Will a second consultant get involved in Hilton Head’s US 278 project? What we know
Hilton Head Island will know the plan for its single entry and exit within the next few months, but town and Beaufort County leaders are floating the idea of getting another consultant involved in the U.S. 278 highway project.
This time, the consultant would suggest ways to preserve the Gullah-Geechee historic neighborhoods that lie at the base of the bridge and are threatened by the highway project.
That’s a goal native island leaders have been pursuing since the project’s impetus, but the timing has snarled town and county relations as the councils disagreed about which government will lead the project and whether it needs to go through an official bid process.
At stake is the future of the Stoney community, located at the base of the U.S. 278 bridges to the island, where native islanders and their families have owned land for seven generations. Nearby Gullah businesses and The Crazy Crab are also at risk of being disrupted.
“I don’t think we can make a decision (about the U.S. 278 alternative) without understanding what the trade offs are,” Stoney community and Ward 1 Town Council representative Alex Brown said. If the town can make a land use plan work, “then the community may be able to wrap their arms around it.”
A land use planner may be able to suggest a large-scale plan for relocating and honoring historic families while advocating for fair compensation from the S.C. Department of Transportation. However, the increasingly frayed relationship between Hilton Head and Beaufort County leaders puts the study in limbo. Communication has been sparse. And many residents are left wondering who’s actually in control of the project.
What will another consultant on US 278 do?
The newest debate over a consultant comes after a contentious back and forth between the town and county over which agency would be in charge of a traffic study consultant for the project.
On Monday, Beaufort County Council unanimously agreed to split the cost — “up to” $70,000 — with Hilton Head for a land use planner to study the U.S. 278 project’s impact on native island neighborhoods.
Beaufort County’s draft agreement, which the Town of Hilton Head Island could vote on as early as Tuesday, names an Atlanta-based land use planner, WLA Studios, as the proposed firm for the project.
WLA Studios worked with the Mitchelville Freedom Park as a landscape architect in developing its master plan, and Town Council member Alex Brown said the firm may have more “knowledge and sensitivity” to the island’s culture than others.
More importantly for some, though, is that the county paid only $215,000 of the $250,000 it had budgeted for the project, according to the draft agreement. If WLA’s contract from the Mitchelville project is extended, the county may be able to use those funds for the Stoney community land plan.
The memo outlines the land use planner’s duties:
1) Evaluate land within and around the U.S. 278 project, including the history of land ownership and use, the characteristics of Native Islander neighborhoods, the cultural identity of the area, the natural environment, and the community’s sense of place.
2) Suggest ways to create and sustain mixed-use, residential neighborhoods, commercial opportunities for those hurt by the project. This can include the use of town-owned land.
But what’s in the memo — and the hiring of WLA as the consultant — isn’t necessarily set in stone, even though Beaufort County Council approved partnering with Hilton Head on the project on Monday.
“I don’t believe we approved [the draft agreement] yet,” said Council member Stu Rodman who, according to Monday’s agenda package, “requested” that the county enter into the agreement. “That’s kind of what we wanted to do, but I don’t know that it was binding in our discussion. It would be up to [Hilton Head] to vote on it.”
Rodman said Hilton Head leaders wanted to take the lead hiring the land use planner, and “we decided to take a step back.”
Instead of hiring a firm, the council voted to contribute half the cost — up to $35,000 — for Hilton Head to decide on the consultant.
What’s next?
Whether Hilton Head Mayor John McCann will bring the full memo with WLA’s name on it to the full council on Tuesday remains to be seen.
If he chooses not to add the memo to the agenda, it won’t be up for a vote until Jan. 5.
