Blood, sweat and tears? Not yet but plenty of emotional angst
By Lolita Huckaby
BEAUFORT
Development issues in this part of the Lowcountry have generated enough emotional drama to support a Netflix documentary. But to date, there haven’t been actual tears shed on the County Channel.
That’s why a recent Post And Courier article from the Greenville, S.C. Planning Commission sparked interest when it was reported the chairperson of said Commission actually cried when the group voted to approve a nine-home subdivision on one acre of land.
The project, which had been protested by the neighbors because of its intense density, was passed on a 3-1 vote. It was after that vote that the chairperson expressed her frustration that the “proposal conflicted with the fabric of the community, but (she) felt she had no standing to deny it.”
According to the newspaper account, she went on to apologize to the neighbors present who expressed concerns about growing gentrification of their neighborhood.
“… But the Commission only voted in line with how the code is written,” a neighborhood spokesman was quoted as saying. “We’re not mad at the Commission because they’re just doing their job.”
It’s hard to count how many times similar comments have been made by review board members and planning commissioners: they’re only following the rules.
You hear it every once in a while from the elected officials, but no tears.
The Port Royal Town Council changed the tree removal rules recently after residents spoke up and said something had to be done to further protect the leafy environment.
The Beaufort City Council is in the process of changing the city’s development code in an effort to correct some building criteria they feel need “correcting” since the code was written in 2017. It’s not an exciting process but it’s an important one since the code dictates how future buildings can be built.
It will be interesting to see how the Beaufort County Council responds to an actual development application from the Pine Island owners. The past two months of debate ended in what was described as a “victory” by those opposing the St. Helena Island’s project.
But county officials stressed throughout that debate that what was at issue was the St. Helena Island Cultural Protection Overlay District. Revisions reinforced the requirement that golf courses and gated communities were not allowed within the COD ordinance. Those revisions were blessed by the County Council on a 9-2 final vote but the actual Pine Island project was not part of that vote.
Starting this week, with first, the county planning Commission, denied a request to remove the 500-acre tract from the CPO District. The Commission’s recommendation next goes to the Community Services and Land Use Committee for more discussion and a recommendation from it, as well, before the full County Council for more discussion and a vote.
Regardless of the Council’s action, you gotta believe one side or the other is gonna sue. And you gotta believe there won’t be any tears as these threats to the status quo go on and on.
Jasper temporarily puts brakes on growth
RIDGELAND – In the matter of development issues in other arenas, the Jasper County Council is taking a somewhat unusual step – imposing a limited building moratorium on a rapidly developing area of the county along the S.C. 170 and S.C. 462 corridors.
The nine month moratorium pertains only to large residential and commercial developments whose owners aren’t going to abandon plans while the Jasper planning staff tries to rein in some controls.
The town of Mt. Pleasant, to our north, has had a moratorium on permits for apartment buildings since 2015. The moratorium was recently extended to 2025 by the town council but still apartment complexes are being built under permits issued pre-2015.
Beaufort County residents unhappy with the multitude of development projects rolling through the regulatory process have been talking about a moratorium on building permits for the past several years. But no officials seem to give it a second thought.
Hurricane season 2023 off and running
BEAUFORT – And since we’re in the Atlantic Hurricane Season 2023, you might have missed the fact that the first named storm of the season, Arlene, came … and went … this past week in the Gulf of Mexico.
But Tropical Storm Arlene won the special attention of meteorologists because it moved south, toward Cuba, away from the coast, rather than the traditional pattern towards the coast. Record keepers also noted Arlene, although it waited until the start of hurricane season on June 1, was considered an “early arrival” because the averages show first named storms showing up around June 20.
Stay tuned.
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.
