Safe Harbor joins lawsuit as co-defendent
By Mike McCombs
The Island News
On Monday, July 28, two motions were ruled on in the lawsuit filed by Protect Beaufort Inc. against the City of Beaufort in December 2024 in the 14th Circuit Court of Common Pleas regarding the legality of the City’s lease of the Downtown Marina to be operated by Safe Harbor.
In the first, filed March 7 and heard July 17, the City argued Protect Beaufort did not have legal standing in the case and asked for the lawsuit to be dismissed.
Circuit Court Judge S. Bryan Doby denied the City’s motion.
In the second, also filed March 7 and heard July 17, Safe Harbor Marina Beaufort LLC petitioned to intervene in the case.
Doby granted this motion, and Safe Harbor will become a party to the case as a defendant.
Protect Beaufort Inc. is a nonprofit founded in 2024 by George Trask. Its stated goals are:
1. To protect and enhance the unique public community and environmental qualities that exist in Beaufort, S.C.
2. To oppose and reverse the privatization and commercialization of property owned by governmental entities in the city and the county.
3. To promote the adoption and enforcement of laws and contracts of the city, the county, the state, and the nation for the purposes stated in paragraphs 1 and 2.
Graham Trask, son of founder George Trask and a Protect Beaufort board member, was not surprised the City had been quiet about the judge’s decisions.
“They release what they want to release, they don’t release what they don’t want to,” he said. “If [they] were transparent and not about propaganda, they’d release this. They are one-sided under the guise of transparency.
Beaufort City Manager Scott Marshall said the City had little to say on the decisions.
“It’s not because we’re trying to be secret,” he said. “It’s just because it’s pending litigation.”
As far as Safe Harbor joining the lawsuit, Marshall did admit it might have been unexpected.
“I don’t think it was what was expected, but we’re co-defendents on the same side of the bench and I’m not going to say anything contrary to that,” he said.
Mike McCombs is the Editor of The Island News and can be reached at TheIslandNews@gmail.com.
