By Lolita Huckaby
BEAUFORT
As of right now, 3 p.m., Monday, Nov. 3, 44 percent of Beaufort County’s registered voters have cast votes. Based on 2020 presidential election results, the United States ranks 31st in turnout for national elections, with only 63 percent of registered voters casting ballots.
What next, Dick Stewart?
Aside from the election news, last week’s news was the S.C. Court Of Appeals ruling in favor of the City in the matter of challenges presented by Graham Trask in dealing with Dick Stewart and 303 Associates’ plans for a three-story parking garage and four-story hotel. The ruling was the latest in the legal battle that has left the prominent downtown corners of Craven and Charles, and Port Republic and Scott streets empty.
The ruling is the latest round in the challenges between Trask, Historic Beaufort Foundation, the City of Beaufort administration and Stewart, a community saga that has engaged citizens who care about the future of Beaufort for the past four years. Even with the latest court ruling, there’s still appeal options, and the $120 million lawsuit Stewart filed against Trask for losses incurred by the legal challenges.
Stewart also has said construction on the 19-apartment building on the corner of Charles and Port Republic streets, incorporating the old Woods 5 and Dime, should begin next year.
All this as we are reminded Stewart announced back in June his development company’s plans for the parking garage and hotel, $50 million projects were being put on hold because of the lawsuits. And of course, back in 2022, he had announced he was “retiring,” stepping down as Chief Executive Officer of 303 Associates to focus on other things.
Two weeks ago, on Oct. 16, the public got a chance to hear about some of those “other things.”
The USC Beaufort Education Foundation, of which Stewart is vice-chairman, scheduled a panel discussion on The Future of USCB, with a definite focus on development of the marine biology program. The forum, not a coincidence, was held on the 20th anniversary of the Beaufort campus of USC becoming a four-year degree-granting institution after becoming a branch campus in 1959.
The one-hour discussion included advances in the health care programs, particularly nursing, and cyber security, a program that’s seen the former Yankee grill and then the Lowcountry Boys and Girls Club on Boundary Street turned into a cyber lab with more than 60 students.
But the focus of the evening, at least the one Stewart led the discussion on, was the importance of the marine biology program, which is already being expanded to include research programs that include entities such as the Port Royal Sound Foundation, another of Stewart and his wife Sharon’s projects that saw a $100,000 endowment to for USCB scholarships and faculty support. The Foundation is headquartered in the Port Royal Sound Maritime Center which Stewart supported by purchasing the vacant antique store “The Den of Antiquity” on Lemon Island after it sat empty and deteriorating for several years.
Pritchards Island research programs are a key component of the university’s plan for the marine biology program, with a $500,000 recurring state budget allocation this year to expand programs there like the loggerhead turtle program. The sea turtle project continued for more than twenty years primarily by volunteers like Robert and Abby Morris, has been adopted by the university and expanded to include research on shore birds and salt marsh.
The university has joined forces with the Carolina Bight project which covers 200,000 acres of salt marshes and waterways that include Port Royal and Calibogue Sounds, and the Broad, Beaufort, and May rivers. (for more information about Carolina Bight Estuary, including a replay of the Oct. 16 forum, visit the Carolina Bight Facebook page).
The audience of fewer than 100 who attended last month’s forum was far less than the 400 who attended a similar forum 20 years ago to talk about and agree to join forces to see USCB develop into a four-year institution. It worked.
The timing may have been off for this discussion, considering the pre-election campaigning. But the importance of the discussion as to the environmental future of this Lowcountry area is there and will be, after the dust of elections is over and voters have decided who will lead the city, county, state and country.
The politicians, during pre-election speeches, didn’t say much about environmental protection specifics, other than they all want to “protect” the environment. The concept of working together to make something happen was one of the “takeaways” from the forum: the waterways should not divide us; they should unite us.
Ribaut Road options now online
BEAUFORT – Speaking of forums, the presentation Beaufort County sponsored Oct. 18 drew a lot more people, but no unified message.
The presentation – designed to give folks the latest “Reimagine Ribaut Road” information …correction … they’re not using “reimagine” any more. We’re beyond that concept.
The optional designs were posted on the walls of the Technical College student center and comment cards for folks, if they could understand the designs. Many left with the comment “just leave it alone.”
Even if this week’s penny sales tax referendum, which included $70 million for Ribaut Road changes, doesn’t pass, there’s gonna be changes to this major thoroughfare. How long it will take to accomplish those changes is anyone’s guess. It will be up to the Beaufort and Port Royal town councils, working with county traffic engineers, consultants and the S.C. Department of Transportation that actually owns the 5.5-mile road, to move forward with designs.
In the meantime, if you’d LIKE to just look at the latest proposal, they’re now on-line at https://www.reimagineribautroad.com/meeting. Comments may be submitted through the comment form located at the bottom of the page, or by mail to P.O. Drawer 1228, Beaufort, S.C. 29901-1228. Or call the Engineering Department at 843-255-2700. They want to hear from you before the end of November.
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.
