Big Things Ahead

BIG THINGS ARE AHEAD

MAYOR LISA SULKA TALKS ABOUT TOWN OF BLUFFTON’S FUTURE

BY CLAY BONNYMAN EVANS | PHOTO SUPPLIED

Midway through her fourth term as mayor, Lisa Sulka doesn’t hesitate to name the biggest issue facing the Town of Bluffton: growth and development.

With a population of 27,716 in 2020, the town is one of the fastest growing municipalities in South Carolina. And the once tiny burg is now fifth largest in terms of land area in the state.

“When we moved here (36 years ago), the town was one square mile. Growth was running over the bridge” — from Hilton Head Island — “and the mayor and council felt it was best to control, through annexation, large, single-landowner tracts,” she said.

Now, Sulka notes, a whopping 92 percent of the town’s 53-square-mile area is under development agreements established decades ago.

With some of those long-ago agreements set to expire, she says potential new growth will require cooperation with other local government entities, from the school board to Beaufort County, the state and the nearby city of Hardeeville

“It’s not just within the town limits,” Sulka says. “Outside of town our county, our entire ZIP code, is growing. Hilton Head is developing infill, Hardeeville is just starting (to develop). We … need to figure out what that means so we can get ahead of it.”

At issue is the impact more residential and commercial development will have on the town’s water quality, schools and transportation.

Local public schools are part of the Beaufort County School District, governed by the board of education. But Sulka says Bluffton stays in close communication with the district.

How to handle a potential influx of students from new development is a key

topic of discussion. Sulka cautions that reflexively building new buildings may not be the best answer, noting that as buildout approaches, the town’s demographics could begin to shift away from families with school-age children.

“We are a very young town. Who would have thought in 1996 that our average age would be 36?” she says. “I’d love our town to stay that young, but it could start inching up every year.”

Real-estate agent Sulka (she’s been in the industry since the 1980s) senses that the town is “two-thirds along the way” in terms of residential development, and subsequent commercial growth. “So we may be seeing the end of growth” and stabilization on the horizon, she says.

On the capital-improvement front, Sulka is enthusiastic about several projects expected to get under way in 2023, including: • A $10 million bond issue will pay for streetscaping, lighting and additional parking at the 40-acre New Riverside

Barn project. • Improvements in lighting and accessibility for the 3.7-mile New River

Linear Trail, which Sulka says she wants

“to be our version of the Spanish Moss

Trail” near Beaufort. • Refurbishment of historic Sarah Riley

Hooks Cottage and Squire Pope Carriage

House. • A partnership with the Beaufort Jasper

Water and Sewer Authority to convert the Stony Crest Plantation Campground from a septic system to sewer. “That’s the headwaters, that’s where (water quality) problems begin,” Sulka says.

And while it’s already complete, Sulka is looking forward to the “official finishing” of work on the Reflection Plaza behind the Bluffton Police Department in mid-January.

Sulka can look forward to welcoming Bluffton’s new police chief Joseph “Joe” Babkiewicz, who in mid-December was selected for the position by Bluffton Town Manager Stephen Steese.

Babkiewicz has 20 years of experience in law enforcement. He previously served in the Bluffton Police Department for 13 years, rising to the rank of captain.

A community survey asking residents about their priorities in hiring a new chief proved useful to Steese in the hiring process, the mayor says.

She asked him about the survey and found residents wanted “someone who is committed to being here, who is part of the community, who lives and breathes Bluffton, professional standards, community policing.”