Suit questions validity of approval for downtown hotel, parking garage
By Delayna Earley
The Island News
A lawsuit brought against the City of Beaufort, 303 Associates and The Beaufort Inn regarding the proposed parking structure and Marriott-affiliated hotel in Downtown Beaufort is going to be heard in court on Thursday, May 11, 2023, at the Beaufort County Courthouse in Beaufort.
West Street Farms and Mix Farms are the plaintiffs in the lawsuit and claim to own properties adjacent to the proposed locations of the hotel and parking garage.
Developer Graham Trask owns both adjacent properties.
According to a post on the Beautiful Beaufort Alliance’s Facebook page, the lawsuit was filed to “hold the city accountable for its own city laws.”
The post goes on to say that the city asserts that it did not break any laws and that 303 Associates and The Beaufort Inn both relied on the city.
The proposed parking garage and hotel are part of a project that was originally approved by the Historic District Review Board (HDRB) in June 2021, but Trask alleges in the lawsuit that the approvals issued are invalid because they did not file for an issuance of variance by the Zoning Board of Appeals according to city regulations due to the large footprint of the buildings.
Beaufort mayor Stephen Murray said he believes that the city has done their due diligence and has followed all of the city’s regulations during the process of approving the projects.
This lawsuit is one of two that Trask has filed against the city of Beaufort.
The other lawsuit, Historic Beaufort Foundation vs. City of Beaufort, is currently waiting to be heard in appellate court after Judge Bentley Price decided to uphold the HDRB’s June 2021 approval of the hotel and parking garage on January 6, 2022.
Judge R. Scott Sprouse will be presiding over the hearing that is scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m.
Delayna Earley lives in Beaufort with her husband, two children and Jack Russell. She spent six years as a videographer and photographer for The Island Packet and The Beaufort Gazette before leaving the Lowcountry in 2018. After freelancing in Myrtle Beach and Virginia, she joined The Island News when she moved back to Beaufort in 2022. She can be reached at delayna.theislandnews@gmail.com.
