Darrell Creek Mt Pleasant (Hanahan: insurance, houses, neighborhoods)

[dillpickles222]

Hi all,

We are planning a move to MP in the next 4-6 months. After visiting several times in the last 4 years, we have narrowed our search down to Carolina Park and Darrell Creek. Our kiddos love Carolina Park (Riverside), but the hubs and I lean more towards Darrell Creek (for the larger lot size). I have a couple questions regarding Darrell Creek...

Flooding- We are currently living in a land locked state, and have minimal experience with flood planes, so any insight is greatly appreciated! Homes we are looking at in Darrell Creek are in an AE zone...one is on stilts, one is not. Is having stilts a deterrent or a positive thing? I’ve heard that people will stay away from homes in stilts, but I would also assume that if a house is on stilts that it is not going to flood?? We will be calling a local Statefarm agent, but would love all opinions.

Kids- I definitely get the impression Carolina Park is stock full of kids, but do you gather that Darrell Creek is as well?

Thanks in advance!

[LocalHero]

Flooding... Darrell Creek only goes back as far as the late 90's so everything is built post-Hugo and will be up the FEMA standards requiring buildings to be above the base flood elevation (BFE). A house "on stilts" (usually referred to as "raised construction") is probably in a flood zone that required it to some extent. That doesn't mean it's ever flooded... it's based on the FEMA maps which aren't always relevant to the real world.

A house that isn't raised is often still built on an "elevated slab" which usually means that the lot was built up so that the house itself will not be susceptible to flooding. In any case, the property should be looked at on a case by case basis to determine the likelihood of flooding as well as the costs of flood insurance (if any). Raised construction has it's pros and cons. It tends to be more expensive per sqft vs a non-raised house, but the footprint under the house, assuming it's at least 7' clearance, is very useful space in my opinion. It has steps to deal with which can be a big negative for some, but otoh, a raised house often has better views and catches more breeze. There are many other factors to consider, but generally, I like a raised house.

As for the neighborhoods, you'll find plenty of kids in Darrell Creek. All of the newer Mt Pleasant neighborhoods seem to be kid magnets and while you might find a slightly higher ratio of kids in one vs another, they all have plenty of kids. I don't think your kids will lack for friends in either of your options.

If it's not obvious, I would lean towards Darrell Creek. I personally prefer the larger lot sizes and I view dealing with Rt 41 for the next several years (until they widen it) as a pretty big negative. Since you've visited, you have a feel for each neighborhood and should have a draw towards one or the other. I'd follow your heart on that.

[WiseManOnceSaid]

Originally Posted by dillpickles222

Hi all,

We are planning a move to MP in the next 4-6 months. After visiting several times in the last 4 years, we have narrowed our search down to Carolina Park and Darrell Creek. Our kiddos love Carolina Park (Riverside), but the hubs and I lean more towards Darrell Creek (for the larger lot size). I have a couple questions regarding Darrell Creek...

Flooding- We are currently living in a land locked state, and have minimal experience with flood planes, so any insight is greatly appreciated! Homes we are looking at in Darrell Creek are in an AE zone...one is on stilts, one is not. Is having stilts a deterrent or a positive thing? I’ve heard that people will stay away from homes in stilts, but I would also assume that if a house is on stilts that it is not going to flood?? We will be calling a local Statefarm agent, but would love all opinions.

Kids- I definitely get the impression Carolina Park is stock full of kids, but do you gather that Darrell Creek is as well?

Thanks in advance!

To piggyback what's been mentioned, I would point out that Carolina Park has a nice section in the rear called Riverside. The homes are on larger lots and are more custom than in the rest of Carolina Park.

Darrell Creek homes typically sit on approx .5 acres and range from $550 to 1.2 million.
Riverside homes sit on .3 acres and are in the $700's and up.

I'm not sure what you're budget is specifically but the homes in Riverside are mostly in the X flood plain, meaning there's no real need for flood insurance on those properties.

Seems like the majority of homes in Darrell Creek are in the AE flood zone, which would require flood insurance.

I only looked at several properties in both subdivisions not all of them. Make sure you do your own due diligence when researching properties.
Both areas are really nice for kids/teens and have a lot going for them.

Just because a property sits in a flood zone, doesn't mean it's ever going to flood there, just that there's a potential. Some areas flood all the time, places like Turkey Creek in Hanahan, which used to be dredged but has been filling up with silt for a number of years now and there's nowhere for the water to go. Once they start dredging it again, the flooding issues should go away.

I have lived here most of my life and we live in an area that for the most part is below or at sea level, so there's always a chance of a flood, but they really just don't happen all that often.

[Ziggy100]

The upside to elevated houses is the massive parking and storage underneath ( that stuff can still flood though).
The downside is paying for flood insurance and hiking groceries up to the 2nd floor.

[dillpickles222]

Thank you all for taking the time to respond! This info is very helpful!