Coming soon to the neighborhood
By LOLITA HUCKABY
LADY’S ISLAND – Plans for the controversial Whitehall Point development might currently be in a holding pattern, but a 50-lot subdivision proposed by the same developer is sailing right along.
The Beaufort-Port Royal Municipal Planning Commission was scheduled to review the latest subdivision plans for Whitehall Point, located at the foot of the Woods Bridge last week.
But developer Sam Levin withdrew the plans, saying he’ll be back.
The MPC did review … and approve … plans for 50 homes in The Preserve at Miller Drive, now an overgrown, wooded 10-acre parcel behind Lady’s Island Middle School.
Neighbors loudly opposed Beaufort city’s annexation of the property last year, concerned the apartment complex rumored to be built would greatly increase traffic in their community and on Sams Point Road.
The annexation happened anyway, as City Council pointed out residential development in the area complied with the Lady’s Island development plan.
Now we know what will be built there.
Let’s talk about that old jail one more time
BEAUFORT – The former county jail on King Street hasn’t held prisoners in more than 30 years. But it could hold residents once again as Justice Square.
The city’s Design Review Board took a look at the latest plans for the property last week. Developer Jeffrey Wheeler of Columbia is proposing construction of four attached buildings with two townhouses each facing Prince Street.
Because of missing documents accompanying the review application, the board took no action passing it forward to their next meeting in July. But members said they didn’t like the three-story proposal.
Neighbors to the property vehemently objected to the last plans presented for the project which included turning the circa 1935 jail building into a restaurant/bar.
The DRB actually gave approval to another developer in 2017 to tear down the structure but the latest design show basic apartment uses for the building.
It must be over …
BEAUFORT – The coronavirus numbers are high and still scary, BUT the American Star is gone!
The 110-foot cruise ship belong to the American Cruise Line pulled away from the downtown seawall last week after spending three months docked there.
Story was, once the cruise line stopped operation because of the virus, ships traveling along the Intercoastal Waterway had trouble finding a place to dock. It’s headed back north now to its home port in Connecticut until cruises begin again.
The three-story structure became a fixture for our waterfront as the economy went into a holding pattern and folks focused on staying well. Some worried the ship was holding sick passengers – not true – or was gong to be use as a temporary morgue if things REALLY got bad here – that didn’t happen either. Rumor is, the cruise line paid the city $150 a day to tie up there so it wasn’t FREE dockage.
It’s gone now … and we wish the virus would be too.
Lolita Huckaby Watson is a community volunteer, I-95 and U.S. 17 voyager and legislative consultant with the online news service, LowCountry Inside Track, Ltd. She is a former reporter/editorial assistant/columnist with The Beaufort Gazette, The Savannah Morning News, Bluffton Today and Beaufort Today. She can be reached at bftbay@gmail.com
Above: The old Beaufort County Jail on King Street, originally built in 1938, is once again being considered for re-development. Only the voices of the homeless can be heard through the bars these days. Photo by Bob Sofaly.
