HRB says ‘no’ to downtown townhouses, ‘yes’ to rooftop bar
By Lolita Huckaby
BEAUFORT
The front page of last week’s edition of The Island News told a story of the Lowcountry almost without reading.
In case you missed it, there was the lead story about St. Helena Island supporters “claiming an early win” in their fight to keep a gated, golf-course resort off Pine Island. There was a lengthy report by Tony Kukulich of The Post and Courier about the ongoing fight south of the Broad River to “keep Chelsea rural” while facing the prospect of at least 4,800 new homes on the Jasper County side of S.C. 170.
There was the Lowcountry Lowdown once again, spouting doom and gloom, this time about a County Council member’s reminder that Hilton Head Island is the financial golden goose of the county and we might as well accept the development that’s coming “our” way.
There was lots of good community news inside – the Republican ladies threw a birthday party for Robert Smalls; First Friday on Bay Street seemed to be a big success; good advice on what to do about ticks; the Beaufort High and Beaufort Academy boys soccer teams are doing well; a couple of pages of legal ads which helps keep this little piece of award-winning journalism rolling off the presses.
Of course, there was a report of police investigating an Easter Sunday murder, but, by and large, it was mostly positive news about the community we live in, especially the reports about citizens rallying together to speak out for what they believe is right.
Another group that spoke up last week, but not in this paper, was the city of Beaufort’s Historic Review Board, a group of appointed citizens who have gotten quite a bit of “negative feedback,” shall we say, about some of their decisions.
Last week, the group of four (the chairman had to declare a conflict) actually said “no” to a development plan. It started out being a very gentle “no.” You could tell they really wanted to approve Charleston developer Hank Hofford’s plan for a second three-story duplex at 1106 Craven Street, backing up to his other three townhouses 1109, 1107 and 1105 Bay Street.
But the bottom line, the board just couldn’t approve plans for another three-story structure (with a fourth floor cupola) in that area.
“You brought a three-pound sack and you bought five pounds of potatoes,” was the way board member Mike Sutton summed it up.
Bottom line: the board ended up turning down conceptual approval for the buildings. But since this is the third time the plans have been presented, with minor revisions, there’s a pretty good bet they’ll be back.
On a brighter note, the same review board, at the same meeting, gave conceptual approval to a roof-top bar above City Loft on Carteret Street. The facility, once constructed, could be the first “official” downtown roof-top bar since John Cross Tavern on Bay Street closed its waterfront venue.
Correction: That’s no school campus!
BEAUFORT – Apologies to the Beaufort County School District for incorrectly accusing them of denuding part of Robert Smalls Parkway.
Contrary to last week’s column, it’s not the school district that clear cut the 37 acres behind the Robert Smalls International Academy for a new campus.
Instead, it’s a private development, Gray Tract A Apartments (also referred to as Myrtle Bush Farms in some documents), soon to be the home of 312 apartments and townhouses. And by the way, complied with city of Beaufort tree-removal regulations for site work.
The project includes 11 apartment buildings with 264 units and eight townhouses making up 48 units plus detached garages and a clubhouse.
Thank you to Dick Geier who in addition to having fact-checking skills provides above-and-beyond community service by serving on the Board of Education.
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.
