Daufuskie’s Marshside Mama lease puts county leaders in tough spot

Marshside Mama’s, the popular Daufuskie Island bar and restaurant, has left Beaufort County leaders in a quandry.

While the officials with county — which owns the land where the watering hole sits — say they support the operation and want to see it continue, they’re uncomfortable with government having ties to an establishment that serves alcohol.

“There is a clear desire on behalf of the public to see that (Marshside Mama’s) stays in place,” deputy county administrator Josh Gruber said Monday.

But, the county “owning property that houses a bar and grill is a very atypical situation,” he said.

The county-owned property includes the restaurant and a general store, as well as a building that formerly housed a post office.

The 2010 lease between the county and the Daufuskie Island Cooperative — which oversees the property and subleases the restaurant building to Marshside Mama’s — has expired and the parties have been operating on a month-to-month agreement for about a year.

County leaders are now trying to decide whether to renew the long-term lease it or seek alternatives.

“We are very interested in continuing the operation,” Ed Cambell of the island co-op told members of Beaufort County Council’s Public Facilities Committee Monday.

“We don’t have a bridge or all of the amenities you might have access to on the mainland,” he said, making the restaurant, bar, and store even more important to island residents and visitors.

County Council members did not quibble with that assessment, but that doesn’t mean they are ready to sign another long-term lease.

“For the county to continue to be a landlord is a bad idea,” Councilman Rick Caporale said. “... At some point this arraignment has to end.”

Councilman Mike Covert said he doesn’t “feel comfortable laying my head down at night knowing I’m in the bar business.”

County administrator Gary Kubic echoed this sentiment, saying, “I don’t like the idea of the county owning property that sells liquor.”

“Does (the county) really want to be in the bar business?” he asked.

County leaders were quick to point out that this stance is not based on moral judgments regarding alcohol, but rather a desire to avoid potential legal problems.

If “someone gets over-served and gets in an accident,” it could theoretically result in a lawsuit against the county, Gruber said.

Council members decided Monday not to make any decisions regarding a lease renewal for the property.

Rather, the board instructed Kubic and his staff to study the idea of selling the property. The goal of such a sale would be to allow Marshside Mama’s to keep serving drinks, while getting the county out of the booze business.

“We can absolutely entertain” the idea of selling the property, Gruber said. In fact, one potential buyer has already expressed interest, he said.

Conversations about selling the property are in very early stages and “no terms have been discussed whatsoever,” he said.

Council members are likely to consider the issue again when the Public Facilities Committee meets in April.

This story was originally published March 27, 2017 at 4:42 PM with the headline "Daufuskie’s Marshside Mama lease puts county leaders in tough spot."