Beaufort Co. Council dispels Alljoy pathway rumors, but residents still don’t want it
Beaufort County Councilmembers met with Alljoy residents last week with hopes of clearing up rumors surrounding a proposed pathway project, but the majority of residents there wanted the project abandoned altogether.
The proposed 8-foot wide pathway will go from the Town of Bluffton, down Alljoy Road to Thomas Lawton Road. The project stems from the 2018 sales tax referendum, according to County Council member Mark Lawson, who represents District 9. The tax has collected $70 million in revenue since it began in May 2019, according to the county website.
Sidewalks and multi-use pathway projects will receive $10 million, and $750,000 of that has been set aside for the Alljoy Road pathway. The plan was the result of questionnaires sent to the community at the time, Lawson said.
Three years later, residents say they would rather have proper sewage and drainage.
“It’s the cart before the horse,” said Bob Williams, a former pilot who has lived in the area 16 years.
Heavy rains cause terrible flooding in the area, and the drainage ditches that are built to offset that are overrun by foliage and weeds, Williams said. Lawson explained that many of those roads are state roads, but acknowledged the county “could do a better job at cleaning out ditches” on county roads.
Williams said he and other residents have spearheaded opposition to the project, gathering more than 1,000 signatures on a petition to stop the project.
“They don’t want to deal with the sewer or our drainage,” Williams said. “First, they want to make a worse problem to the drainage we have now. It gets so bad when we do have heavy rain that some people can’t even flush their toilets.”
Conceptual stages
The pathway is in the conceptual stages, County Administrator Eric Greenway said in the meeting Thursday at the town’s recreational center.
Greenway addressed questions. Would golf carts be allowed on the path? No. How are decisions being made? No decision has been made. How many trees would be lost? They will build around as many trees as they can, officials said. The pathway will not cut across the front of anyone’s yard.
“We can stop the pathway at Thomas Lawton, we can stop it at Shad, but we need this feedback in order to continue with design,” said Brittanee Fields, senior administrative specialist for the county.
The $750,000 set aside for the pathway cannot be spent on anything other than pathways, Lawson said, so if it is not spent in Alljoy, it will go to another community in Beaufort County.
“My position on this is I want to do what y’all want to do,” Lawson said. “If you think we don’t need the bike path, if we think we want half of it, we want all of it or none of it, I’m here to support the community.”
Fields said public comments and suggestions would be welcome until the end of the month.
This story was originally published July 4, 2021 at 3:43 PM.
