Review our agendas and minutes listing. Agendas are posted prior to the meeting date and minutes are available after approval at the following meeting.
The best way to find out if you are in the Town is to check the County GIS system. You can search for your property fastest by Tax Map Number (TMS), however, you can also search by your address.
You can also review a Town boundary map or call Town Hall for assistance at (843) 795.4141.
The Town has an agreement with the Charleston County Sheriff's Office and has formed the Island Sheriff's Patrol in addition to the County Sheriff and the City of Charleston Police Department patrols. For more information Island Sheriff's Patrol
ALWAYS CALL 911 IN AN EMERGENCY
The Charleston County Sheriff's Office Non-Emergency phone number is (843) 743-7200
To operate a business in the Town of James Island it is necessary to have a Town of James Island Business License. You can APPLY ONLINE or contact Melissa Flick at mflick@jamesislandsc.us or by calling Town Hall at (843) 795-4141.
The answer to this question depends on your property's flood zone and risk. You might be required to purchase a federally mandated amount of Flood Insurance from the FEMA National Flood Insurance Program while your property is under a loan. Even if you are not required to have flood insurance, you may want to consider adding it to your policy.
You can report any concerns you see to the Town by calling us at (843) 795-4141 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday or online through our request portal anytime. See the Tips for Reporting Issues page for helpful information!
Your property taxes and vehicle taxes are paid to Charleston County. There are several County online services available, or you can contact the County Treasurer's Office at (843) 958-4360.
A setback is a required minimum distance from a lot line or street right-of-way that establishes an area within which a structure shall not be erected. This term is used to describe front, side, rear, and interior distances on a property lot and vary with the zoning district, roadway, or other zoning elements. Setbacks may or may not be indicated on your property plat; and they may have changed since your plat was filed.
Plats and Deeds are recorded and archived at the Charleston County Recorder of Deeds (ROD) office. If the ROD has them in electronic format, you may be able to search for them online. You will need information for what you are looking for and may need to visit the Charleston County GIS site to obtain book and page numbers. If they are not online, you should call the County at (843) 958-4800 to see if they have the files.
Recorded plats are the official documents of your property and may show items such as easements, setbacks, acreage, property lines, and other dimensions. Recorded deeds are the official record of ownership of your property.
A Comprehensive Plan is the Town's development roadmap and is created by studying existing conditions, developing preferred alternatives and priorities, and identifying real-world and attainable strategies to help the Town obtain its vision. There are ten required elements that every South Carolina Comprehensive Plan must have – population, housing, economic development, community facilities, natural resources, cultural resources, land use, transportation, priority investment, and resiliency. This ensures that the Comprehensive Plan addresses land development issues, capital projects, resource preservation, accessibility, and other governmental decisions and market forces that might impact the Town. In South Carolina, communities are required to prepare new Comprehensive Plans every 10 years. For more information, see the Municipal Association of South Carolina website and the Town of James Island Comprehensive Plan.
A right-of-way is property that is owned by the Town or other agency for access, utilities, or some other public purpose. It is not an easement, but is owned by the agency to which it was dedicated.
You can report a maintenance issue by calling Town Hall at (843) 795-4141, Monday through Friday, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. or you can submit requests and issues through our online portal. Please see our Work Order Request page for more information.
An easement gives certain people or agencies a right to use a portion of property for a specific purpose. Common easements are for access, utilities, or drainage, but the easement is only for that stated purpose. An easement does not change the ownership of the underlying property.
A drainage easement gives an agency (like the Town), the right to use a part of your property for drainage system elements or structures.
The agency granted an easement does not own the property, nor does it have any responsibility to maintain the vegetation on the property. The property owner is responsible for maintaining vegetation.
An easement owner has the right to enter your property to inspect their system and perform maintenance of their system elements. If you have encroached on the easement with structures (commonly a fence), it will have to be removed at your cost. The easement owner does not have to replace anything you have constructed on the easement.
The Town of James Island works with Dominion Energy to maintain the streetlights within the Town's jurisdiction. Click below if you would like to report a street light maintenance issue.
The Third Thursday of each month at 7:00 PM in the Council Chamber at Town Hall. See the Town Council page for more information such as agendas and minutes.
