Mount Pleasant town leaders are asking residents to weigh in on the future of a longtime green space behind Trident Academy, after the school confirmed plans to sell the property where generations of local kids have played soccer. The fields have been open to the public for decades, even though Trident Academy owns the land, and school leaders allowed the town to use them for years.
Trident Academy's plan to sell the property has raised concerns among residents who have long treated the area as a park-like space, according to WCIV. The proposed redevelopment would turn the green space into 10 homes. Mount Pleasant Town Councilman Jake Rambo, who says he grew up playing soccer at the fields, is pushing for a zoning ordinance change that would require properties like this one to get town council approval before any development, giving residents a formal chance to speak out.
Planning Commission Already Rejected the Plan Once
The town's Planning Commission already denied Trident Academy's development plan in October, according to Live 5 News. That proposal, as recorded by the Mount Pleasant Town Council on October 21, called for 10 lots, 1.7 acres of open space, and removal of 7 historic and 4 significant trees, according to meeting records compiled by openpublica.com. Multiple residents spoke in opposition to the subdivision at that meeting, with one asking the town to evaluate safety and flooding impacts and to explore public acquisition of the land as a rare green-space opportunity, per the same meeting account.
A Trident Academy representative told the council the town had previously declined to buy the land for a park, and argued that 10 homes would generate less traffic than the soccer program's roughly 600 families, according to the meeting notes. The academy says selling the land behind its campus is important to its future, since proceeds would help it reacquire its own school buildings — something it called a strategic priority, per Live 5 News.
A Donation With Disputed Origins
The land's history carries extra weight for neighbors who view it as more than just a field. WCIV reports that the Deighton family donated the property to Trident Academy, with the gift intended to help the school serve future students with dyslexia. However, the Post and Courier has reported that land for the school's current location was donated by Bill Detyens in 1973 — an account that does not fully align with WCIV's. Trident Academy has said it values the green space and has shared the fields with the community over the years.
Trident Academy's interim head of school, Hacker Burr, said residents may naturally be upset about seeing their park-like space turned into homes, particularly if they don't know the property's background or that it is privately owned, per WCIV. According to Burr, the academy previously explored selling the property to the town, but then-mayor Will Haynie told school leaders at the time that a sale to the town wasn't possible. Haynie did not respond to a request for comment from WCIV.
Town Says It Could Still Make a Deal
Rambo said Mount Pleasant has very little recreational space left for children and argued the town should work to preserve what remains, telling WCIV that a compromise with Trident Academy could protect the green space for future generations. Town officials say Mount Pleasant has the resources to explore purchasing the property and would be interested in acquiring it if a deal can be reached, according to the station's report.
It would not be the first time the town has stepped in to buy land for public purposes. In 2021, Mount Pleasant voted to proceed with a contract to buy nearly 33 acres in Carolina Park for $6.5 million, according to the Post and Courier, with just three votes cast against the deal at the time.
Not the Only Green Space Fight in Town
The Trident Academy debate is unfolding alongside other development fights in Mount Pleasant over how much green space new housing should preserve. A Mount Pleasant committee recently delayed a separate proposal for 87 townhomes at Oakland Plantation, voting on November 2 to defer the project until the following month's meeting while raising concerns about the number of homes, the amount of green space that would remain, and the mix of housing options, according to Live 5 News. A previously approved project nearby included 43 townhomes on about 7.5 acres while preserving nearly half the property as green space, the outlet reported.
Town records also show the Trident Academy site has seen smaller-scale changes in the past. The Board of Zoning Appeals approved two temporary mobile classrooms there in July 2016, and town staff noted an earlier temporary-use permit for two mobile classrooms at the same location had been approved in June 2005, according to the Town of Mount Pleasant's archived records. For now, the fields remain in limbo as the town weighs whether it can strike a deal to keep them open for the community that has used them for decades.
