Best Moving Company in Beaufort

By Scott Graber

The Island News

On Wednesday, Oct. 30, the South Carolina Court of Appeals handed down two decisions dealing with the City of Beaufort, developer Dick Stewart (Beaufort Inn LLC); Beaufort landowner Graham Trask (West Street, LLC and Mix Farms, LLC); the Historic Beaufort Foundation and their competing visions for downtown Beaufort.

Stewart had previously gotten approvals from Beaufort’s Historic Review Board for a new hotel on Scott Street; and a parking garage just off Craven Street. Trask and the Historic Beaufort Foundation challenged the Review Board’s approval of Stewart’s plans.

In January 2022, Circuit Judge Bentley Price denied the appeal of West Street, LLC and Mix Farms, LLC and Historic Beaufort Foundation. Thereafter West Street, LLC, Mix Farms, LLC, and HBF moved on to the South Carolina Court of Appeals.

In its one paragraph opinion, the three-judge panel said that it would not disturb the rulings of the Historic Review Board, writing, “When an appellant provides no legal authority regarding a particular argument, the argument is abandoned and the court can decline to address the merits of the issue.

“Short, conclusory statements made without supporting authority are deemed abandoned on appeal and therefore not presented for review.

“The burden is on the appellant to furnish a sufficient record on appeal from which this court can make an intelligent review.”

West Street, LLC and Mix Farms, LLC had also petitioned the Circuit Court for injunctive relief — what is called a declaratory judgment—that would overturn various approvals granted by the City of Beaufort.

When the three-judge panel spoke to the issue of injunctive relief, they affirmed the decision of Circuit Judge Scott Sprouse, who had denied the request, saying a similar challenge had already been decided by the Circuit Court and was pending appeal.

The panel then quoted Corpus Juris, writing: “When an administrative agency is vested with primary jurisdiction of the question at issue, the courts ordinarily will not grant injunctive relief prior to a decision by the agency (and) the availability of any adequate administrative remedy precludes the granting of injunctive relief.”

In terms of this second appeal the panel reiterated that “Short, conclusory statements made without supporting authority are deemed abandoned on appeal and therefore not presented for review.”

Atop the first page of these two opinions is the statement “THIS OPINION HAS NO PRECEDENTIAL VALUE,” — meaning these two decisions can’t be used to bolster or defeat arguments made in future proceedings having the same fact pattern.

But in the current opinions there is no recitation of facts; and there is no narrative linking those facts to relevant case law. There is only the recitation of cases followed by a principle which was, apparently, used by the panel in reaching its decision.

West Street Farms, LLC; Mix Farms, LLC; and HBF can petition the South Carolina Supreme Court for a review of these decisions.

There is an ongoing, parallel civil lawsuit wherein Stewart (303 Associates) is asking for damages, both actual and punitive. That suit is now moving though the discovery phase of its legal life; but it is not clear when that case will go to trial.

In its press release, the City of Beaufort thanked its former lawyer, Bill Harvey, for his help with these two matters and then, in an interesting and unusual departure from previous practice, reported that the City had spent $88,135 on legal fees connected with these two cases.

Normally one does not see or know the costs of litigation. And, in some cases where there is alleged municipal negligence, that cost is covered by insurance paid by the State’s Insurance Reserve Fund.

But releasing these costs is an unusual step in the direction of “transparency.”

The City’s press release also reminded its citizens that “Each court action at both the Circuit Court and Court of Appeals has consistently upheld the City.”

Scott Graber is a lawyer, novelist, veteran columnist and longtime resident of Port Royal. He can be reached at [email protected].

In a decisive vote, Beaufort County residents rejected the proposed one-cent “penny tax” that would have funded traffic infrastructure projects. With no new funding source secured, the county’s plans to address traffic congestion, improve road safety and preserve greenbelt initiatives are now in jeopardy.

The tax described on the county’s website as,”ask(ed) voters to approve a one percent (1%) sales and use tax in Beaufort County beginning the following year (2025) and continuing for ten (10) years, or until $950 million in funds are raised, whichever occurs first.”

By 11:07 p.m., all 126 precincts were counted, revealing that voters rejected the sales tax with 52,515 votes or 55.5% versus the measure garnering an unofficial total of 41,972 or 44.4% votes to approve.

The failure of both measures shows public frustration with the pace of past projects and government transparency. The 2018 sales tax referendum, which was intended to fund similar infrastructure improvements, resulted in only 10% of the projects being completed. Residents have expressed concern about the efficiency of the county’s infrastructure spending, and many are wary of additional taxes, particularly in light of the slow progress. These issues were commonly raised during public comment periods of the council meetings.

The 2018 referendum includes three categories: US 278 corridor traffic improvements with one project, Lady’s Island corridor traffic improvements with nine projects and sidewalks and multi-use pathways with 24 projects involving 31 roads, according to the Beaufort County Engineering department. Of the 34 projects included in the referendum, 3.5 are complete, one is in construction, two are in the right of way acquisition stage, three are on-hold, 14.5 are in the design phase and the rest are not yet in development.

In June, two council members suggested that if the tax doesn’t pass their only avenue to raise funds for infrastructure improvements would be through raising property taxes. However, no action on that suggestion has occurred.

This story was originally published November 5, 2024, 11:53 PM.

The Island Packet

Isabella Douglas is the accountability reporter for The Island Packet and The Beaufort Gazette. A graduate of the University of Florida, she has spent time reporting for The Independent Florida Alligator, Fresh Take Florida and New Tampa & Wesley Chapel Neighborhood News. She has a bachelor’s degree in journalism and a concentration in criminology.

Here are results from Beaufort County, South Carolina for the Nov. 5, 2024 general election.

Election Day is Tuesday, November 5.

Polls close in South Carolina at 7 p.m.

Check back for live election results for Beaufort County races.

Download the WJCL App for political updates: Apple, Google Play

Below you can find up-to-the-minute election results for all the races across Southeast Georgia and the South Carolina Lowcountry.

FULL RESULTS

GEORGIA: PRESIDENT | U.S. HOUSE AND STATE HOUSE | BALLOT MEASURES | DISTRICT ATTORNEY, EASTERN JUDICIAL CIRCUIT OF GEORGIA | CHATHAM COUNTY SHERIFF | MORE CHATHAM COUNTY RACES | BACON COUNTY | BULLOCH COUNTY | CANDLER COUNTY | EVANS COUNTY | LIBERTY COUNTY | LONG COUNTY | MONTGOMERY COUNTY | SCREVEN COUNTY | WAYNE COUNTY

SOUTH CAROLINA: PRESIDENT | U.S. HOUSE AND STATE HOUSE | STATE SENATE | BALLOT MEASURES | BEAUFORT COUNTY | JASPER COUNTY

By Delayna Earley

The Island News

The Lowcountry is under a Tropical Storm Watch and Storm Surge Watch as Hurricane Milton, a Category 5 hurricane as of Tuesday afternoon, makes it’s way to the Florida coast and beyond.

It has been nearly two weeks since Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida and made its way northward leaving behind massive destruction, flooding and widespread power outages across the states of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee.

Thankfully, according to the National Weather Service in Charleston, Milton will likely not have the impact on the Lowcountry that Helene did.

Currently, Hurricane Milton is on track to hit the western coast of Florida, which has prompted mandatory evacuations in communities all along the coast.

It was expected to make landfall sometime on Wednesday, Oct. 9, and continue east across the peninsula until it enters the Atlantic Ocean on Thursday, Oct. 10.

Unless Milton changes its trajectory and veers more north, the main concerns for the Lowcountry are high winds along the coast, storm surge and dangerous marine conditions.

According to the NWS in Charleston, Hurricane Milton will likely generate large waves off the Georgia and South Carolina coast.

“Breaking waves of 5 feet or greater are possible at all beaches Wednesday into Thursday night, peaking around 5-8 feet Thursday afternoon,” their Tuesday afternoon post on Facebook read.

The NWS Charleston says that this could result in significant beach erosion in Beaufort County.

Beaufort County likely to see significant rainfall late on Oct. 9 and into Oct. 10 which could cause some localized flooding in the area.

While not expected to be as strong as they were during Hurricane Helene, wind gusts are a concern for many in Beaufort County as they could knock down trees that have been weakened by Helene, potentially resulting in additional power outages.

Beaufort County is not expected to get the tornado activity that it saw during Hurricane Helene and Tropical Storm Debby, according to the NWS Charleston.

Hurricane grew to a Category 5 hurricane on Monday, Oct. 7, dropped to a Category 4, then returned to a Category 5 early Tuesday evening.

Meteorologists have predicted that the hurricane could weaken to a Category 3 hurricane before making landfall on Wednesday evening.

Delayna Earley, who joined The Island News in 2022, formerly worked as a photojournalist for The Island Packet/The Beaufort Gazette, as well as newspapers in Indiana and Virginia. She can be reached at [email protected].