By Delayna Earley
The Island News
No decision has been made after a lawsuit regarding the proposed parking garage and hotel in Downtown Beaufort was heard in court on Thursday, May 11, 2023, at the Beaufort County Courthouse.
The plaintiffs in the case – West Street Farms and Mix Farms – filed suit against the City of Beaufort, 303 Associates and The Beaufort Inn, asserting that the proper processes were not followed while approving the project and that the original approval in June 2021 by the Historic District Review Board is invalid.
West Street Farms and Mix Farms are both owned by developer Graham Trask and are adjacent to the property where the hotel is set to be built.
Trask alleges that the approvals that were issued are invalid because they did not file for an issuance of variance by the Zoning Board of Appeals according to the city regulations due to the large footprint of the two buildings.
“I believe that this is the beginning of the end of Beaufort’s architectural integrity,” Trask said about the approved hotel and parking structure.
Trask said that he was happy with how things went during the hearing and is glad that the presiding judge, Judge R. Scott Sprouse, is taking his time to decide.
“He did not rule from the bench, and he is going to take his time to look things over before he comes back with his feedback so hopefully, he will take the time to really understand,” Trask said.
Attempts to reach former city attorney Bill Harvey for comments about the hearing and lawsuit were unsuccessful, but prior to the hearing, Beaufort mayor Stephen Murray said that he believes that the city has followed all the proper regulations during the process of approving the two projects.
Murray also stated that the parking garage is necessary to help solve the parking issues in Downtown Beaufort and that approved designs for the parking structure have included beautification measures to help the large structures fit in with the architectural aesthetic of historic Beaufort.
“We have a situation where we have water on one side and existing neighborhoods surrounding the downtown area, the only solution is to build up,” Murray said.
This lawsuit is one of two that have been brought against the city regarding the projected parking structure and hotel.
The other lawsuit, which was an appeal filed by the Historic Beaufort Foundation as well as West Street Farms and Mix Farms, is currently waiting to be heard in the S.C. Court of Appeals after Judge Bentley Price upheld the Historic District Review Board’s approval of the hotel in January 2022.
Delayna Earley lives in Beaufort with her husband, two children and Jack Russell. She spent six years as a videographer and photographer for The Island Packet and The Beaufort Gazette before leaving the Lowcountry in 2018. After freelancing in Myrtle Beach and Virginia, she joined The Island News when she moved back to Beaufort in 2022. She can be reached at delayna.theislandnews@gmail.com
