Did Beaufort privatize its marina? Lawsuit latest storm to hit Beaufort’s prized waterfront
Three months after Tropical Storm Helene battered and beached boats in the Beaufort marina, a legal storm is now swirling around the city’s prized public amenity.
Protect Beaufort Foundation Inc. filed a lawsuit against the city in the Court of Common Pleas in the 14th Judicial Circuit Tuesday. The not-for-profit group had been considering possible legal action since it formed four months go.
Graham Trask, a Beaufort property owner and developer whose been in a long-running legal battle with the city over its development rules, and others, founded the not-for-profit in August. The group opposes privatization and commercialization of city property.
The lawsuit, in effect, argues that the city has illegally privatized Waterfront Park by allowing Safe Harbor Marinas to manage the public marina, which has led to reduced public access. It says the city also erred in letting American Cruise Lines dock at the seawall.
City Manager Scott Marshall, who considers the litigation a “nuisance lawsuit,” says the marina remains a public asset and whatever issues it has are already being addressed by the city.
What, where and how big is the city’s marina?
The downtown marina, located on the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway between Charleston and Savannah, includes 2,860 linear feet of flexible‐use side tie berthing space and 32 dedicated wet slips, shore power and potable water, gas and diesel, Wi-Fi and a ship’s store.
Safe Harbor Marinas, a national marina owner/operator, took over management and operations of the city‐owned marina in the summer of 2019.
The storm after the storm
Whether the lawsuit is nonstarter or necessary as Protect Beaufort claims, it is the latest in a long line of squalls that have kept the Beaufort River docks and Waterfront Park in the eye of the storm for several months.
The 5-acre Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park opened in 1979 along the Beaufort River. It’s named after Henry C. Chambers, the mayor at the time who was a force behind redeveloping the waterfront.
The dispute over the marina started in August 2022, when Safe Harbor, per requirements of the lease with the city to invest in the marina infrastructure, first publicly announced a $14 million dock expansion. But the scale of the work went over like lead balloon with some residents, who complained the expanded footprint would mar the views of the river. The project cost later grew to $27 million.
Concerns over the dock project led to further probing by residents for more details on the city’s lease with Safe Harbor, which led to concerns that the city was getting the short end of the stick when it came to who pays for what.
Adding fuel to the fire, in August of this year, Marshall acknowledged that, upon researching the history of the lease, the city had discovered that the City Council in 2019 approved it without the necessary two rounds of votes and public input.
The lawsuit says that the city’s contract with Safe Harbor is null and void and unenforceable because of the improper way in which it was approved.
“However, the City has refused to terminate that lease and remove Safe Harbor from the public property,” the lawsuit says. “Instead, it is seeking to enter into a new agreement without the agreement of federal agencies as required by law and in violation of restrictive covenants that bind the City in its use of this public property.
That news came on the heels of an April inspection report involving the entire park on the water’s edge. The inspection found that many of the underwater concrete supports were falling apart. One of its recommendations was that the city immediately stop allowing the docking of American Cruise Line ships at the seawall. In 2023, a 220-foot-long cruise vessel tore a handrail post from the seawall foundation.
Who’s behind lawsuit?
Protect Beaufort was formed in August. At the time, it said it had secured $100,000 in pledges, with more contributions expected, to be used to advocate for responsible development, environmental preservation and the protection of Beaufort’s historic heritage. The possible need to take legal action with regard to the marina was a catalyst for its formation.
The board of directors include Graham Trask, a Beaufort native who has residences in the city as well as Rhinebeck, New York and Geneva, Switzerland; Alan P. Dye, a part-time Beaufort resident and attorney with Webster, Chamberlain and Bean LLC in Washington D.C.; Catherine Scarborough of Beaufort, a former state Senator and House member; Wallace Scarborough of Beaufort, also a former state House member; and Will Cook a Washington, D.C. attorney, Beaufort native and former associate general counsel for National Trust for Historic Preservation.
The founder and advisor is George Graham Trask, a Beaufort native and attorney who has periodically published the Beaufort Tribune over the years.
Agreements are heart of dispute
One of the central themes in this conflict is whether the current agreements the city has with Safe Harbor and American Cruise Lines violate an agreement the city signed with state and federal agencies when the park was constructed.
Waterfront Park is governed by a 1976 property management agreement between the city, the South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism, the Economic Development Administration, an agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce and the Bureau of Outdoor Recreation, an agency within the U.S. Department of Interior, the lawsuit says.
That agreement, it adds, provided federal funding for bulkhead construction in the Beaufort River and placing 80,000 cubic yards of fill to the five-acre park and that it be dedicated to public recreation. Land acquired or developed with federal help can only be used for public outdoor recreation and can’t be sold or leased — unless prior approval is given, the lawsuit says.
Unlawful lease?
Protect Beaufort argues the city violated the agreement with the federal agencies because it didn’t get the necessary prior approval before entering into lease agreements with Safe Harbor and American Cruise Lines.
Regarding marina lease between the city and Safe Harbor, Protect Beaufort says in a news release: “The proposed use of this public asset by a for-profit company with a responsibility to shareholders, not the local community, will ultimately injure residents and visitors by restricting access to the waterfront to a select number of members. Further, a burden will be placed on taxpayers to fund projects that will be used by this select few rather than for the public good as has always been intended.”
The lawsuit asked the court to declare that the lease is unlawful.
City stands its ground
Marshall, the city manager, says he’s not sure what the purpose of the lawsuit is because the marina is not private.
“I would maintain a marina is an outdoor public use,” Marshall said.
Also, he adds, the city is already addressing concerns raised in the lawsuit regarding the leases with Safe Harbor and American Cruise Lines. “None of it is new,” he says. “We have been public about every bit of it.”
The city has created a committee that will study the marina lease issues and make recommendations regarding the city’s future relationship with Safe Harbor. Appointments are expected to be made in March.
The city is no longer allowing American Cruise Lines to dock at the waterfront while it studies how the infrastructure will be fixed.
“To me it appears to be a nuisance lawsuit,” Marshall said. “The only thing Beaufort needs protection from is the Protect Beaufort Foundation.”
This story was originally published December 13, 2024 at 3:22 PM.
