‘Beaufort cannot become Charleston:’ City may oust preservation group from review board
Beaufort is poised to nix a historic preservation group’s guaranteed spot on the city’s historic review board, a position the group has enjoyed almost 50 years.
The Historic Beaufort Foundation has held a seat on the five-member Historic District Review Board since 1972. Now the city has proposed ending the designation, with some city officials saying it’s not appropriate for a nonprofit advocacy group to hold a position on a public regulatory body.
City Council will vote a second and final time on the proposed change during a meeting at City Hall at 7 p.m. Tuesday. The council voted 3-2 to remove the seat in a first vote in November.
Mayor Billy Keyserling and council members Mike McFee and Nan Sutton voted in favor of the change. Councilmen Stephen Murray and Phil Cromer voted against removing the designated seat.
Council members heard overwhelming opposition to the change in public comments before the initial vote. Historic Beaufort’s representative brings a necessary knowledge of preservation guidelines for the city, opponents argued. Losing that could eventually jeopardize the city’s prized historic district designation and lead to unchecked development, they said.
Historic Beaufort executive director Cynthia Jenkins told council members that numerous people have told her the same thing. The city needs the organization’s knowledge and perspective. “Beaufort cannot become Charleston.”
“It has stunned me,” she said. “People I don’t know come up to me on Bay Street and say this.”
The five-member review board was established in 1970, and its members are appointed to three-year terms by City Council. In addition to the Historic Beaufort member, the panel has included architects, planners, historians and related areas of expertise.
The group scrutinizes the plans of anyone who wants to demolish, renovate or construct new buildings in the National Landmark Historic District, looking for consistency with published guidelines.
Historic Beaufort Foundation was started in 1965, and its origins date back to a 1940s movement to save what is now the Verdier House on Bay Street. Those wanting to begin projects on historic structures seek out the organization’s preservation committee for feedback.
Council members who supported the change said removing the guaranteed seat doesn’t diminish Historic Beaufort Foundation’s influence. Representatives of the organization could conceivably hold all five review board seats if enough qualified candidates applied, Sutton said.
Reserving a seat for a nonprofit organization could lead to other organizations asking for the same, she said.
“I’m surprised by words like destroy and undermine,” Sutton said in response to public comments before the first vote. “I don’t see this in any way undermining or discrediting HBF. I think the city will always be partners with HBF.”
