Melinda Lucka Kelley
North Charleston, South Carolina
Of Counsel, since 2010
phone
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843-214-8266
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fax
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843-405-1319
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Melinda Kelley has been a member of the South Carolina Bar since 1992.
Originally from Tampa, Florida, Ms. Kelley has lived in South Carolina
since 1974. After graduating from the University of South Carolina in
1979, Ms. Kelley worked in the field of municipal and county planning
in the public and private sectors, until going to Law School in 1987 (Cumberland
School of Law and the University of South Carolina School of Law). While
in Law School, Ms. Kelley worked as an expert witness in planning and
zoning cases in state and federal courts, and served as a judicial extern
with Alabama State Supreme Court Justice Richard "Red" Jones
and an intern with attorney Doug Coretti, Coretti & Newsome, PA. Upon
completion of law school, she began practicing law in Charleston, primarily
in the administrative areas of land use law, environmental law, real property
law, municipal/local government law, and in the area of Wills, Estates,
and Probate.
Ms. Kelley represents individual and business landowners, homeowners and
property owners associations, and local government entities in administrative
hearings and appeals brought before local Commissions, Boards, and Councils,
and cases in the Administrative Law Courts, Circuit Courts, and the Appellate
Courts in South Carolina. She has served as municipal attorney for the
Town of Lincolnville, S.C. since 2003, was past planning director and
attorney for the Town James Island, (1993-1996), was a prosecuting attorney
for misdemeanor criminal cases for the City of Charleston (1997-2016).
Ms. Kelley is a member of the adjunct faculty at the College of Charleston,
having taught Land Use Law and Water Use Law in the Urban Studies Program
since 1994. She was appointed as Program Director for Urban Studies in
2018, and directs the Practicum/Internship Program for Urban Studies majors.
She has been a course instructor for the South Carolina Bar, Lorman Educational
Services, the South Carolina Bar, SCDHEC, The Seminar Group, the National
Business Institute, and the SC Chapter of the American Planning Association.
Ms. Kelley has written/co-written local government Zoning Ordinances, and
has contributed to the drafting and preparation of Comprehensive Plans.
She is an approved instructor, pursuant to S.C. Code 6-29-1310 et seq.,
through the S.C. State Advisory Committee on Educational Requirements
for Local Government Planning and Zoning Officials and Employees and the
Municipal Association of South Carolina for the continuing education instruction
of local government planning and zoning officials and employees in South
Carolina, and has served as Chair and Vice Chair of the Wadmalaw Island
Land Planning Committee.
Prior to joining Finkel Law Firm LLC in 2010, Ms. Kelley practiced law
with C.C. "Cotton" Harness, III from 2006-2010, was "of
counsel" in the Charleston office of Austin & Rogers, P.A., and
in private practice in Charleston from 1992-2006.
Areas of Practice:
- Land Use Law
- Local Government Law
- Zoning variances, rezoning requests, and appeals of zoning decisions
- Pre-litigation Mediations for Zoning Appeals
- Land subdivision and development disputes
- Easement and right-of-way issues
- Homeowner Association zoning disputes
- Coastal and wetlands issues
- Preservation and environmental protection of land
- Boundary disputes
- Inverse condemnations/takings
- Wills, Estates, and Probate
- Has Qualified and served as Expert Witness in Planning, Zoning, and Land Use Law
- Canon and Ecclesiastical law
Bar Admissions:
Education:
- JD: Cumberland School of Law/University of South Carolina 1990
- BA: University of South Carolina 1979 Urban Studies/Geography and Comparative
Religion/Philosophy
Classes/Seminars Taught:
- Land Use Law, Water Use Law. College of Charleston Adjunct Faculty/Urban
Studies: 1994 - Present
- Land Use Law Update, S.C. Municipal Attorneys CLE: 1996
- Health care issues in South Carolina, S.C. Patient Advocates Association: 2002
- Planning and Zoning Law Update and Advanced Planning and Zoning, Lorman
Educational Services: 2001 – 2007
- Issues in SC Planning and Zoning, National Business Institute: 2011
- Cases and Statutory Updates in Planning and Zoning, SC Bar: 2012
- Continuing Education for various Local Government Zoning Boards: 2017-2023
- Laws and History of Wetland Regulations in South Carolina, SCDHEC: 2021
- Legal update: Local Government Procedural Consistency with the South Carolina
Comprehensive Planning Act, SC Chapter American Planning Association: 2021
- Land Use Law – Planning for Growth and Sustainability in Suburban
Areas/Rural Preservation/Tools that Encourage-Discourage Growth, The Seminar
Group: 2022
Professional Associations and Memberships:
- South Carolina Bar
- Charleston County Bar Association
- South Carolina Municipal Attorneys Association
- South Carolina Chapter-American Planning Association Executive Committee (SCAPA)
- American Planning Association-Land Use Law division
- Past member -South Carolina Bar Continuing Legal Education Seminar Committee
- Ecclesiastical Law Society
- Past Chair of the Harmony Project Board of Directors, a non-profit organization
emphasizing neighborhood revitalization and sustainability.
- Past member of the Charleston Promise Neighborhood Working Group
Ancillary Website:
Practice Area:
Land Use and Local Government Law
Our firm handles administrative and regulatory matters related to municipal
and county annexation, zoning, planning, and permitting issues, including
zoning variances, rezonings, subdivision regulation issues, and related
development and development preservation matters. Melinda Lucka Kelley,
'of Counsel' with the firm, has had over 30 years experience representing
individual, corporate/LLC landowners, HOA's, and local governments
that have such issues that come before Zoning Boards, Planning Commissions,
and City and County Councils, along with appeals and related litigation
resulting from Board and Council decisions. Ms. Kelley also handles Title
6-29 Pre-litigation Dediation for zoning appeals and expert witness work
on land use cases in state and federal courts.