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WEST ASHLEY — A popular downtown Charleston beer garden has chosen Bees Ferry Road for its long-awaited expansion.

Bay Street Biergarten, a German- and Southern-influenced restaurant that’s been in operation since 2013, will open a second location in West Ashley, according to Laura Patrick, its chief marketing officer.

The restaurant, which meshes Southern fixings and hospitality with a German bar fare, will post up an expanded spot in West Ashley Circle off Bees Ferry Road, Patrick said. The plan is to open in spring 2027.

“It was about opportunity,” Patrick said. “We had been waiting to have the perfect setup. It was strategic in a way, but also personal. I grew up in West Ashley. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do, and we got a lot of requests to come out to West Ashley.”

Bay Street Biergarten’s original location is at 549 East Bay Street and has been a popular hangout for more than a decade.

Patrick pointed to West Ashley’s rapid growth, including new housing and businesses, as a key reason for choosing the area to expand the highly anticipated second location.

She also praised the proposed mixed-use development where the restaurant will be located.

Comprising more than 15,000 square-feet and featuring five commercial spaces — one of which is reserved for Bay Street Biergarten — 3955 & 3961 West Ashley Circle, located just off of West Ashley’s The Wedge, recently started construction.

“We’re excited about it because that means then we’re part of a little group,” Patrick said. “It’s not like a strip mall. It feels like a very well-built area.”

Bay Street Biergarten’s flagship location is 7,500-square-feet, highlighted by high ceilings, communal tables, a dog-friendly patio and 15 large flat-screen televisions.

The new spot, however, will give Bay Street Biergarten a chance to build its identity from the ground up — literally. Construction for the retail space recently started.

“This is not going to be a replica of the old restaurant,” Patrick said. “It’s just gonna be all the things everybody loves about the old restaurant.”

Patrick said the West Ashley location will be the bigger of the two Bay Street Biergartens, with a larger outdoor area and more televisions.

“We’re still gonna have the same great menu,” Patrick said. “We’re still gonna have live music and trivia, and all the same fun things we have downtown.”

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) — Charleston residents have one final opportunity to give input on the city’s next tourism management plan before a draft is finalized.

Charleston’s tourism plan has not been updated since 2015. The upcoming plan will mark the fourth revision since 1978.

City officials said they are building the new plan around five pillars, with data as a top focus.

Director of Livability and Tourism Amy Southerland said that includes tracking where visitors go, how they travel to the city, how much they spend and where that money is directed.

City leaders said they plan to continue sharing that information with the public on an annual basis. There is a lot of overlap between what the Peninsula plan covers and what the tourism management plan will cover, such as transportation, public spaces and local business. All putting resident needs first.

A big part of this management plan feedback round, is looking at what other places residents believe should gain more traction such as West Ashley and Daniel Island.

Southerland said one of the main topics residents have raised is ensuring the management plan still makes room for them.

“We already have identified that communication and transparency will be important. One of the five pillars that we’re focusing on includes data,” Southerland said. “So, making sure that year-over-year, we are sharing data related to tourism and really showing how it impacts our residents.”

Southerland said residents have told the city they no longer visit some places they once enjoyed because of the impacts of tourism.

“One of the things that we’re hearing from our residents is that they don’t go to some of the places that they once loved because there’s so many people visiting and parking is an issue or they can’t get reservations,” Southerland said. “So, one of the things that we’ve been asking as our visitors, our residents come through is, ‘what would it take for them to come back? How do we get them back to those restaurants, to the shops, to the public spaces again?’”

In the past, Explore Charleston has shared tourism data; now, the city is working so they don’t have to just rely on what Explore Charleston puts out. They will focus on putting out additional data during the tourist season.

The city is hosting its last open input session Thursday from 3 to 6 p.m. at the Charleston Civic Design Center.

Residents who cannot attend Thursday’s session can submit comments through a survey until then.

CHARLESTON — A “critical” flash flood warning is in effect for Berkeley and Charleston counties the night of Oct. 4.

The National Weather Service extended the warning until at least 1 a.m., after earlier extending it from 11 p.m. to midnight.

“This is a dangerous and life-threatening situation,” the NSW warning stated. “Do not attempt to travel unless you are fleeing an area subject to flooding or under an evacuation order.”

More than a dozen downtown streets are closed in certain places, according to the city’s TideEye website. There are two high-water vehicles deployed to help motorists, and the Charleston Fire Department had responded to nine submerged vehicles by 10:30 p.m., city spokeswoman Deja Knight McMillan said in a release.

“Do not drive downtown unless it is an emergency,” McMillan said.

Around 11 p.m., streets south of downtown Charleston's medical district were covered after upward of 3 inches of rain fell, according to local weather monitors. Streets around Ashley Avenue were knee-deep in stormwater that flowed like a river near Cannon Park. A handful of stranded vehicles could be seen around low spots, and a few motorists in SUVs plowed through deep water on Calhoun Street.

An alert just before 9 p.m., which pinged cell phones across the area, came as rain pounded parts of the Lowcountry, including West Ashley, Mount Pleasant and downtown Charleston.

“Doppler radar indicated thunderstorms producing heavy rain across the warned area,” the warning read. “Between 2 and 4.5 inches of rain have fallen. Additional rainfall amounts of 1 to 3 inches are possible in the warned area. Flash flooding is ongoing or expected to begin shortly.”

The agency’s Charleston forecast for Oct. 4 showed showers all day, resulting in a proactive cancellation of two major local events.

North Charleston, Mount Pleasant, downtown Charleston, Daniel Island, James Island, West Ashley, Johns Island, Hollywood, Charleston Naval Complex and Charles Towne Landing might have experienced flash flooding, according to the warning.

When encountering flooded roads, the weather service is warning drivers to turn around, as most flood deaths occur in vehicles.

Streets reported flooded and closed include:

Check the city’s TideEye website for exact locations and further updates.

Tony Bartelme, Teri Errico Griffis and Jason Cato contributed to this report.

Rainfall breaks a 130-year-old record in downtown Charleston as the Lowcountry braces for more wet weather. A popular sushi chain is suing a competitor over an allegedly similar name and menu. Charleston's water utility demolished five homes on James Island to make way for future infrastructure needs.

We're going to catch you up on these and other top stories from The Post and Courier for Monday, Oct. 5.

Rainfall breaks 130-year-old record in downtown Charleston. And it’s still coming.

The National Weather Service recorded 3.64 inches of rain on Oct. 4, breaking the previous daily rainfall record of 2.51 inches set Oct. 4, 1893. Some areas received more than 5 or 6 inches over a 12-hour period, prompting a region-wide flash flood alert around 8 p.m. that warned of dangerous and life-threatening conditions. The flood warning lifted after 1 a.m. on Oct. 5, and all main roads reopened ahead of the morning traffic rush, though some smaller side streets remained closed.

Popular Charleston sushi chain sues new restaurant over its allegedly similar name

Locals Sushi & Sports Pub, which has three locations in Charleston County, filed a lawsuit against Moncks Corner restaurant Rollin Local on Sept. 14, alleging unfair and deceptive trade practices. The suit claims Rollin Local copied menu items, hired former employees with knowledge of Locals' recipes, and used a confusingly similar name to trade on the established chain's goodwill. Locals Sushi & Sports Pub, in operation since 2009, sent a cease-and-desist letter in May, which Rollin Local refused. Trial is scheduled to begin April 12, 2027.

Why were those 5 James Island homes on Harborview Road torn down? The water utility did it.

Charleston Water System demolished five homes on Harbor View Circle this year because the utility determined it would be less expensive to tear them down than maintain them, citing issues like asbestos and mold. The homes were located on a small marsh island adjacent to the Plum Island sewage treatment plant, where CWS has been acquiring for decades in anticipation of future infrastructure expansion. While no immediate plans exist for the site, CWS spokesperson Michael Saia said eventually all homes on the island will need to be demolished.

A $10K strip of grass helps students outside of Charleston County get into CCSD schools — legally

A 12-foot-wide vacant parcel at Romney Street and Athens Court is listed for $10,000 with its primary selling point being "school qualifying purposes." An obscure 1962 South Carolina law allows students to attend school in any district if they own property there with a tax-assessed value of $300 or more, and families have been purchasing cheap parcels to meet this requirement. For the 2026-27 school year, 35 students residing outside the district used this property law to attend Charleston County schools, generating $431,000 in revenue for the district.

Bay Street Biergarten to open 2nd location in West Ashley

Bay Street Biergarten, a German- and Southern-influenced restaurant operating since 2013, will open a second location in West Ashley in spring 2027. The new location will be larger than the flagship downtown restaurant at 549 East Bay St. and will feature expanded outdoor space and more televisions.

CHARLESTON — Celebrity sightings are fairly common in the city these days, but an entire professional basketball team is pretty rare given it’s more than 200 miles to the nearest NBA franchise.

But it’s not the city’s pro facilities, rather a college’s courts that are drawing so many basketball teams here, including the Boston Celtics.

For the first time in nearly 10 years, the NBA team is taking their preseason training camp on the road and that includes a stop at The Citadel.

The Celtics arrived via plane in Charleston the afternoon of Oct. 3, the team posted on Facebook, and began camp at The Citadel’s McAlister Field House on Sunday morning.

One of The Citadel’s major draws is that it can support three full-length basketball courts under the same roof. It’s what brought the Charlotte Hornets here at the end of September.

For the second straight year, the North Carolina team came to the Lowcountry to open their preseason training camp at McAlister Field House.

Besides the Hornets and Celtics, the Philadelphia 76ers (2022) and the New York Knicks (2023, 2024) have practiced at The Citadel in preparation for the regular season.

The Knicks also held preseason practices at the College of Charleston in the early 1990s, even returning for tune-ups before the playoffs — which were dubbed “Camp Riley” after then-coach Pat Riley. The team later returned to campus for preseason workouts in the 2000s.

For the Celtics’ turn, their three-day training camp in Charleston serves as a continuation of their preseason workouts that began in Boston on Sept. 29. The team traditionally practices at the Auerbach Center, the official 70,000-square-foot practice facility and team headquarters in Massachusetts.

At a Sept. 28 media day event, Sports Illustrated reported that head coach Joe Mazzulla spoke about the challenges this season of trying to mesh a team that’s a mix of old and new players, young and seasoned, and how each player plays a part in the dynamic.

He mentioned that it’s been 10 years since the team took training camp on the road and it was time to revisit the idea to change things up.

“A bunch of new guys… really kind of wanted to take a step back, get away, spend time with each other in a different environment,” he told reporters. “It's always good to shake it up a little bit. I think this is my fifth training camp, and the first four were here, and so we're just looking to do something a little different.”

Part of that shake-up includes an intentional look at the Lowcountry military college and how it runs.

“I really enjoy military leadership,” Mazzulla said. “I learn from it a lot. I think it's important. So any chance that we get to do it, we'll try it. Talk to their people there and emphasis on team building. Even if it's not the players, the coaches will try to do that. Military leadership is my favorite."