Beaufort directs $7.1M to expand two popular parks. Of course, not everyone likes the idea

The city of Beaufort is pressing ahead with more than $7.1 million in improvements at Southside Park, one of its largest parks and home to the city’s lone dog park, and Washington Park, a downtown-area oasis and gathering place for more than 80 years. The Southside Park improvements have been promised for more than 20 years but are not immune from the unending legal squabbling that has plagued other initiatives in recent months.

The Beaufort City Council on Tuesday OK’d the $7.1 million hospitality and accommodation fee revenue bond issue to finance the work at both parks. Most of that money, about $6 million, will go toward improvements at Southside Park, which fronts Battery Creek Road and Southside Boulevard in the Mossy Oaks neighborhood.

The improvements, which include a new pavilion and playground equipment that city officials hope will be a draw for younger families, has been more than 20 years in the making.

The remainder will go for improvements at Washington Park, 1003 Washington St. That park, which opened in 1942, was once the only park in the city where Black residents were legally allowed and an important neighborhood gathering place for 80 years.

How will the projects be funded?

The city will repay the $7.1 million, 15-year bond using funds from the 2% local hospitality tax it collects from restaurants, and a 3% accommodations tax on hotels and motels and bed and breakfast establishments, said Alan Eisenman, the city’s finance director.

Also on Tuesday, the City Council OK’d a $3.3 million contract with Hilton Head-based Nix Construction for the first phase of the work at Southside, which includes installation of two playgrounds, for younger and older children, pavilion, parking, pathways, stormwater drainage and landscaping. Upgrades to the existing dog park also are planned, but they will come later.

The park is popular for its dog park and its walking trail but is mostly undeveloped. In a survey conducted by the city in 2021, residents identified playground equipment as the No. 1 amenity residents wanted to see added.

Councilman Neil Lipsitz, who was elected in 2020, ran on a pledge to push for a plan to improve Southside Park that included amenities to serve families with children. After Tuesday’s vote to approve the financing, Lipsitz said he was pleased to finally see progress after watching the project inch forward for 3 years. “Government,” Lipsitz said, “moves slowly.”

Meanwhile, Beaufort County is pressing forward with additional improvements for the section of Southside Park it manages, near the tennis and pickleball courts along Battery Creek Road. Recently, the county awarded a contract to add additional pickleball courts and a basketball court on open land next to those existing courts. Interim County Administrator John Robinson recently informed city officials that the work will begin as soon as the county receives a permit from the state Department of Environmental Health and Control.

Alice Howard, a member of the County Council, said the county’s work will complement the city’s plans. Four pickleball courts and a basketball court are planned in the field adjacent to the current facilities. The county also is planning improvements to the trail connecting the city and county portions of the park.

City Manager Scott Marshall says the city plans to have its phase one work at Southside Park and the improvements at Washington Park done by the end of the year. At Washington Park, a basketball court will be relocated and turned into a multi-use court. A new pavilion also is planned. That work follows improvements in March 2021, when new playground equipment was installed, and 2019, when restrooms were added.

Mayor Phil Cromer said he initially opposed the bond issue because of its size and thought the improvements should be made over time. After talking to bond council and Eisenman, the city’s finance director, he learned that it would be less expensive to do the work at one time, he said.

Opposing voices questioned legality

At Tuesday’s meeting, two residents questioned whether the city could legally use accommodations and hospitality taxes to finance improvements at local parks because those taxes must be used in ways that generate tourism.

“There is nothing about Southside Park, for example, that has anything to do with tourism,” said Paul Trask, a developer.

Graham Trask, who owns property downtown, called the Southside park improvements “extravagant.” He also described the improvements as political payback for a local community that supported Lipsitz for City Council.

Lipsitz rejected that characterization later. “Nothing political about it,” Lipsitz said. “It was a promise made to the neighbors 20 years ago.”

Lawrence Flynn with Pope Flynn, LLC, the city’s bond counsel, said using the hospitality and accommodation taxes for the local parks complies with state law.

Hospitality and accommodation taxes can be used for tourism-related recreation facilities, Flynn said. He noted that the definition of a tourist is broad, with a tourist being anybody who “enters a municipality for recreation or pleasure.” In other words, he said, any Beaufort County resident who uses Southside or Washington Park is considered a tourist under state statute.

“It may very well be a local park facility,” Flynn said, “but anyone can come and use that facility.”

The city has been trying to get improvements at the park done for 20 years and it’s the location of its sole dog park, Councilman Mike McFee pointed out in supporting the bond issue. He has encountered many people at the dog park from all over the country visiting Beaufort, he added, “So it does have a tourism base.”