Letter: No room for south of Broad vs. north of Broad

As a Hilton Head Islander, I am disappointed in the “us against them” mentality (south of the Broad vs. north of the Broad) expressed by County Council members Cynthia Bensch and Rick Caporale at the community forum held in Bluffton and reported in the newspaper on March 25.

Contrary to Bensch’s statement that “on this side of the river, it’s all plantations, and the developers pay” to build parks within communities, Hilton Head Island and Bluffton are definitely not composed of only gated communities. The Town of Hilton Head Island builds parks in the various areas of the island that are outside of gated communities and I believe that the town of Bluffton does the same.

Certainly the residents of unincorporated Beaufort County deserve to have parks also and I think that is a reasonable expenditure for the county to make from county funds (although the $800,000 for renovation of the building in Crystal Lake Park may possibly be excessive, I don’t have enough knowledge about it to make a judgment).

It is time that we put aside our imagined and/or geographic differences and unite as one county for the good of all of its residents.

This story was originally published April 7, 2016 at 5:39 PM with the headline "Letter: No room for south of Broad vs. north of Broad."