POSTAL PATRON LOCAL
JULY 28–AUGUST 3, 2022
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PRESORTED PERMIT NO. 97 BEAUFORT, SC 29902
COVERING BEAUFORT COUNTY
Bay Point permit denied again From staff reports Environmental advocates, as well as the Gullah/Geechee people, can once again declare victory in their battle to prevent a controversial luxury resort from being built at Bay Point, adjacent to St. Helena Island. On Thursday, July 21, Judge Marvin Dukes upheld the Beaufort County Board of Zoning Appeal's Sept. 24, 2020, decision to deny a building permit for Bay Point. In 2020, plans for a $100 million, 50 cottage development faced stiff opposition from groups like the Gullah/Geechee Fishing Association, the Gullah/Geechee Sea Island Coalition and the Coastal Conservation League. The organizations argued that the Bay Point area was fragile and was one of the few pristine, undeveloped areas in the Gullah/Geechee Nation. They argued the land and surrounding waters were critical for the subsistence of native Gullah/Geechees of St. Helena Island. Marquetta Goodwine, better known as Chieftess Queen Quet of the Gullah/Geechee Nation, amassed the signatures of 30,000 people in opposition to the development. According to an Oct. 1, 2020 story in The Island News, conservation leaders cited severe erosion, rising sea levels, increased hurricanes and storms in an area with an already fragile ecosystem as reasons for denying such a development. After more than a year of trying to make their case for a high-end, ecotourism resort, developers from Bay Point Island were eventually shut out, denied unanimously by the county’s Zoning Board of Appeals at a public hearing. Mindy Lucas of The Island News wrote, “Board members found it inconsistent with the county’s plan to protect rural resources, incompatible with land in the local vicinity, not designed to minimize the impacts on wildlife, not designed to minimize the impacts on local services, such as emergency or fire protection, and did not meet the definition of ecotourism.”
The bed racing team from Beaufort Nursing and Rehab is soaked as they run the course during the 66th annual Beaufort Water Festival Friday, July 22 in Beaufort. Local band Killin’ Quaid turned in a strong evening performance, but storms caused the cancelation of headliner Hardwired, a Metallica tribute band. Photos by Tony Kukulich
Beaufort Water Festival comes to a close By Tony Kukulich By any measure, the 66th annual Beaufort Water Festival was a solid success. “The community really supported the festival,” said Shawna Doran, who helmed the event as this year’s commodore. “They came out and enjoyed it. I think all of our nights went really well. I was very pleased.” The 10-day event kicked off Friday night, July 15 with an evening that featured a flyover by aircraft stationed at the Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Beaufort; a fireworks display and concerts by
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BY THE (UNOFFICIAL) NUMBERS
Number of event days: 10 Number of musical performances planned: 14 Number of musical performances canceled: 1 Number of Pirettes: 16
Number of event coordinators: 10 Number of teams entered in the raft race: 26
Monsignor Ronald Cellini blesses the fleet Sunday, July 24 during the final day of the 66th annual Beaufort Water Festival in Beaufort.
Number of shrimp boats in boat parade: 4 Number of photos taken by The Island News: 6,717
Beaufort hotel project inches closer to final approval
An artist’s rendering of a 116-room Desai Hotel planned for 12 County Shed Road. Submitted photo.
By Tony Kukulich An effort to obtain final approval from the City of Beaufort Design Review Board (DRB) for a new hotel fell short of its goal, but the project team still considered the appearance before the board a win. The DRB deferred the vote on the project’s final approval, but resolved several key issues favorably for the project team headed by Beaufort-based SM7 Design. The 116-room Desai Hotel is planned for 12 County Shed Road near the intersection with Parris Island Gateway. There are currently two other hotels, the Home2 Suites by Hilton and the Tru by Hilton, in the area that is bordered to the north by Trask Parkway, to the east by Parris Island Gateway and to the south
by County Shed Road. The new hotel will be positioned to the east of the Tru by Hilton in an empty lot, though a Refuel gas station and convenience store is under construction on a portion of that lot. Preliminary approval for the Desai was issued with conditions in August 2020. Appearing before the DRB seeking final approval, project architect Tom Michaels of SM7 Design addressed the board’s previously documented issues, including the height of the building. The building’s zoning limits its height to five stories. The Desai is a five-story tall building, but original plans to have an occupied space on the roof complete with bathrooms counted as the addition of another half story according to Beaufort’s
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Sea Island Quilters give their “Hearts for Ukraine”.
Local RN, Joanna May, give a back-to-school health update.
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zoning statutes. That design resulted in a five-and-a-half story building, which exceeded the five-story limit. The new design presented to the board earlier this month eliminated the bathrooms on the roof. With no occupiable, enclosed space, the roof no longer counts as a half floor, and the overall design is now within allowed zoning limits. Removing the bathrooms does not, however, preclude use of the roof as a party space or rooftop bar. David Hornsby, who represents the owner of the hotel, said he was “delighted” that the removal of the rooftop bathrooms easily resolved concerns over the building’s height. “The height thing was a concern
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