Porch Construction in Walterboro, SC

COLLETON COUNTY, S.C. (WCSC) — Two Walterboro convenience stores and their owners are now facing legal action from two families who claim the alcohol the stores sold to a teen led to the death of their loved one.

Hunter Williams, 19, is charged with felony DUI involving death and felony DUI causing great bodily harm. This accident in September 2024 took the life of Emma Lake, 9, and severely injured Lacy Wiggins, 10.

He is also facing two additional charges of purchasing alcohol as a minor.

Williams was denied bond during his original hearing in October 2024 and was denied bond again the following March. This came after a judge ruled that “nothing had changed,” even after he had a psychological evaluation.

The families have also filed a wrongful death suit.

Now, the two stores accused of selling Williams that alcohol are involved, after attorney Mark Tinsley filed civil suits against them on behalf of both families.

“People recognize when there’s a place in town that is known for the place where underage kids can buy alcohol,” Tinsley said. “...I would like to think that that is becoming a thing of the past. ... But unfortunately, they still exist.”

Tinsley says Sidney’s Road Convenience Store on Sidney’s Road and SV Mart #2 on North Jefferies Boulevard in Walterboro are two of those places.

“I hope they all get put out of business,” Tinsley said. “I don’t think there’s a fine steep enough. I don’t think that there’s monetary sanction high enough that anybody would trade places with the Lake family.”

The filing states the employees failed to verify his age and check his ID before selling the alcohol. It also claims the defendants “acted in accordance and as part of a corporate plan to knowingly sell alcohol to underage people.”

Tinsley says the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division was able to obtain video showing Williams in those stores purchasing the alcohol that night.

Emma Lake’s mother, Tamara Lake, says driving drunk is a choice.

“As a result of Emma’s death, I really hope that all business owners can take from this how important it is to follow all of the rules and obey laws in regards to selling minors alcohol,” Lake said. “It’s very, very important to do it the right way to avoid more tragedy.”

The intersection where Pleasant Grove Road meets Jefferies Highway, where the deadly crash happened, has also been dedicated in Emma Lake’s name.

“It helps me to know that Emma can still make a difference,” Lake said. “That all of this was not for nothing. And that Emma can have a purpose. And make her death meaningful instead of just a terrible, terrible tragedy to have to live through.”

Defense attorney Scott Bischoff, who represents Williams, did not want to comment at this time.

Defense attorney Michael Trask, who represents some of the other defendants, also did not want to comment. Another attorney, Cordes Kennedy, did not respond.

“This is mainly about making the world a better place,” Tinsley said. “A safer place.”

Williams remains in custody at the Colleton County Detention Center.

Walterboro, a hidden gem known to locals, lies 50 miles from Charleston and makes a great location for a long weekend getaway. Aside from offering loads of history and charm, Walterboro is also exceptionally hospitable. The town’s residents love sitting down with visitors over a cup of sweet tea to tell them all about their beautiful home. This place was once a summer retreat for agriculturists and farmers, including the Walter brothers, who eventually settled in Hickory Pine. Walterboro was named for them, and today you can enjoy the historic downtown and museum and experience the renowned hospitality for yourself in this popular town.

The Town That Gathers Together

To get the first-hand hospitality experience, time your visit to coincide with the annual Colleton County Rice Festival. In 2026, the event will be held between April 24 and 25 in downtown Walterboro. Expect arts and crafts, a queen of the Rice Festival pageant, a fun parade, and a 5K run. The festival includes fireworks and great food. While you are downtown, you can also visit the Colleton Museum and Farmers Market, where you can buy fresh produce and excellent locally produced honey and mingle with residents.

Shopping in Downtown Walterboro

Walterboro is a small town with around 5,500 residents, but it is very big on Southern shopping. There are several downtown shops where you will find everyday items, gifts, and delicious food. Twig sells home décor and gifts that make perfect mementos from your trip. If you want more options, head over to Downtown Envy, which consists of four buildings with more than 50 vendors. If you love antiques and vintage items, you will easily spend several hours here.

At the Golden Daffodil, there are more antiques for sale, and at the South Carolina Artisans Center, you can peruse the art of more than 300 of the state's best artists. At first glance, you might think you are in an art gallery, but the center is a retailer that offers visitors and locals the opportunity to buy artwork and unique décor. In all of these downtown shops, you will find friendly staff ready to help you find what you are looking for.

Where to Eat in Walterboro

If you get hungry while exploring Walterboro, your first stop should be Olde House Café for warm Southern hospitality and authentic Southern cuisine. The Café is well-known for its homemade buffet, which includes fried chicken, brisket, banana pudding, and cobbler. The portions are generous and the servers attentive and welcoming. If you need comfort food or a nostalgic treat, try the homemade macaroni and cheese. If you are in the mood for seafood or a scrumptious steak, stop by Fat Jack’s for a great meal and top it off with an even better cocktail.

Going Beyond Downtown

There is much more to see and experience in Walterboro beyond the downtown shops and restaurants. At the Walterboro Wildlife Center, you can explore an interpretive exhibit hall featuring displays on local plant and animal life. Or you can go on a nature tour at the Ernest F. Hollings ACE Basin National Wildlife Refuge, forty minutes away from downtown Walterboro. This refuge was established to protect the undeveloped estuary along the Atlantic Coast.

The Bear Island Wildlife Sanctuary is also about 40 minutes from downtown and offers one of the best bird-watching areas in the state. There are several miles of dikes here, as well as two observation decks from where you can watch the wildlife. At the Donnelley Wildlife Area, you can see more wildlife and enjoy a picnic as you look out of the marsh and wetlands. There are also two hiking trails and several miles of dirt road for bicyclists. You can even go kayaking or canoeing on the Edisto River, around 20 minutes away from town.

More Outdoor Fun and Adventure

If you want to go camping, head to Colleton State Park, only eighteen minutes north of Walterboro. The park spans 35 acres and is the smallest state park in the state. You have access to the river within the park, as well as ample space for RVs and tents. You can also hike inside the park on the Cypress Swamp Nature Trail. This trail leads through a wetland where you can see various species of fish, birds, and reptiles. After your hike, you can relax on the river shore and fish for catfish and bream. Keep in mind you need a valid SC fishing license.

If you want to stay close to downtown Walterboro, you can spend a couple of hours in Gladys Whiddon Park, which features a playground and plenty of green spaces. You can even feed the ducks and geese. When you have had your fill of outdoor fun, you can catch a new release at Ivanhoe Family Cinemas on Ivanhoe Road.

Nearby Towns to Explore

More hospitality awaits in the small Lowcountry town of Yemassee, around twenty miles away from Walterboro. Yemassee is tiny but has a fascinating history and boasts rural Southern character. A must-see is the nearby old Sheldon Church Ruins. This striking 18th-century Greek Revival site sits among old oak trees, providing an ideal backdrop for photographers. You can also learn more about the town’s history at the Frampton Plantation and Auldbrass Plantation, ten minutes away from town.

Around an hour drive away lies Moncks Corner, a welcoming town known as the gateway to outdoor adventure in the Santee Cooper region. Its top attractions include Cypress Gardens and Old Santee Canal Park, which is the country’s oldest canal system. The gardens comprise a 195-acre botanical and wildlife preserve with swamp trails and boardwalks, as well as a Butterfly House. The gardens were also a filming location for the film The Notebook.

A Hearty Southern Welcome Awaits in Walterboro

Walterboro is much more than an overnight stop between larger cities. It is an excellent small-town destination where you will find the best of Southern hospitality. Whether you want to explore historic buildings or have a fun couple of days outdoors in nature, there are friendly locals around every corner to guide you to the best places to see and experience. Walterboro is a fantastic getaway from the rush of everyday life, and once there, you will find yourself surrounded by a community built on kindness and warmth. Walterboro is always ready to welcome travelers and visitors with open arms.

South Carolina's state and local governments should be increasingly wary of luring data centers here, given their exorbitant appetite for electricity as well as water to cool their circuitry. We have argued against extending incentives, such as property tax breaks, to attract them, given that their paltry number of new jobs doesn't offset their significant environmental impact.

But when a massive data center is proposed at the headwaters of the ACE Basin — one of South Carolina's most cherished and protected landscapes — there should be yet another level of wariness and concern and opposition.

That's why the Colleton County Zoning Board of Appeals must reject a special exception that would help clear the way for an 859-acre data center campus that would feature nine buildings off Cooks Hill Road, south of Walterboro.

Unfortunately, as reporters Jonah Chester and Lydia Larsen noted, Colleton County Council previously streamlined the approval process for such projects, so the board's decision may be all that stands in the way of a project that would irrevocably alter Colleton's rural character.

The email sent to the Board of Zoning Appeals by the Southern Environmental Law Center on behalf of itself and 10 other environmental and civic-minded nonprofits sums up our concerns over this ill-conceived project: "Data centers do not belong in the ACE Basin. ... The 1.7-million-acre ACE Basin watershed, positioned around the Ashepoo, Combahee, and Edisto rivers, is one of the largest areas of undeveloped wetlands and uplands ecosystems remaining on the Atlantic Coast. ...

"In South Carolina, there is significant support for and belief in the proposition that not every square inch and not all parts of our state should be developed or industrialized. There are certain areas of South Carolina, including the ACE Basin, that are so ecologically, historically, and culturally important that they must be protected against incompatible land use in order to preserve our state’s natural heritage and identity."

More specifically, we also agree with the memo's statement that a large data center would clash with the recommendations in Colleton County's comprehensive plan and underlying zoning, and that it would harm the character of surrounding properties.

As Taylor Allred of the Coastal Conservation League tells us, "Massive windowless buildings with a constant buzzing hum don’t evoke natural beauty and wildlife habitat that is found in the ACE Basin."

Anyone following the stock market knows it has soared this year largely because of enthusiasm over the small group of corporations at the vanguard of creating and marketing artificial intelligence (before these same companies helped drag it lower recently); the demand for new data centers is a direct result of this economic excitement, and most states outside South Carolina also are grappling with the demand to build ever more of them. Two months ago, the same developers now eyeing Colleton County withdrew a rezoning application for a 1.8 million-square-foot data center in Jones County, Georgia.

By suggesting (but not specifying) that their data center would create 500 jobs in Colleton County, the developers seem to be banking on Colleton officials being ignorant about how these centers actually operate. "That would be game-changing for data centers if it were true," Mr. Allred notes. In fact, though, “it likely would employ only 25 to 30 people, probably brought in from Texas and California. They're not going to go out one day and hand six-figure jobs to Colleton County residents who don't know how data centers work."

A 900-acre data center at this site not only would use massive amounts of water and energy but also would create significant stormwater runoff, just a few miles north of the Ashepoo River's headwaters. As the environmental groups point out, the county has virtually no information regarding how much water or energy the center would need or how it plans to get it. The county doesn't know how much pollution it would create or how much environmental harm there would be during its construction or operation.

The Zoning Board of Appeals will take up the data center proposal at 5:30 p.m. today at 494 Hampton St., and we urge those who share our views to appear.

The ACE Basin is a South Carolina jewel and one of the East Coast's last great unspoiled places. And while its conservation has been a remarkable success story during the past three decades, all involved in that success know that they cannot rest on what has been accomplished to date. Its protection and conservation remain very much a work in progress.

That work not only includes securing more conservation easements and placing additional lands in public hands; it also must involve protecting the ACE Basin by preventing any incompatible and environmentally damaging uses right next door.

WALTERBORO, S.C. (WCSC) — A controversial proposal for an 850-acre data center property in Colleton County went before the Zoning Board of Appeals Thursday night, where residents voiced opposition to the project during a public hearing.

The massive data center proposal has already received approval from the county council, but the project requires special approval from the zoning board because it would be built outside of the current zoning code.

The proposed artificial intelligence data center would be built south of Walterboro in the ACE Basin area and around other water resources for the surrounding community members.

Resident Richard Burke questioned how the county has already progressed this far in the process with plans for the center.

“It went quietly through three readings, which is how it gets approved, but the body of the legislation was never published, was never put in an agenda, was never put in any minutes. So, the public, to my knowledge, has never seen it until it’s passed,” Burke said.

In response to concerns about water impact, the developer said modern data centers leave smaller environmental footprints and would not impact the general welfare of community members.

“A condition of approval is, if we were to secure one, would be to have a closed-loop non-evaporative cooling system. What that is water cools the data center. It goes outside through a flat plate heat exchanger. The heat is rejected out to the environment. Electricity is used to re-cool that water and sent back inside. Meaning that there is no daily refill of that water,” the developer said.

The developer also said the data centers would create potentially 450 job opportunities for Colleton County citizens.

“Some of the rhetoric that you will hear is that there’s nobody in Colleton County skilled for those jobs, and people are going to be coming in from California to take those. Just not the case. This is all net new growth for our AI industry for our country. Those jobs are not held by somebody else. This is not a relocation. This is new growth,” the developer said.

Burke said the proposed location is inappropriate for industrial development.

“This is the headwaters of the Ashepoo River. This is the headwaters of the ACE Basin. This is a protected area that is under conservation easement. This location will touch the Isaiah United Methodist Church. And this is just not an area that is consistent with this type of development under any scenario,” Burke said.

The developer says they are following in the footsteps of responsibly developing, exampling Google in Goose Creek.

“The site is 859 acres, of which there are 234.5 acres of wetland. We are not touching, going in, or disturbing 233 of those acres. The areas that we are developing are already harvested forest areas or monoculture forests that have been in place for a while, behind significant buffers. So, that covers water, covers power, covers the ecology. Not completely, I know there’ll be objections.”

Multiple residents said few or no county council members were present at the special hearing.

A board member said the meeting on whether to grant the special exception will be posted on the Colleton County website and also says they will pass along community concerns about posting agendas to county staff.

WALTERBORO — A large new data center campus soon could be coming to this Colleton County community, and some community members and conservation groups worry that it could drive up energy costs and harm one of the state’s most pristine ecosystems.

Colleton County’s Zoning Board of Appeals on Dec. 18 will hold a public hearing for a proposed an 859-acre data center campus, which would include nine buildings on Cooks Hill Road, just southeast of downtown Walterboro. Approval from the Zoning Board of Appeals is the last procedural hurdle for the project before it’s officially approved, said Robby Maynor, a climate campaign associate for the Southern Environmental Law Center, which opposes the project.

The vote on the data center comes after Colleton County Council created a process that allows for swift approval of such projects. It’s a system that Maynor, a Walterboro resident, said offers minimal opportunities for community oversight.

Under the new policy, finalized in November, Colleton County made data centers in rural areas allowable as a “special exception,” meaning they can be approved in a single vote by the Zoning Board of Appeals. That means members of the public have less opportunity to learn about these projects, assess their impacts, organize an opposition effort and challenge officials, should they choose to do so, he said.

In October, the same developers withdrew a rezoning application that would have allowed them to build a 1.8 million-square-foot data center in Jones County, GA.

“I don’t think many people knew about these kind of wonky changes to the zoning code,” Maynor said. The data center, he said, does not undergo multiple readings for a special exception request.

Colleton County staff did not return more than half a dozen emails and calls requesting comment from The Post and Courier.

Faith Rivers James, executive director of the Coastal Conservation League, said the conservation community across the state was concerned about how fast the development plan was moving through Colleton County’s government approval process. But she wasn’t surprised, she said.

“We’re always on guard at the end of the year because many developers try to slip through proposals while they think people are distracted by the holidays,” James said, adding that large properties near the site are protected by conservation easements.

The proposed data center sits at the head of the ACE Basin, an ecologically sensitive area of wetland ecosystems defined by the Ashepoo, Combahee and Edisto Rivers.

“ This area is an important corridor in the ACE Basin, where there has been decades of land conservation work,” Maynor said. “ I'm biased. I live in Walterboro and I've been in the Lowcountry my whole life. If there is one place in the state of South Carolina where we should not be putting data centers, this is the place.”

In its special exception application for the project, the developers said the construction and operation of the center will create 500 new jobs in the county, although they don’t specify what those jobs are, and more than 1,000 temporary construction jobs over the next few years. The document said more than half of the 859 acres on campus will be undisturbed, including 99-percent of the property’s wetlands.

Eagle Rock Partners, one of the developers on the project, did not return an interview request by deadline.

Data center details ‘very limited’

Maynor said information about the project’s impact on the area is “very limited,” even as final approval could come this week. Ahead of the meeting, the data center is drawing increasing scrutiny from community members concerned about its environmental and economic repercussions.

The recently updated S.C. Water Plan is meant to guide the state’s water usage as South Carolina’s population grows, but even its authors aren’t certain of data centers’ cumulative impact on the state’s waters. South Carolina officials don’t have a particularly strong grasp on how many data centers the state even hosts, The Post and Courier previously reported. Tech companies don’t often disclose a data center’s water usage, citing trade secrets.

Depending on their size, data centers can use anywhere from 100,000 to 1.4 billion gallons of water annually, according to the Water Plan. At Google’s data centers, for example, 80 percent of that water is used “consumptively” and won’t be returned to the ecosystem. The Walterboro center isn’t related to the tech company.

"Changes to water demands from energy production facilities and from the growing industry associated with data centers represent an uncertainty with the current projections,” the plan states. “Future updates to River Basin Plans and the State Water Plan will include revisions to these projections based on the ever-changing state of development."

Frank Knapp, president and CEO of the S.C. Small Business Chamber of Commerce called that approach “a plan to make a plan” and “kicking the ball down the road.” Knapp’s group has previously opposed the construction of data centers — including the one planned in Colleton County — over concerns that the operations drive up energy costs for small businesses.

In Knapp’s view, any economic development opportunities the centers might provide don’t outweigh their cost to local residents and business owners. Utilities foot the bill to build out additional energy infrastructure to service the centers, and then proceed to pass the cost of those projects on to ratepayers.

“Small business owners don’t need to be subsidizing Google, Meta and these other big tech companies,” Knapp said. “They ought to be paying their own way. I mean, this stuff is not free.”

Earlier this year, Santee Cooper, the state-owned electrical utility, adopted a new experimental rate that would, among other things, require data centers to pay higher service costs and sign a 15-year guaranteed payment contract with the utility. Santee Cooper will review the policy in 2029 to determine whether to extend it.

But that policy only applies to direct-serve customers, the utility told The Post and Courier in October. It does not apply to areas serviced by electrical co-ops, which buy electricity wholesale from Santee Cooper. A Santee Cooper spokesperson confirmed via a Nov. 15 email that the proposed data center falls outside of their retail service territory.

“So here we have this giant energy user being planned for the Colleton County area, so the co-op would have to supply the energy,” Knapp said. “What does that mean? Where is that coming from? They’re going to basically pass on any new generation costs to everybody else.”

Shortly after the zoning code rule change was adopted by Colleton County Council, Santee Cooper paid about $1.2 million for a 99-acre plot of land on the same tax parcel as the yet-to-be-approved data center campus. Per a Nov. 20 deed of sale, Santee Cooper aims to build a new electrical substation on the property.

Center could be ‘big blow’ to ACE Basin

The data center sits in the upstream portion of the ACE Basin, a swath of land south of Charleston that has been the focus of decades of conservation work. Taylor Allred, the energy and climate program director for the Coastal Conservation League, said the data center would be “a big blow to the ACE Basin.”

“It’s loud and it’s noisy, and it would entirely change the rural character of that area,” he said.

The data center proposal is part of an even larger set of concerns that include the construction of a new gas-fired power station and a large pipeline to supply it, Allred noted. Santee Cooper and Dominion Energy on Dec. 16 moved to gain final approval for the Canadys gas plant. That proposal will be considered by the S.C. Public Service Commission in the coming months.

The power plant, pipeline, data centers, transmission lines and traffic that would be required will “anchor a massive industrialization of the ACE Basin,” widely regarded as one of South Carolina’s great conservation success stories.

The Zoning Board of Appeals will take up the data center proposal at 5:30 p.m. Dec. 18 at 494 Hampton St. in Walterboro. The time and date of the meeting was revised late Dec. 16.

Tony Bartelme contributed reporting.

Editors note: This story has been updated to reflect the new time and date of the meeting, as well as clarify that the meeting will be a public hearing.