What’s the plan for Lady’s Island? We’ll know more soon

Note: This story was updated to note the Lady’s Island traffic study has been removed from the agenda.

Beaufort County officials will present a vision for the future of Lady’s Island during a northern Beaufort County planning committee Friday.

The community has been at the center of traffic and development questions because of a growing number of businesses and housing developments and the city of Beaufort continuing to annex commercial property along Sea Island Parkway.

Beaufort County planners will present an island-wide vision on Friday, long-range planner Rob Merchant said. The plan will include thoughts on land use, transportation, housing and community needs, such as parks, Merchant said.

He declined to offer more details before the presentation. The committee will meet at 9:30 a.m. Friday in the Beaufort County administration building’s executive conference room.

“I think it’s safe to say we have seen an increase in activity on Lady’s Island in terms of residential development and commercial development,” Merchant said. “We think it’s a good opportunity to do an island-wide plan.

“We feel that is something we should engage in with the city of Beaufort, since they have jurisdiction on the island as well.”

The results of a Lady’s Island traffic study were expected to be presented by the city of Beaufort, but the presentation was removed from the agenda.

The city of Beaufort contracted with Ward Edwards for a traffic study focused on the Sea Island Parkway corridor from Richard V. Woods Memorial Bridge to Chowan Creek Bridge.

Impact fees from Wal-Mart, which is building a new store on Lady’s Island, covered the bulk of the $88,000 study. The city paid the remaining cost.

The Northern Beaufort County Regional Plan Implementation Committee includes elected officials from the city of Beaufort, town of Port Royal and Beaufort County, as well as representatives from other county planning panels.

This story was originally published January 25, 2017 at 11:27 AM with the headline "What’s the plan for Lady’s Island? We’ll know more soon."