From staff reports
In a ruling on Thursday, June 8, Circuit Court Judge R. Scott Sprouse denied a request by plaintiffs West Street Farms, LLC and Mix Farms, LLC to overturn approvals granted by the City of Beaufort to 303 Associates, LLC for a new downtown hotel, apartments, and a parking garage.
The plaintiffs, embodied by real estate developer Graham Trask, were represented by attorney W. Andrew Gowder, Jr., of Charleston-based law firm Austen & Gowder, and were unsuccessful in attempting to overturn a long-standing approval granted by the City’s citizen-led Historic Review Board.
In his ruling, Judge Sprouse said that the plaintiffs’ request was improper given that a similar challenge had already been denied in the Circuit Court. The Circuit Court decision in January of 2022 was in favor of the City, ruling that a legal process was followed in granting approvals for the respective projects. However, the plaintiff has appealed this decision and it is currently a pending matter in the South Carolina Court of Appeals.
“The City is appreciative of this second denial by the Circuit Court,” Beaufort Mayor Stephen Murray said in a news release. “From the beginning, the City has defended these approvals. All property owners are entitled to a fair, transparent, and legal path to improve their property, so long as it complies with the City’s development code.”
