By Lolita Huckaby
BEAUFORT
It almost seems laughable to start the new year off with the idea that the Beaufort City Council might be considering establishment of an “entertainment district” in the downtown district when there’s a proverbial elephant sitting there in the center of the district, in the form of a big, old stormwater drainage hole.
The word “laughable” comes to mind because the idea of “expanding” an area to allow shoppers to wander a few blocks of the downtown business district carrying plastic glasses of wine or beer, that’s a marketing tool has been a matter of debate for city officials for years.
Merchants and downtown hospitality folks over the years have advocated against public prohibition. The public drinking allowances have already slowly been expanded for special occasions, i.e., the monthly First Friday events.
One can suppose it’s a slow evolution from 2000 when the elected officials agreed to restrict nighttime music events in the downtown area by regulating noise levels past 11 p.m. At that time, there was a push to encourage second-floor residential development along Bay Street and certain property owners had a real beef with the entertainment at Hemingway’s and Luther’s.
So Beaufort’s downtown music scene is pretty much non-existent and now, because of that proverbial elephant, the multi-million-dollar stormwater drainage improvement project, the council may be open to some discussion of letting folks wander around drinking beer and wine. The idea being, at this point in the town’s history, such allowances would encourage more night time activity of the positive sort, downtown.
Also unsaid but just as much an underlying consideration is the ongoing “mystery” of what and how city officials plan to repair waterfront sections of the Henry C. Chambers Park which we’ve been told may in danger of falling in.
Now, that’s going to be a much bigger topic of discussion for the Council in the coming year, and it’s going to take a lot more than allowing shoppers to wander around with glasses of wine or beer.
Dare we think about ‘local elections’?
One thing members of the Beaufort City Council, nor the Port Royal Town Council will have to worry about this year is local elections. That “worry cloud” will be – if not already – hanging over the Beaufort County Council, where eight of the 11 council seats are open.
Council Chairwoman Alice Howard, a Republican who represents District 4 which includes Mossy Oaks, parts of Port Royal and Shell Point, has said she’s not going to run again. The other seven – David Bartholomew of District 2, Joe Passiment of District 5, Anna Maria “Tab” Tabernick of District 6, Paula Brown of District 8, Mark Lawson of District 9, Larry McElynn, District 10 and Tom Reitz, District 11 — haven’t declared their intentions.
A ninth council member, Logan Cunningham of District 7, Bluffton, has announced his plans to run for the 1st Congressional District seat now held by fellow Republican Nancy Mace. But since his council district seat is not up this year, he can run for Congress AND sit on the County Council until the election.
One county issue the County Council won’t have to deal with was cleared up right as 2025 was ending, involving good, old Pine Island development. The withdrawal of one of the two lawsuits filed against the county by the developers who want to build that 18-hold golf course in the St. Helena Island Cultural Protection Overlay district means there’s still one other lawsuit to keep everyone’s eyes focused on that prize.
It w ill be interesting to see if the Pine Island development issue becomes a campaign topic, but there’s so many issues facing the county, it might be hard to tell.
And if the County Council proceeds with plans to put a transportation sales tax referendum question on the November ballot, that will be prove interesting to watch since without more dollars, the road improvements everyone seems to want, will be hard to come by.
For the record, there will be eight seats open for the 11-member school board as well and all six members of the local House of Representatives will be up for re-election.
Plus, the Beaufort County Voter Registration and Elections Board hasn’t hired a new director yet following last year’s retirement of Marie Smalls.
Just something to think about …
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. The Rowland, N.C. native’s goal is to be factual but opinionated, based on her own observations. Feel free to contact her at bftbay@gmail.com.
