Beaufort’s marina would double in size with $14 million expansion. Not everybody’s on board
Safe Harbor Marinas is proposing to replace and more than double the size of Beaufort’s marina in an expansion project that could result in a $14 million investment.
Some residents are opposed because they argue the increase in the number of boats and docks will infringe on the city’s iconic views of the water from Bay Street, which is adjacent to the Beaufort River, but others say an expansion is warranted.
For its part, Safe Harbor says it’s responding to demand. The company, which operates the marina for the city, views the expansion, it adds, as an improvement for the city’s “front door” via the water.
Safe Harbor announced the expansion project last year but, for the first time, it has made public a drawing of the proposed plan and the larger footprint, which is sparking questions about the impact it will have on the Beaufort River, parking and views. The entire marina would be replaced except one section of docks currently used by transient boaters, which would be moved to another location in the new scheme.
In 2019, Safe Harbor Marinas, a fast-growing network of marinas worldwide, signed a contract to lease and manage the city’s marina for 10 years. The city receives a percentage of dock fees and fuel sales.
Safe Harbor needs the city’s OK to proceed with the expansion plans.
“This is a draft,” said David Rogers, a Safe Harbor Marinas regional vice president, “and we’ve got plenty to talk about.”
The number of boat slips, Roger said, would increase from 75 to 181. Slips go to members who pay to park their boats for longer periods.
The linear feet of docks would increase from less than 5,000 feet to 11,482, and most of that is due to additional tie-up space for transients. Transients are boaters who stop in the city and park their boats for short periods.
Ten moorings would be removed, Rogers said, which will allow for additional slips.
Also planned are a new fuel pump area, a floating wave dock that makes it easier to dock in wavy conditions, slips where boats can be pulled out of the water, improvements to the existing operations center and a new gangway to access the docks.
The new marina would cover the footprint of the existing marina but it would be expanded significantly to the west, in front of Bay Street, which is lined with historic homes with views of the Beaufort River. The views also are visible by pedestrians.
“I want to see the marina prosper and everything,” Councilman Neil Lipsitz said, “but it looks too excessive for downtown to me.”
Wallace and Carolyn Scarborough, who live on Bay Street, said the neighborhood was “completely against it” because of the impacts on the views.
“You put this dockage out in the front of Bay Street,” Wallace Scarborough said, “you are going to block the view.”
Visitors, they argued, want to see the water, not boats. The Scarboroughs also raised concerns about noise and the impact of the additional traffic on the marsh.
Cynthia Jenkins, who heads Historic Beaufort Foundation, noted the city’s vistas have special importance to residents, tourism and the city’s economic and need to be balanced against Safe Harbor’s plans.
The plans have supporters, too.
Capt. Henry Brandt of Coastal Expeditions called Safe Harbor a high-integrity business whose investment in the marina to date has been “refreshing.” While Beaufort is a water town, he said, the marina facilities are ill-equipped.
And Mayor Stephen Murray said the marina is in better shape than it’s been in a long time since Safe Harbor took over management.
Safe Harbor, Rogers said, has invested $600,000 in improvements since it assumed operations.
The marina, Councilman Mitch Mitchell said, adds “a sense of real beauty” to the city. His only concern is the impact on the parking, which he noted is in short supply.
Murray supports an expansion of the Marina along what he called the “I-95 of waterways,” but shares concerns about the size of the expansion, jumping from 75 to 181 slips, including its impact on Waterfront Park parking.
Twenty-five parking spots are reserved for the marina now, but the increase in boat slips would require 60 spots, Rogers said.
The city has the ability to reconfigure parking at Waterfront Park to add an additional 70 to 80 spots, said Linda Roper, the city’s director of Downtown Operations and Community Services.
The plans, Murray said, are “not fully cooked,” and additional answers are needed At some point, he said, the City Council will provide direction to the city staff on how to proceed.
The city is responsible for the facilities on the land, Murray said, which he noted need improvements as well.
Safe Harbor should provide more detailed maps or schematics, from a “40,000-foot view,” that better show how the project will sit in the river and affect the views, Councilman Phil Cromer said. Safe Harbor has agreed to provide that information.
Growth in the number and size of boats and demand for places to dock — and replacing aging infrastructure — are the reasons Safe Harbor is pursuing the expansion, Rogers said. Its goal is “to do something significant” in the city’s front door by water.
In November, Safe Harbor Marinas said the improvements would cost $7.5 million but Rogers said the cost had doubled because of the increase in the price of materials due to the pandemic, inflation and the Russia-Ukraine war.
Safe Harbor Marinas has secured a $1.5 million grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Boating Infrastructure Grant Program for the work. Safe Harbor Marinas, Rogers said, would bear the rest of the cost.
It will take eight months to a year to get the permits for the work, Rogers said, and another year for construction. Construction will result in a disruption, he said, so it would be completed in two or three phases. During construction, boats would be allowed to use sister facilities Safe Harbor manages, he said.
In South Carolina, the state Department of Health and Environmental Control regulates 71 marinas, which are land-based fueling facilities over or close to water. The Coast Guard, Army Corps of Engineers, Department of Natural Resources and Fire Marshall may have regulatory control over marinas as well.
