Post & Courier writer Barry Waldman's piece about new development in Carnes Crossroads, Carnes is now co-owned by Lennar Builders and Boston-based Freehold Communities, with approval to build about 4,500 homes.

This community is technically only a quarter built, with new projects on the way, such as the concept of "agrihood," a working farm and community gardens. Professional farmers will grow and supply produce, herbs and flowers to the community.

In September 2022, the city of Goose Creek announced a plan for growth in the community, including a walkable space for restaurants, offices and a green lawn for town events. Soon, this multi-planned community that is currently primarily residential with some outdoor amenities will expand to be more similar to larger communities like Cane Bay and Nexton.

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While there are currently a few dining options available, like East Bay Deli, Steel City Pizza Co., and Mi Fiesta, plenty more options will be coming soon as well.

As for business development in Summerville's large Nexton community, according to Warren L. Wise for the Post & Courier, Atelier Downtown Nexton is a new project coming soon to Nexton, planned by an affiliate of New Jersey-based Sharbell Development on 7.5 acres on Brighton Park Boulevard off of U.S. Highway 17A.

Located in the Nexton community, the project will include multiple two-story buildings up to 18,000 square feet. Office, service and commercial space will be for sale or lease.

In addition, The Hub in Nexton is expanding. This project is a collection of office and commercial buildings under development on Nexton Parkway and Brighton Park Boulevard, and new expansions will include commercial tenants Lombardi's Pizza Kitchen, The Co-op Frosé & Eatery, The Backyard Biergarten, Lowcountry Yoga and children's gym KidStrong.

Big things are also happening over at Cane Bay Plantation in Summerville. Buck Investments, led by Eddie Buck, recently paid $13 million for nearly 45 acres on the northwest corner of the future Fair Winds Boulevard intersection at U.S. Highway 176. The buildout of this section will happen over the next four years.

Cane Bay has also been selling multiple large parcels of land for new housing developments as it expands, and the community is now roughly the size of Spartanburg, South Carolina.

More growth and business developments are coming quickly for these three large, multi-planned communities that are shaping up to be more like cities in their own right.

BERKELEY COUNTY, S.C. (WCIV) — Last Tuesday, there was a meeting within the Berkeley County School District to discuss changing attendance lines within the county because of overcrowding in the Cane Bay area.

Although the measure was not voted on, the problem of overcrowding remains within the area.

Berkeley County as a whole has experienced a 34 percent increase in population over the last decade. That’s the second highest rate of any county in the state.

This is partially due to the popularity of the area’s school system and community. It’s why Cane Bay resident Ashley Hill moved to the area two years ago.

“The reason that I like it here so much is because we have a sense of community and how Cane Bay trails, I get to experience that and golf cars and stuff like that,” Hill said.

But the space has started to become crowded. Since 2010, the Cane Bay population has grown from 1,321 people to 12,362 residents.

Right now approximately 75 percent of the land is permitted for expected build-out.

“They are going up so quickly,” Hill said, “It has grown tremendously. The traffic around here has gotten a lot more aggressive. I believe that even with school days, I mean, just trying to figure out how to get into the elementary school or the middle school because they're so close to each other, it makes it difficult for the people who are trying to go to work.”

Cane Bay currently has 5,941 building permits issued and 510 are under construction.

That means the number of residents may grow even more than the current population of 12,000.

There are also 7,950 entitlements for expected build-out in the Cane Bay area.

So that begs the question: Are Berkeley County officials prepared to deal with the growth in the community?

I took that question straight to Berkeley County Supervisor Johnny Cribb and here was his response:

“In the last several years, there's not a whole lot that we've rezoned or approved, but it's really the entitlements that that are out there.”

Cribb says that he hasn’t approved many building permits during his three years in office. But despite that, there are still thousands of permitted builds that have yet to take place.

So I asked him what his plan for the future was.

“If you look at what's going on in the world right now, anybody pretends to know what's going to happen is they're playing make believe,” Cribb said.

He said that the current market place, partially due to the coronavirus pandemic, has made it hard to predict when build-outs will happen and what the area will look like in the future.

Not satisfied with the answer to my question, I went to other officials to get more answers.

I asked the Cane Bay representative of the Berkeley County Council Caldwell Pinckney about the growth in the community.

He said that council does realize the threat the growth in the area has and it will be dealt with eventually. However, he said it has “not gotten to the point where we have had to sit down and talk about it.”

“Even in the most aggressive scenario, [build-outs are] years away. So two or three years, there's no way you could build out all that out in two or three years,” Cribb said.

When asked if a building moratorium would be considered to slow down some of the developments in Berkeley County ,both Cribb and Pinckney said it wasn’t on the table at this time.

Cribb does say that he believes the main solution, and the focus for him right now, is the roadways around the Cane Bay area.

“You put $65 million to widen 176, $82 million for Nexton I-26 interchange, so people would have their own interchange and doing improvements in the community.” Cribb said, “The biggest thing is, for us, almost three years now I have been relentlessly pursuing what I can control. And it's any new things that come in, and frankly, how can we improve the quality of life for the people that have moved out there who are the ones that created the growth.”

Cribb also said he is working with water and sewer officials to prepare for the influx of houses coming in the area.

One question I did pose to Pinckney was if the county would consider utilizing impact fees to help fund the building of new schools in the Cane Bay area. Pinckney said that he does believe impact fees are in place to an extent, but are not covering the whole budget.

But for residents like Hill, they believe that there is a lot being overlooked which only adds to their concern about the future of Cane Bay.

“I'm concerned with the overpopulation. I do not feel like the county has taken any hasn't thought about with all these, you know, kids that are coming in. Where they're supposed to go.”

Spine Road C was completed by Gulf Stream Construction and funded by the developer, Gramling Brothers. This project included the extension of Nexton Parkway and its associated multi-use pathway into the Cane Bay development; completing the third planned leg of the roundabout on Cane Bay Boulevard near Cane Bay area schools; and improving/installing signage, pavement markings, and pedestrian beacons in and around the roundabout.

Spine Road C ties into the U.S. 176/Nexton Parkway Intersection Improvement project, which was completed and opened to traffic in May 2020. The U.S. 176/Nexton Parkway Intersection Improvement project was constructed by Landmark Construction and funded by the County’s One-Cent Sales Tax Program; Infrastructure Consulting and Engineering (ICE) assisted Berkeley County with project management and inspection of the project.

The U.S. 176/Nexton Parkway Intersection Improvement project consisted of the following work: connecting Nexton Parkway to U.S. 176; improvements and turn lanes on U.S. 176; and the associated intersection signalization. The signals were activated today with the official opening of Spine Road C (Nexton Parkway Extension).

There are also plans to widen U.S. 176 from two to four lanes with dedicated turn lanes, from U.S. 17-A to the intersection of U.S. 176 and Nexton Parkway/Nexton Parkway Extension. Berkeley County Council awarded the contract for this additional project, known as U.S. 176 Widening Phase I, at the Council meeting on June 28.

With the opening of Spine Road C comes a much-needed third access point to enter/exit the Cane Bay community. The County is proud that through our beneficial One-Cent Sales Tax Program—which funded the U.S. 176/Nexton Parkway Extension and intersection improvements—and through the help of developers like Gramling Brothers we can continue to provide the community critical public safety and infrastructure solutions to traffic congestion; and in this case, help make the commute to work and schools in the Cane Bay area both safer and quicker for all citizens. -Johnny Cribb, Berkeley County Supervisor

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– Prepared by the Berkeley County Public Information Office –

This project consists of improvements to approximately four miles of Henry E. Brown Jr. Boulevard, from Liberty Hall Road to U.S. 52. See map attached. The project will increase capacity, improve safety, and provide bicycle and pedestrian accommodations. The roadway will be widened from a two-lane section to three-lane section that includes a multi-use path, raised landscaped medians, painted medians, and dedicated left turn lanes at key intersections within the project limits. Montague Plantation Road will be widened from a two-lane section to a four-lane section with a multi-use path and sidewalk. Additionally, the project will include major improvements to the intersection at U.S. 52, Montague Plantation Road, and Old Mount Holly Road.

On June 28, Berkeley County Council awarded the construction contract to J.R. Wilson Company for approximately $23 million. Seamon Whiteside designed the project; Infrastructure, Consulting and Engineering (ICE) will be providing project management and inspection. The project is expected to take three years to complete and will start with clearing the new road right-of-way, the installation of erosion control devices, and utility relocations. The public is urged to drive with caution throughout the duration of the project.

This improvement project is funded from the 2008 and 2014 One-Cent Sales Tax Referendums. Bids for the project were received on June 16, 2021.

For construction updates, visit www.BuildingBerkeley.com.

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-Prepared by the Berkeley County Public Information Office-