"Short Sighted": Beaufort County Council Lifts Zoning Restrictions
Posted by Todd Covington on Tuesday, April 28th, 2009 at 2:19pm.
If you read between the lines of Beaufort County Council's decision to lift current zoning restrictions, it seems money actually does do the talking in these here parts. Eliminating "Rural Residential" zoning was the result of the council's vote on Monday. Previously, these areas were under the "Rural Residential" zoning which designated one home per 3 acres. With the ruling, the possible floodgates have been opened for an additional 3227 homes in the Port Royal Island, St. Helena Island and Whale Branch areas. Breaking it down, it would allow 107 additional homes on Port Royal Island, 2000 on St. Helena Island, and 1,120 in Whale Branch.
If you have read my prior post, you know I'm an advocate of restrictive zoning. A resident of Charleston SC for 13 years, I've seen the negative effects that loose zoning can have on a community. Imagine traffic gridlock, higher taxes, live oaks cut down by the hundreds, pollution, large developers who build junk houses by the thousand to bring property values down, and a government who slowly forgets why this is such a great place to live in the first place. Sure, I sometimes miss all the restaurants and conveniences of Charleston. The big question is "At what cost to our quality of life do we bring in the national chain stores, traffic, and cookie cutter houses that kill the quaintness of the area?".
Beaufort is possibly the last remaining South Carolina coastal town not overrun with development. I left Charleston for this great little town I love so much. Let's all hope the county council will do a double take in the future and remember what's happened to Hilton Head, Bluffton, Charleston, Mt. Pleasant, and Myrtle Beach. Ask yourselves, why did I move to Beaufort in the first place?