Hilton Head to draft protest policy after criticism

The Town of Hilton Hilton Island plans to draft a policy governing protest approval less than two weeks after a local activist group criticized the town for failing to have a process in writing.

The group, Lowcountry Indivisible, said the town erected “roadblocks” when it tried to find a spot to protest Beaufort County Sheriff P.J. Tanner’s plan to revive a controversial immigration-law enforcement task force.

Hilton Head Mayor David Bennett asked the town staff to draft a policy after he and council member Marc Grant questioned the process during a Town Council meeting Tuesday night.

“So we don’t have anything in writing so that people can know if they were treated fairly or not?” Bennett asked Brian Hulbert, town attorney. “I don’t think the town would ever treat someone inequitably, but I want to make sure there is no option for them to think that.”

Grant asked that the draft come before the Public Facilities Committee so it could be reviewed in a public meeting.

“It’s a welcome piece of information,” Lowcountry Indivisible’s Mitch Siegel said Wednesday morning after learning about the discussion.

“Everything has to form somewhere,” he said. “My question is why it’s taken this long to have an ordinance with clear guidelines. But I do applaud their action.”

Hulbert said Wednesday he couldn’t provide a timeline for drafting the policy.

The key points of the policy, he said, would govern time, place and manner.

Protesters would need permission to use town property and have to provide information about the protest, including the nature of the protest, he said.

The town needs that information, Hulbert said, so it can coordinate with law enforcement and ensure public safety. Protesters also would have to let the town know how they plan to coordinate parking and pedestrian traffic to and from the protest, he said.

If protesters wanted to use a piece of property that isn’t considered a traditional public forum, the town would have to carefully weigh that request and might decline to grant a permit, Hulbert said.

This story was originally published March 22, 2017 at 4:14 PM with the headline "Hilton Head to draft protest policy after criticism."