Beaufort County, developer strike new Pepper Hall deal. Taxpayers on hook for $2 million
Almost two years after Beaufort County signed a controversial public-private partnership for a development along the Okatie River, the county and property owner hammered out a revised deal Monday night.
The new development agreement for Pepper Hall, located along U.S. 278 across from Hampton Parkway, requires Beaufort County to pay $1.15 million to build an 18-acre passive park and to reimburse Robert Graves, the property owner, $1.3 million for a portion of the roads leading to the property.
Graves will contribute $50,000 for the park’s design and $3.7 million up front for the costs of the roads, according to the new agreement.
This means the project will cost taxpayers about $2.45 million, though it is still unclear exactly how that money will be collected.
The previous deal, narrowly approved by County Council in December 2018, was criticized by several elected leaders and the public who didn’t want the county to enter into a public-private development agreement along the marshes of the river. Supporters of the amendment approved Monday night said it was a better deal than the original agreement, which required the county to pay for the entire cost of the roads.
While finalizing the new deal with Graves, Beaufort County could have created an improvement district for the development — a fee paid by developers for each residential home or commercial building on the property — to recoup some of the costs of the project instead of using tax dollars. But that plan never came to fruition.
The amendment to the agreement was approved 6-4 by County Council Monday night after Vice Chair Paul Sommerville, who has regularly spoken against the project, abstained.
Council member Alice Howard said although she thinks the property will have a “beautiful park,” she voted against it because of the high cost to taxpayers.
“I think we’re not doing the best we can for the taxpayers,” she said.
Sommerville said Monday night he abstained because of the “optics” of council members in northern Beaufort County appearing to disapprove of the project while leaders in the southern part of the county were for it.
Sommerville’s statements echoed the sentiments in an email obtained by The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette, which was sent Friday from council member Stu Rodman’s personal email account to fellow council members Sommerville, Howard, York Glover, Gerald Dawson and Brian Flewelling.
“I trust that we will finalize Pepper Hall one way or the other on Monday,” the email said. “I am disturbed that for the first time that I can remember, that we have an absolute SOB / NOB split, which is unhealthy for many reasons.”
The email went on to summarize Rodman’s understanding of the development agreement.
County Council Chairman Joe Passiment told the newspapers in July that he assumed council would agree to the improvement district when it came up for a vote, because otherwise the county would have to pay the entire costs of the roads.
As part of the deal, Beaufort County will assume ownership of Graves Road leading to the property and will be required to reimburse Graves throughout the development process.
According to a July presentation from Graves’ attorneys, he plans to build:
▪ 109 single-family homes for sale
▪ 54 townhomes for sale
▪ 120 townhomes for rent
▪ 336 apartment units for rent
▪ 100,000 square feet of commercial space
The 18-acre, county-owned passive park on the property could be “the crown jewel of our passive parks system,” Passiment said in July.
This story was originally published September 30, 2020 at 4:45 AM.
