A simple equation in economic development
By Lolita Huckaby
BEAUFORT
Last Wednesday’s traffic congestion along Ribaut Road through the city and Port Royal, followed by the sudden closing of the Woods Memorial Bridge on Thursday morning, should have put a chill on any resident’s spine.
Anyone, that is, concerned about the community and what’s happening.
The Ribaut Road traffic hang-ups on Wednesday were reportedly precipitated by a commercial paving project in the Shell Point area which lead to a series of fender-benders and minor collisions that prompted lane closures at least twice in the afternoon, going-home hours. No fatalities – thank heavens – but anyone caught in the mess couldn’t help notice the multiple maneuvers by other motorists who took to the neighborhood side roads, looking for alternate routes.
Then the notice Thursday that the Woods Memorial Bridge would be closed for an “undetermined amount of time” prompted further groans from the 14,000 estimated motorists who use that bridge on a daily basis to get into Beaufort or out to the islands of St. Helena, Fripp and Lady’s. All this and it isn’t even Memorial Day yet.
Luckily the “undetermined amount of time” lasted three hours while the S.C. Department of Transportation crews did something before allowing traffic to continue.
But the mental damage was done: another reminder of how fragile that 65-year-old swing bridge is, how crucial it is to a fluid traffic pattern (even though there is an option – the McTeer Bridge, which means dumping all those cars into the busiest intersection of northern Beaufort County).
And less we forget, hurricane season starts next month. While we’ve been blessed to avoid any major storm activity, one can only watch the weather-related incidents happening in other parts of the world to wonder if our time is due.
But this is not about traffic congestion, which is obvious. It’s more a reflection on our changing environment which some might find to be entirely different from the Lowcountry presented by tourism advertisements or home sales people.
For newcomers escaping from the traffic of Atlanta, Charlotte or Charleston, the traffic issues aforementioned might not be worth noting. They’ve seen worse and the beauty of the open spaces and water views certainly can offset the headaches of sitting in traffic.
But while we complain and post our concerns online (or write about them in newspaper columns), change, aka development keeps on happening. Some call for our government leaders to do something, put a stop, or at least some kind of moratorium on new permits while some kinds of control can be put in place.
The Jasper County Council imposed a moratorium on large commercial and residential developments in the southern part of the county (the area shared with Beaufort County) after residents organized and insisted proposed development wait until tighter regulations could be enacted. That moratorium was extended to July 31, but the developers are still waiting.
The Port Royal town council imposed their own year-long moratorium this month after a report that 1,500 new apartments and townhouses were already in the construction phase and even more were in the discussion stages.
Beaufort City Council is in the closing stages of a year-long review of the development code but no mention of a moratorium while land for projects that were approved and permitted months ago are still being cleared and trucks bearing tons of fill dirt to make the ground high enough to build on, are still rolling.
Beaufort County Council members … well, they rejected the idea of any moratorium before the proponent, Councilwoman Alice Howard barely got it out of her mouth for discussion.
Besides, the county folks have got way more on their hands dealing with a failing administrative infrastructure to focus on who’s building what where. (Except for Pine Island, out on St. Helena … that was taking up quite a bit of their attention before the whole matter went to court, where it still rests.)
While concerned individuals might wonder where all this is going and what is to happen to this Lowcountry “goose that laid a golden egg,” a recent business news report from Business Insider says the Sunbelt region (which includes South Carolina) is seeing a dip in rental prices because of a surplus of units.
In a May 18 report, the publication used data collected by Redfin, a national real estate and brokerage company that showed the greatest drop in rents was occurring in large cities “as pandemic-era demand spikes subside.”
The report goes on to note this is not the trend across the country but it might bring some hope to those who cannot afford to pay the national median of $2,100 per month rent or here, in the city of Beaufort, where the median rent is listed slightly higher at $2,300 per month.
As much as we fuss or complain about it, apartment complexes and townhouse projects keep rising out of the ground where trees used to grow and deer used to hide. After all, it’s the economy, not elected officials, that will determine who can afford to live where.
Find Great People, indeed
BEAUFORT – It’s interesting that the human resources recruiting firm, Find Great People, with offices in Charleston, Columbia and Greenville, was used by both Beaufort County and the city of Beaufort in their current efforts to hire a new county administrator and new police chief.
For both jobs, in-house candidates have made the finalist lists.
According to Beaufort City Manager Scott Marshall, who will make the ultimate decision on the hiring of the police chief, the search firm produced 94 applications for the job which has a salary listing of $100 K to $120 K.
The list is now down to two, the current interim chief, Stephenie Price and Sunset Beach, NC, chief Kenneth Klamar.
Beaufort County Council has had several closed door sessions reviewing candidates they’ve received from FGP, including John Robinson who has served as interim administrator since last July when Eric Greenway left the top position.
The county officials have said they plan to have a new administrator in place by July 1, the start of the new budget year. Marshall plans to name a new chief by the end of this week.
Lolita Huckaby Watson is a community volunteer and newspaper columnist. In her former role as a reporter with The Beaufort Gazette, The Savannah Morning News, Bluffton Today and Beaufort Today, she prided herself in trying to stay neutral and unbiased. As a columnist, these are her opinions. Her goal is to be factual but opinionated, based on her own observations. Feel free to contact her at bftbay@gmail.com.
