By Mike McCombs
The Island News
A standing-room-only crowd packed the Freedman Arts District Office on Thursday, Feb. 13 to attend a community meeting focused on investment in the NW Quadrant and Old Common neighborhoods.
Curt Freese, the Community Development Director for the City of Beaufort, and Dick Stewart, General Partner at the Stewart Family Office L.P., were featured speakers, though the meeting was clearly run by Stewart.
Mayor Phil Cromer and Mike Sutton, Chairman of the City’s Historic District Review Board, were among the attendees, as well.
The Historic Beaufort Foundation was invited, as well, according to Stewart, but no one from the organization was in attendance.
“I want us to all work together to come up with common solutions that will work for the community, and then move those solutions through the regulatory and financial process so that we can bring them to Beaufort,” Stewart said.
Stewart’s biggest objective, he said, was to hopefully secure the support of the City and residents in trying to simplify and navigate the processes needed to help individual homeowners in the historic distrct.
The “agenda” provided prior to the meeting was followed almost to the letter. Topic discussed included:
— City processes for approving changes to buildings;
— Grants and tax incentives for property owners;
— Financial benefits of preservation easements for property owners, including a review of easements, and what’s needed to make this program more beneficial?;
— Revolving fund repair programs including what’s available and what’s needed?;
— Home repair programs including what’s available now and what are the requirements to qualify? and restrictions and requirements that discourage participation; and
— Heir’s Property Title programs and funding including what’s available and planned and what are the requirements to qualify?
Residents and others present asked questions, while Stewart, Freese and sometimes audience members answered the questions, while Stewart kept the meeting on track.
“There’s lots of resources circling around, and there’s lots of regulations circling around. And they don’t interact with each other very well in this neighborhood,” Stewart said. “They’re set up for the Point and for Bay Street. You get back in here, and those regulations can be very troubling.”
Stewart said that if they could keep the processes simple in the City, the next step would be talking to legislators at the state and federal level to advocate for changes to policies that could hamstring homeowners in Beaufort.
“[State and federal lawmakers would] all be involved, Stewart said. “As well as a lot of private sector folks that aren’t in government.”
Stewart said the things that make Beaufort unique – it was one of the first places in the United States where home ownership became a reality for Black Americans – should make it possible for government and the private sector to take a more specific, unique approcah to Beaufort and hold it as an example of what could be.
Stewart, Freese and Cromer said they were aware there were some discussions upcoming involving Beaufort Jasper Housing Trust that might result in some positive developments, and from there they’d determine the next step.
“(If a) house is important to this community enough to be in a historic district, and it’s important enough to be a contributing structure, it should be important enough for us to reach out and try to do something for that house and for that family instead of to that family,” Stewart said, “and I’m hoping this organization, out of this office, in this location, can establish that relationship and that trust up and down this community to make that happen, ’cause nobody else has been doing it.”
At 6 p.m, Thursday, Feb. 20, the Old Commons Neighborhood Association (OCNA) will hold its regular meeting at the Wesley United Methodist Church’s Education Building, located in the 800 Block of Duke Street. Freese and Sutton will be the guest speakers, discussing the proposed changes to the City of Beaufort’s Historic District Review Board (HDRB) process and how it may impact property owners in the City of Beaufort’s National Historic Landmark District.
Mike McCombs is the editor of The Island News and can be reached at TheIslandNews@gmail.com.
