By Delayna Earley
The Island News
For the first time in 40 years, the Historic Beaufort Foundation (HBF) will not have a representative on the Historic District Review Board (HDRB) following a unanimous vote during the City of Beaufort’s City Council meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2023.
The council voted to appoint Eric Berman of Berman Property Group, a real estate investment firm, and Grady Woods, an architect with Grady L. Woods Architect LLC, over former HBF executive director Maxine Lutz.
“The majority of council felt like we were making a new direction, and the issue of transparency and favoritism was important to many of council,” acting Mayor Mike McFee said. “In the theme of removing the seat they felt like they needed to start with a new member.”
Lutz hoped to be reappointed to the HDRB, which is responsible for reviewing applications for development, renovation and demolition projects in the downtown Beaufort area, which has been on the National Register of Historic Places in 1969.
The HBF, who originally recommended Lutz to the board, is a nonprofit organization that has historically weighed in on the preservation decisions in Beaufort.
The HDRB has had one seat filled by a member nominated by the HBF since 1979, but that automatic nomination was done away with on Sept. 12 following a 3 to 2 vote by City Council.
Former Mayor Stephen Murray, acting Mayor Mike McFee and Council member Josh Scallate, the three council members who voted to remove the line of text from the city’s code that guaranteed HBF the right to nominate a person to the HDRB, hoped to make appointing candidates to the board fairer by making the process to nominate members the same for all interested organizations in Beaufort.
Tensions have been high between the HBF and the City of Beaufort due to legal battles regarding the approval given to 303 Associates to build a parking garage, hotel and apartments in downtown Beaufort.
Several days following September’s vote, Murray resigned, in part, due to the constant attacks he was receiving from citizens who were upset about the development projects in downtown Beaufort.
Lutz was one of six candidates that were in the running for the two HDRB seats.
“What I received from HBF in [Lutz’s] application was their Board of Directors unanimously nominate Maxine Lutz,” said Scallate. “I didn’t see anything outside of the affiliation with HBF that provided additional qualifying background to help her as a representative on the board.”
The three-year terms for the HDRB seats began immediately and expire on June 30, 2026.
Delayna Earley lives in Beaufort with her husband, two children and Jack Russell. She formerly worked as a photojournalist for The Island Packet/The Beaufort Gazette, as well as newspapers in Indiana and Virginia. She joined The Island News in 2022. She can be reached at delayna.theislandnews@gmail.com.
