New stores are popping up on Lady’s Island. Is Harris Teeter next?

If you leave Beaufort or Port Royal and drive along Lady’s Island’s main thoroughfares, one thing is evident: Lady’s Island is buzzing.

New businesses are moving in, projects being built and new buildings expected to rise soon from vacant properties.

Among the recent activity:

▪  A new assisted living facility is set to open on Sea Island Parkway. Just down the road, outdoor retailer Higher Ground recently moved into a new location from its previous home on Boundary Street.

▪  The new Walmart shopping center also includes a new gas station, a new Verizon store is under construction and another building is planned to eventually host multiple businesses on the property.

▪  Harris Teeter re-engaged the city recently about its plans for a possible store at Sea Island Parkway and Sams Point Road, site of a former Publix. The grocery chain’s corporate headquarters wants to review city fees and other aspects of the project, city planning director Libby Anderson said. “It’s back on their radar,” she said.

▪  A new Parker’s gas station, complete with a 4,500 square-foot convenience store and deli, is under construction on Sams Point Road adjacent to a new housing development.

▪  Developers are still eying the 19-acre Whitehall property off of Sea Island Parkway just across the bridge from downtown Beaufort. After a planning committee denied developers’ requests in November, updated plans for a mix of home types and commercial uses better matching a master plan for the property are expected in February.

More could be on the way as retailers and home builders rush to take advantage of a growing community. The uptick in development isn’t unique to Lady’s Island, as developers eye transformational projects in Port Royal and Beaufort.

But Lady’s Island’s rapid growth within a limited area has created unique traffic and congestion concerns.

“I think an important message is that when we look at the future of the island, there’s a limited amount of land in play that could really make a big difference in what happens on the island,” Beaufort County long-range planner Rob Merchant told the Northern Beaufort County Regional Plan Implementation Committee last week.

As the boom continues on Lady’s Island, the latest effort to manage the growth is just taking shape.

Just a year after Beaufort County planning officials saw the need for a comprehensive plan for Lady’s Island, the heavy lifting began this month.

The work will include assessing room for future development, looking at existing codes and incorporating previous planning efforts and recommendations from a recent traffic study. Some of the traffic improvements could be funded if voters approve a sales tax referendum in the fall, which would provide $30 million for Lady’s Island projects identified in the study.

Planners will also look at how to better integrate commercial development with nearby neighborhoods.

A consultant has been hired for the $80,000 plan and a steering committee appointed. After a series of planned public meetings, a draft of the plan is expected by June 2018 and the document adopted by September.

This story was originally published January 24, 2018 at 3:58 PM with the headline "New stores are popping up on Lady’s Island. Is Harris Teeter next?."