Neighbors offer contrast in style
By Lolita Huckaby
BEAUFORT
This is a tale of two cities.
One is the county seat. The other started off as a seaport. One is 312 years old, and the other is 149.
One used to have more residents (13,602 based on the 2020 census) but because of annexation and the development of multiple apartment complexes, the other now has more (14,220 according to the census).
The governments of both are run by managers who get their marching orders from five elected council members and a mayor.
But public meetings held last week highlighted a major difference in the two neighboring municipalities.
The city of Beaufort’s elected officials had a workshop which drew more than 50 citizens – so many that one or two were sitting on the floor – and those citizens were not happy.
The town of Port Royal’s council had their second meeting of the month and there was a relatively large crowd – not packed, everyone had a chair – but those folks were primarily happy. There was applause for almost every speaker.
The city of Beaufort’s meeting also included applause for some … not all … but there was no feeling of celebration in the room.
The Beaufort City Council’s meeting was a continuation of their efforts to review the city’s development code, a detailed document adopted by the council in 2017 and up for review. The new planning director and staff have identified at least 140 different regulations that need to be updated.
Last week’s meeting focused on one sentence, 18 words “One of the five members (of) the Historic Review Board shall be recommended by the Historic Beaufort Foundation.” For that, the room was packed with citizens.
The attendance was enlarged because of an online media campaign lead by downtown property owner Graham Trask who has raised a series of questions about city operations, most recently, the $57.6 million budget the Council has adopted.
But it was the future of Beaufort’s historic district that was on the minds of those present for Tuesday night’s meeting, not taxes and whether city residents will be paying more when tax bills roll out this fall.
Speaker after speaker said they weren’t happy with the council’s proposed change dealing with the Historic Review Board membership, the citizens review panel that looks at proposed projects to determine whether they comply with regulations designed to protect Beaufort’s historic designation. From the oldest in the room – 99 year-old Ray Stocks – to the youngest – a college student named Jack – there were heart-felt expressions about the importance of Beaufort’s historic character.
To be fair, there were expressions from the Chamber of Commerce that the interests of the business community needed to be represented on the review board as well. Their argument was that without a successful downtown business district, there wouldn’t be the restaurants, bars and gift shops to bring visitors (aka, dollars) to maintain the historic district.
It almost becomes a “chicken-or-the-egg” story now: which comes first, a well-maintained historic district to draw folks to the area, or a “vibrant” downtown district to attract visitors who then fall in love with the historic district.
It’s a fine line the elected City Council members and the mayor – who reminds folks more and more that he only has 17 more months left in his term – have to navigate.
But back to the tale of two cities.
At Port Royal’s meeting, where the audience was happy and gay, there was applause and cheering for the Cherry Hill Oak tree and its newly formed band of friends.
The group, lead by a relative newcomer to the community, Hope Cunningham, managed to work out a deal with the town, the property owner, the county, the Coastal Conservation League and the Rural and Critical Lands Board to save the 350-year-old tree and the grave of a former enslaved woman. An agreement is almost reached to not only save the tree from proposed development but turn the site into a public park, there on the banks of Battery Creek.
It’s the kind of “government does the right thing” feel-good story that makes one glad to be an American.
That, on top of Port Royal council’s recent efforts to adopt one of the most protective tree ordinances around could be seen as another feather in the PR cap.
Again, to be fair, Port Royal’s meeting wasn’t all “hurrahs.” One citizen stepped up to complain about the Casablanca Circle neighbor park and a group of neighbors asked the council to improve the driveway and parking at the Sands public beach area.
The speaker noted existing potholes at the popular recreation area were unsightly and slow traffic down. That observation left those present thinking it might be a solution to the never-ending, ever-increasing problems with motorists who seem to believe they’re out on the interstates; leave the potholes alone.
So, Port Royal elected officials are asked to do something about potholes. Beaufort city council is asked to preserve history. Both communities are facing growth changes but the way they’re handling it just feels different.
Something for everyone?
BEAUFORT – Our state legislators finally finished work earlier but news of what special projects got included in the 2024 budget are slowly filtering back to the Lowcountry.
Remember final approval of the budget was held up because of debates between the USC and Clemson legislative supporters who wanted to make sure “their” institutes of higher education got equal shares?
Once those items were worked out, passage of the $13 billion financial plan rolled through both legislative bodies and then to Gov. Henry McMaster who gave it his seal of approval. Whew … no state budget shut-downs for us!
So the good news in the state budget is a recurring $500,000 for the University’s long-range plans to initiate some research projects on Pritchards Island. The USC Beaufort staff had requested $1.5 million but all involved agree it’s a start to insure the importance of the rare, undeveloped barrier island and maritime research that could be conducted there.
USCB got another boost in the budget with $10 million designated for a proposed convocation center at the Bluffton campus. The center, as designed, would provide a venue for 3,500 to 4,000, the largest in the two-county area.
The center has been in the planning stage for several years and still several years away since the university still needs to raise funds for the estimated $70 million cost. Beaufort County Council has also committed to support the project financially.
To make the Clemson folks happy during those budget deliberations up there in Columbia, the Tigers saw $75 million thrown in for the state’s first veterinary school.
The Technical College of the Lowcountry got a slice of the state special projects pie, to the tune of $10 million for a workforce development program at the Bluffton campus. And Port Royal got another $1 million to replace the existing shrimp docks, build new docks and eventually, a shrimp-processing operation.
Oh yes, perhaps one of the most important budget highlights, public school teachers will get a $2,500 pay increase. Other state employees will get a 5% salary increase.
Makes one wonder about priorities.
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.
