Fraser’s growth concept offers best of both worlds

Fishing, fishing and more fishing.

If you think that is all I ever talk about, then you are mostly correct. But this time around, I want to switch gears and talk about land, you know, terra firma, and, more specifically how we treat it.

Sitting here this morning in front of my computer, I was daydreaming trying to decide what to write about. It wasn’t until I looked out the window and saw a sea of blooming flowers and a lush variety of greens (no doubt a result of the past two rainy days) that I started thinking about how differently we treat the land around here compared to the early days when my family first moved to the Lowcountry.

In part, I hope this serves as a history lesson since so many of you have lived here less than a decade or two.

Are you familiar with a man named Charles Fraser? My guess is you probably know something about this man, but do you know that had it not been for Charles, this area would certainly be very different than it is now. To say he was a visionary is putting it mildly. His concept of development and building around nature, and not vice versa, was unheard of before he started Sea Pines Plantation on Hilton Head.

A few examples of his vision included using materials when building homes that blended into the surrounding environment. You couldn’t cut down the trees on your property, then build a house and plant new ones. Instead, architectural plans gave existing trees all the rights and whatever plans you submitted had to account for this provision. Mailboxes had to be green, signs were all made of natural wood, no billboards and so on.

It was this novel concept of development that made Hilton Head what it is today and, without a doubt, contributed to the unbelievable growth of Bluffton, Beaufort and all places in between.

So what is my point of that history lesson? If his vision was so radical and actually led to other communities all over the world to copy this highly successful approach, then why haven’t places like Bluffton and Beaufort adopted the concept that has brought growth and prosperity to these municipalities? Sure, there are developments within these areas that used Charles Fraser’s guide to development but, overall, local governments have all but avoided this approach.

Don’t believe me, then take a drive from Bluffton to Beaufort and look around. Billboards are a dime a dozen, strip malls are just that as they strip every bit of vegetation, throw up buildings and plant token trees.

You have to realize that I remember what was there before they were constructed. Many places had specimen live oaks and other magnificent local flora that took a back seat to cheap construction costs.

Other things I notice is how much of our wetlands are being filled in. Swamps to many are ugly but, to me, they are beautiful and, besides, they serve a purpose, and that is to filter pollutants.

Another common sight is large areas that are covered with concrete and asphalt, both of which are impervious surfaces allowing for storm water runoff containing gasoline, oil and other harmful chemicals to make it into our local waters.

So what other options are there? For a few dollars mor,e there are a ton of pervious paving systems that are both more attractive and less harmful to the environment.

In my opinion, the bottom dollar as to why some of these desirable solutions haven’t been adopted is just that, the almighty dollar. But on the flip side of that coin is this, if Charles Fraser’s style of development made this area what it is today, and it did, then why not continue with what has proven to be a highly successful approach to development?

With population growth projections for our area almost inconceivable, now is the time to lobby for changes that will put nature and the unique beauty of the Lowcountry first and development second. I know growth is inevitable, but why on earth would we nix a formula that brought almost every single person reading this here?

If local government planners and politicians began instituting some of Charles Fraser’s tried and true approaches to development, then it is just possible that even with all the projected growth you might not even be aware it’s there.

Now sing along: “This land is your land, this land is my land …”

This story was originally published May 27, 2017 at 8:08 PM with the headline "Fraser’s growth concept offers best of both worlds."