WEST ASHLEY, S.C. (WCBD) – Neighbors who live in Shadowmoss in West Ashley said they are frustrated by the appearance of a flood mitigation project in the center of their neighborhood.

“It’s not anything you want somebody coming to visit you to turn the corner and look at,” said Henry Hicks, a longtime Shadowmoss resident.

The project is led by the City of Charleston. The site on Wolk Drive consists of standing water, pieces of dead trees and overgrown grass. News 2 spoke with resident Michael Lepson in December when he said construction crews left the area untouched and incomplete for months.

Lepson reached back out to News 2 this week with concerns about the outcome of the project.

“They quickly finished it, and again, the finished product is just not something that’s acceptable,” Lepson said on Wednesday. “I mean, anybody looking at this can see it’s just not a good situation.”

People in the neighborhood said they do not believe the space is safe.

“I have two small kids and we don’t want them walking across the street into this,” said Jason Sullivan.

Matthew Fountain, the city’s Director of Stormwater Management, said the project uses green infrastructure to prevent flooding, which is why the plants and dead trees are featured.

He said the work on Wolk Drive is the first of two phases. The second phase will happen across the street and is slated to begin in the fall.

“One of the challenges with any landscaping project is it definitely looks better as it grows in over a few growing seasons. You know, early in the planting, before the bushes and grasses and trees have really had time to get established, it will look a little bit patchy,” Fountain explained.

He said phase two will also address the aesthetic concerns of phase one. Part of this means removing some of the pieces of dead trees in the fall.