The Beaufort County Council on Monday unanimously approved a motion to proceed with a recommendation to purchase land for a public park on the Whitehall property, subject to due diligence and after defining the maintenance agreements with the City of Beaufort.<span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span>

Beaufort City Council was slated to take up the issue at Tuesday’s meeting, Mayor Billy Keyserling said. While the city is supportive of a park, Keyserling said it’s premature to predict what an agreement will look like, adding that all parties are trying to expedite a process that would ordinarily take at least six months to a year.

The County Council called for the City of Beaufort to manage, maintain, and operate a proposed public park on a 10-acre tract of the Whitehall property on Lady’s Island, but Keyserling said the city can’t agree to such an arrangement until it knows more about the long-term vision for the park and exactly what that commitment might entail. The County Council will meet again on September 10, when the topic of Whitehall will be revisited.

The Friends of Whitehall Park, a grassroots organization dedicated to supporting the project, has garnered more than 4,200 signatures on a petition in favor of the proposed park. The group also held an event Saturday in which hundreds of residents turned out to learn more about the project.<span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span>

The Walk in the Park event was intended to be a show of support and unity and included representatives from the Developer, County Council and City Council, speaking and working together toward the goal of the park.

The event included coffee and muffins provided by LowCountry Produce, golf cart tours provided by Carolina Custom Carts, Entertainment by Beek, Vic and Friends, creative support from Picklejuice Productions, financial donations from Lowcountry Real Estate, Grayco and Hometown Real Estate, and water and collapsible dog water bowls provided by BJWSA.