At annual retreat, island officials discuss balancing growth and preservation

BEAUFORT -- The first day of Hilton Head Island's annual goal-setting retreat Thursday wasn't as rosy as years past.

And Town Council hasn't even gotten to the economy yet.

Much of the afternoon was spent in philosophical conversation about how to make a town formed 25 years ago with an eye on limiting growth better able to promote and foster the redevelopment of what's already here.

Town leaders said the need to bring outdated, "tired" villa complexes and half-vacant strip malls up to modern standards should spur the town to make the process of doing so easier for developers and property owners without loosening environmental and safety restrictions.

Picture a condominium built in the 1970s, Mayor Tom Peeples said. The ceiling is seven feet tall at the entrance and eight feet throughout the rest of the rooms. The windows are small. The quarters are tight, making visitors feel a tad claustrophobic.

"All the marble countertops in the world aren't going to make a hell of a difference," he said. "How are you going to market that to a high-end tourist?"

Because the approval process is long and expensive and the outcome uncertain, some applicants who want to redevelop properties or do simple remodeling projects sometimes become discouraged.

Councilman Drew Laughlin said the town's laws, plans and culture are still very much geared toward the past "war" of controlling development.

Now the island is aging,

approaching build-out and competing for tourists with more discerning tastes.

"That war is largely over," Laughlin said. "That war has largely been won. If we don't allow for and encourage and attract sustainable investment ... I think we will slowly die."

But exactly how big a step the town should take is open for debate.

"Maybe it is a harder process than elsewhere, but maybe it should be," said Councilman John Safay.

So what exactly does Town Council propose to do?

First, the plan is to study the alternatives by convening a committee of business owners, developers and residents who will be asked to come up with ways to improve the current process.

That method's been tried in the past, but "we've got to let the community know we mean business" this time, Peeples said.

Second, the town will explore whether it needs to revise zoning categories and add a transitional zoning district so struggling shopping centers near the airport and elsewhere that don't conform to existing rules can add new, similar tenants without a zoning change.

Third, the town is looking at incentives to promote redevelopment such as using the land-buying program to buy, clear and then re-sell former eyesores or by granting extra density in exchange for major improvements, as it is doing for the Mall at Shelter Cove.

Other options on the table include identifying areas of the island ripe for redevelopment and engaging the property owners there to make it happen; revisiting the "use it or lose it" density policy within the island's gated communities; allowing minor changes to those communities' master plans; and joining the Lowcountry Economic Network to promote the island to businesses outside the area.

"I think what we're trying to say is we don't want to stand in the way of new ideas," Safay said.