Melinda Lucka Kelley

Urban Studies Director

Originally from Tampa, Florida, Melinda Lucka Kelley has lived in South Carolina since 1974. After graduation with a B.A. in Geography/Urban Studies emphasis and Religious Studies from the University of South Carolina, Professor Kelley worked in the field of municipal and county planning, in the public and private sectors, until going to Law School. While in Law School, she served as expert witness in planning and zoning cases in state and federal courts, and had a judicial internship with Alabama State Supreme Court Justice Richard "Red" Jones. Upon completion of Law School with a J.D. Degree, she began practicing law in Charleston, primarily in the administrative and regulatory areas of local government law, land use and environmental law, real estate law, and wills, estates, and probate administration. Professor Kelley has been a member of the South Carolina Bar since 1992 and has represented business owners, residential property owners, homeowners' associations, and local government entities in administrative and regulatory cases brought before local Commissions, Boards, and Councils, and the Administrative Law Courts, Circuit Courts, Probate Courts, and the Appellate Courts in South Carolina. Melinda has served as municipal attorney for the Town of Lincolnville, S.C. since 2003, was past attorney for the Town James Island, (1993-1996), and handled the prosecution of non-jury criminal court cases for the City of Charleston (1997-2016).

Professor Kelley has been a member of the adjunct faculty in Urban Studies Program at the College of Charleston since 1994, teaching Urban Planning, Land Use Law, Water Use Law, and Suburbia: People, Places, and Politics, and directs the Practicum/Internship course. Mrs. Lucka Kelley has served on the Urban Studies Executive Committee since 2007, and as Program Director for Urban Studies since 2018. 

Professor Kelley has taught continuing education classes for attorneys, planners, engineers, and real estate professionals. Additionally, she has written and amended local government Zoning Ordinances, and has contributed to the drafting and preparation of Comprehensive Plans in South Carolina. 

Professor Kelley currently serves on the Board of the Wadmalaw Island Land Planning Committee, Chair of the Board of Directors of Bishop Gadsden, was past Chair of the Harmony Project Board of Directors, a non-profit organization that focused on neighborhood revitalization and sustainability, and served on the Boards of the Old Windermere and Creekside Neighborhood Associations.

Education 

• B.A. University of South Carolina
• J.D. Cumberland School of Law
  Fields of academic and legal experience: Land Use Law, Local Government, Zoning and Planning Law, Municipal, Administrative and Regulatory Law, Land and Easement issues, and Heirs' Property Law