This site was built by and for the residents of The Ponds Communities in Summerville, South Carolina. It was not developed by Kolter or the community HOA nor endorsed by either.

Currently, there is no official website for residents of all of The Ponds Communities. As a result, residents do not have a good repository for everyday information or to easily disseminate news. Social Media sites tend to turn into fights and arguments and, sometimes, the real value of sharing information gets lost in the arguments.

 

This site is a one-stop repository of information for residents searching for quick answers or information about their community. This site is temporary and will remain until residents take control of the board of directors and have complete control over the content of their own community website. Hopefully by then this site can become the official residents homesite. Just recently, we learned that Kolter has given approval for development of a Ponds Community Association owned and controlled website. It became necessary for the Design Review Board which is using Drop Box with limited free usage. Their vision is to expand it into a site that has some of the features of this site. However, under PCA control, any information added to the site will need authorization first from the PCA and will only contain "sanitized" information. 

 

This website serves the residents of The Ponds Communities in Summerville, SC.  It is intended to help residents understand how their community is evolving while construction is being completed by the developers.

The staff also hopes that it can provide information to residents about an HOA controlled community, its governing documents, how the HOA works and many common questions surround the HOA and our community. We have a lot of content for residents to learn about the history of the land purchased for this community. We also provide a lot of information about the amenities of the community, our events, our clubs and our committees.

The site also permits the elected members of the Homeowners Association to communicate efficiently with the residents about the activities of the Board of Directors and other matters of which residents should be aware without prior approval from the developer.  

The site also will assist homeowners in understanding the issues that face The Ponds Communities as the developers complete their work and prepare for the transition to a community that is governed entirely by an elected board of residents.  These issues include the final mix of single-family homes, town houses and apartments in The Ponds Communities; the presence of retail spaces in The Ponds and what those retail spaces should be; the scope of walking trails, playgrounds and open park spaces in The Ponds; the availability of such amenities as pools, playgrounds, dog parks, and recreational fields; and such other issues as will become apparent as the project nears completion.

All those with a stake in the future of The Ponds Communities are welcome to submit material to the moderator of the site.  In the Contact menu option, residents may e-mail suggestions about information they would like to see or information they would like to add to the site.

The site offers a variety of information that will help to inform discussion about the future of The Ponds Communities.  Some of this information comes from the original Developer's Agreement that launched the Ponds.  Some comes from Dorchester County and its Planning Commission.  Some comes from informed citizens of The Ponds who have invested time and expertise in analyzing the potential future growth and completion of The Ponds Communities.  Some comes from residents with an unusual expertise, perspective or history that is helpful to decision-making.

The site is carefully curated so that it does not resemble a social media site that hosts pitched battles between residents.  Rather, it provides factual and contextual information about the development of The Ponds that produces informed debate and a more educated resident population. However, the site will also have resident opinions placed in a specific page, so it does not coexist with official statements and documents. We wanted to add this ability for residents' voices to be heard in an appropriate way.

The site is a success if it provides a foundation of facts that produces informed debate and satisfactory outcomes for the residents, the County, and the developer. 

The site will continue to expand with additional information as we go forward. The plan is to provide as much background about the original plans for the community, what has happened since the original developer sold their rights and to dispel myths and misinformation as much as possible.

 

We will need your help. We expect that you found out about this site because of flyers that were given, mailed, posted or by some other method. We need you to talk to your neighbors, especially new ones, to pass along this site address. The more residents that have access to the site, the better educated residents will become about the issues.

 

In the Contact menu option, you will have the opportunity to email suggestions about any additional information you might want added to the site. We need your help to build out the content on this site. Do you have answers to questions that you did not know and some of your neighbors or friends provided? Send them to us to add to the FAQ's. Do you have official emails or letters from Dorchester County officials, Kolter officials or HOA representatives that can be shared with the community, email a copy to us. Have ideas for additional content? Email it to us. The more of the community this benefits, the better informed and educated the community becomes. 

 

For all forms, the current versions will be found in the First Service Residential Portal available to all residents:  We hesitate to put any non-public forms or document directly on this site since they are subject to frequent changes and may be considered work product of the HOA and not sharable. We are trying to be very careful not to share items that may be copyright or trademark controlled (unless it is already in the public sector).