Lady's Island could still add thousands of homes. Here's how the community is bracing for it
A growing northern Beaufort County community still has the potential for thousands more homes and millions of square feet of commercial space.
Local officials are bracing for that possibility as they plan ways to ease the growing pains on Lady's Island.
"That's a lot of growth that can happen on Lady's Island," said Lauren Kelly, a city of Beaufort project development planner and architect, during a presentation on planning progress Friday. "We kind of knew what the issues were, and the issues were reaffirmed during this process."
Among the possibilities planning officials are considering for managing the boom are reining in boundaries guiding how far Beaufort can annex property on the island, encouraging biking and walking, preserving open space and reassessing the density allowed in development agreements as they expire.
One project could include transforming sidewalks on Sams Point Road into walking and biking paths. That would give people in neighborhoods on the north end of Lady's Island another travel option to places like Beaufort Academy and shopping at the intersection of Sea Island Parkway, county long-term planner Rob Merchant told a northern Beaufort County planning committee Friday.
As many as 8,700 houses and apartments can still be built on Lady's Island, an analysis by city and county planners found. And an additional 2.2 million square feet of commercial space is possible under current zoning and development agreements.
A series of proposed road improvements recommended by a traffic study is expected to help smooth commutes — projects that could be funded by $30 million from a sales tax on the ballot in November.
The proposed traffic fixes are only based on 20 years of projected growth, Kelly noted during her presentation updating the Northern Regional Plan Implementation Committee on the progress of a comprehensive Lady's Island plan. Much more expansion is possible beyond the 20-year window under current zoning.
City and county planners have worked with a consultant and steering committee of local community members to develop an overarching plan for the island. A final report is expected by the end of the year.
Among the concerns raised by area residents was uncertainty about developments like Walmart on Sea Island Parkway and Oyster Bluff, a housing development off Sams Point Road that spawned a public outcry when trees were cleared from the property.
In an effort at better communication, the county is adopting software that will allow anyone to subscribe and receive development updates as projects go through the review process. Residents will be notified online or via a smartphone application about projects as small as a shed to major developments like Walmart, Merchant said.
The city and county will also look at whether tree rules and other environmental standards are being properly implemented and enforced, he said.
This story was originally published June 22, 2018 at 3:13 PM with the headline "Lady's Island could still add thousands of homes. Here's how the community is bracing for it."