By Lolita Huckaby
BEAUFORT
If all goes as planned (does it ever? Ask Beaufort city officials who tried hard to have a holiday parade Sunday afternoon to top-off a rather dreary weekend, weather-wise), Beaufort County Council will “celebrate” Monday the use of their newly renovated Council chambers which have been under construction since April.
The renovation project, estimated to cost $1.3 million when the Council approved the project in 2022, was designed to give more public area in the chambers as well as an improved video system.
Monday’s council meeting, the last of 2025, was a good test since the topic of Pine Island was resurrected. And anyone who’s been watching this development story knows a crowd can be expected.
By the time you’re reading this — since this column’s deadline is Sunday night — we should know whether County Councilman Logan Cunningham of Bluffton is successful in his efforts to convince a majority of his fellow council members to reverse a vote they took in September to stop further negotiations with the Pine Island developers.
What a perfect way to end 2025 — another vote on Pine Island and opening of new County Council chambers so the public can hear better.
Proposed St. Helena RV park plans delayed by review board
ST. HELENA ISLAND — The potential of development of Pine Island isn’t the only project that has some St. Helena Island residents stirred up.
Plans for a 100-unit RV park to be built on Sea Island Parkway and Yard Farm road have been working their way through the county’s planning process.
A meeting of the county Design Review Board last week postponed final approval of design plans for the Lowcountry Produce building, which will become part of the development.
The park, being developed by John Trask III, does not require any zoning changes and is not within the Cultural Protection Overlay District as Pine Island is.
But there is concern, by some residents, about the addition of more traffic.
Bye-bye Hardee’s of Port Royal
PORT ROYAL — You can tell we’re still a “small community” when closure of the area’s only Hardee’s fast-food restaurant makes the news.
The server of breakfast biscuits and char-broiled burgers at 1450 Ribaut Road abruptly closed its doors on Dec. 1, leaving those regulars who used the spot for a coffee club, wondering “where next?”
A check on the internet reported the chain has experienced closures across the country due to franchise “disputes.”
Online local posts lamented the closure while “old-timers” remembered when the burger joint was one of the first in town, located on Boundary Street where Chick-fil-A now reigns.
It’s sad to see an old favorite go away. But it happens so much, you’d almost think people would get accustomed to it. Plus “newcomers” don’t know what they’ve missed and might even have offered.
Now we’ll all have to do is wait to see what pops up on that busy corner of Ribaut and S.C. 802, one of the busiest in northern Beaufort County. Dare we say, “round-about.”
And while we wait, we can drive to Ravenel or I-95 in Yemassee to get our mushroom-and-swiss Hardee’s burger there.
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.
