Letter: Arts campus vision must be stopped

I appreciated the editorial regarding the Town of Hilton Head Island and its changing "vision."

While I don't question the sincere motivation of the mayor and Town Council, the new "vision" is wrong-headed and should be rejected.

Our beautiful island is already celebrated for its beaches, golf, tennis and natural environment. It's a given that the arts should be supported, but the development of a brand new "arts campus" at taxpayer expense goes too far.

Our local government should focus on protecting what we already have.

Another issue is location. There are very few town-owned tracts large enough for the galleries, shops, restaurants, housing and enormous amphitheater being considered.

A possible space may be the town-owned 110 acre Planters Row golf course at Port Royal Plantation. Imagine the mid-island traffic and noise, not to mention the replacement of open spaces with concrete, steel and asphalt. Such development will change our beautiful island forever.

If this "vision" was sustainable, the private sector would have already built it. This proposal will only work with town land and a dedicated funding stream supplied by the taxpayers for many, many years to come.

The Town Council's plan is to give the citizens of Hilton Head more taxes, more government, more construction and less natural environment. This is not a conservative vision. It's an exponential growth in our government that will harm our natural environment at taxpayer expense. It needs to be stopped in its tracks.

Patricia Santry

This story was originally published January 28, 2016 at 9:18 PM with the headline "Letter: Arts campus vision must be stopped."