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NewslettersBeaufort to collect school impact fees
Wed, 2008-08-27 04:30 — Anonymous
Beaufortonians soon may do several things they haven't done in awhile: dock their boat at Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park, buy a hot dog in Waterfront Park, eat a meal at a sidewalk cafe and pay a school impact fee. Read the story here.
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The City of Beaufort and Port Royal are two towns that are content to not support libraries or parks.
Both towns have refused for over ten years to collect impact fees to support their library or parks. So people like Dick Stewart have been able to save millions of dollars and taxpayers have had to make up for the money Stewart got to keep.
Just why has the City and town council not charged fees for these most5 important services? Best to ask the Mayors and Councils thast have been in the pocket of development interests for years.
Next time yuou go to the Beqaufort Librqary - understand that there is zero money in any fund to improve that facility And the only reason that exists is because of the fact no fees are charged.
Bluffton, Hilton Head and the rest of the entire county hjave fees charged. The two townms have been free-riding on the rest of the county. Next time you wonder why no improvements are made - ask your local politician why they let the likes of multi-million dollar man Stewart out of his responsibility to support local services?????
Why do we need another library? We have one. Get in your car and drive downtown...It's next to city hall. Since when do we have to satisfy everyones whims: jogging and bike trails, more libraries, more parks. Hell, we have Burton Wells and it's empty 90% of the time. All of this is a waste of taxpayer money.
As for letting developers off the hook, it is the job of government to facilitate development, not block it. And lay off Dick Stewart, we are lucky to have him in Beaufort.
them having another library really doesn't bother me, but it bothers me that our existing one won't let anyone use the public space and hasn't under the excuse that it's being renovated... Well, since I went there in Nov. the first time to ask and when I asked again in July they saaid they still couldn't let me use it... but they still haven't started on the "renovation"... well then why not let us use it? There's lots of things people can share with that space.
And as far as burton wells. I have been there several times for church leauge base ball this year and in years past I was happy to find the place empty of games, durring school hours, so i could bring my dog to a large area to play with; was semi isolated and frnced in a little :) I have also dropped friend's kids off for sporting events in the afternoon time... I think it gets plenty of use. I also think we should invest in a disc golf course out there too!
Blaze, why can't the citizens of Beaufort County have another Library out on St Helena? Tell me that everyboby has a way to drive downtown to the library next to the chitty hall. There are students and others that still need a Library to do research. Your narrowminded view just shows us that you and your buddy Stewart don't really give a hoot about anybody but yourselves. Letting developers off the hook, thats right let developers do whatever they want and if local goverment actually says that what you want to build doesn't fit you whiners say, Oh you should happy to have whatever developer(translated to WAHH I'm not getting my way, I'll take me ball and leave). Tired you and your developing buddies.
Did you hear it or know it from experience, there is a library on St. Helena, been there, not heavy use, why? could the move to gain a new Library, that's a new library being sought just to create a new space, a space that will continue to cost couty tax payers and provide the quality of service we pay for. I'm ok with a new Library being built if the need is proven and it's not just because I want one like the other folks. The downtown library gets use, not heavy except for the computers. Mabye whats needed is free computer service on the islands, a internet library.
The tax paying citizens, (property owners) are being asked to dig deeper in their pockets to support the continue rapid growth of the coutny and the extended services that it takes to support the growth. Welcome to the city of beaufort county.
Let's build a 6million dollar libary at penn center and develope a large city around it so we can support the use of such a facility. Why can't the Penn Center lease to the Coutny the facilities to develop a libary or computer lab as a step in the right direction.
Libary in the county in a rural area, where the most tax payers can use it.
Just plan stupid!
st helena and any other locations should be smaller satellite locations. they can have the basics (what kids might need for school, resources for adults, newspapers, magazines, internet), but for anything else they should just be referred to the library downtown. that's how it was in the city i grew up in & i turned out just fine. people can just use an excuse if there's not a library close to them. get off the couch and take care of your business instead of complaining about it!
I know that the Bft County Library system has an online request system as well as the ability to make requests on site. So, in effect, you have access to alot of what the main branches offer. You need only to--as you put it--get off the couch and take care of your business!
When I was growing up, we lived in a very rural area outside Savannah. We lived about 10 miles from the city limits. The main library building was another five miles from the city limits. We used to have a "Bookmobile" come to our area every two weeks. You could browse the books they had for check out and you could keep up to 6 books for 2 weeks at a time. If the bookmobile did not have the book you were looking for, you could request it and they would have it for you the next time they came around. It worked great for us that could not get into town on a regular basis to visit the main library.
You idiots could have had a grocery store on St Helena Island but you compained so much they canceled the idea and left. You still have to drive to Lady's Island, so drive a few miles more to the library. You people who hate development so much need to crawl in your holes and just die off. I am sick of listening to your stupid reasons for opposing everything that goes on in Beaufort. Now that you had your developer build your fricking house and now that you live on the water or beach, don't let anyone else do the same? What a bunch of ignorant and selfish slobs.
As for all of you that criticize me as being selfish and caring only about myself, you don't even know me, so shut your face. You are just showing how much you are absolutely void of any common sense and dignity.
I dare say to all of you who criticize Dick Stewart that you really don't know him either. Frankly, the city and county governments don't do enough to facilitate his developments. He has rejuvenated a city that was collapsing on its own inability to move forward in a morass of preservation histeria. We have a historic district. Leave the rest of the county and city to regular zoning rules. Allowing opinion to dominate rules costs way too much for business development. And those of you who get in the way of legitimate development should pay some cost for the inconvenience.
You are just showing how much you are absolutely void of any common sense and dignity.
Well, now for all of those who are so happy to have Dick Stewart, bleeding off of the School district and the county, why don't you just get together and pay his infrastructure concerns??? He's getting away with murder, and 75% of County Council is with him. Goes to show you what kind of council we have and who they really care for and about. I asssure you it's not the working class people. SAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
one happy moment... murder he says, 75% with him...who works in the business community that his development brings, count the jobs, I asked the merchants in the buildings how many local folks found jobs, in a single month 40 jobs were created in a single building... why is that not helping the working class, less you believe cutting grass and pulling bed sheets is the best we can do get off his back. Companies that create jobs in the developed areas keep local people working. suppacop needs to find a real job!
But everyone knows that "Dick" is very pro-education. Don't you remember when he offered to sell the Ramada Inn building to the school district to "improve education" in Beaufort.
With his value for education, he fits in Beaufort quite well. Give him another tax break.....developers rule in Beaufort....or at least one does.
His developments created 40 jobs? How many jobs have his developments cost when he unceremoniously kicked the existing businesses out? He bought seats on the Corridor Review Board and the County Council to serve his own needs. He has demanded tax breaks on developments that will make him money....don't give them, and he will take his ball and go home! What happened to the great and powerful convention center he promised us a few years ago? The one where he displaced hundreds of residents and the only TV and electronics repair shop in Beaufort? Where do his interests beneift Beaufort? I envy him, I wish I could be a Dick!
you could be a dick, dont' know you. the demand part is interesting, never heard anyone demand tax breaks, the convention center is a dream, oldtimers will never let Beaufort Build such a place, the possiblilty that we could keep old business in business (electronics, Dairy Nook, Moble home park, golf driving range, etc) would be better sutited to todays job market. Picking up balls or serving a nook cone would pay much better than what is available today. When was the last time you took your TV to a repair center? (thanks wal-mart) Hundreds of residents, where did your nubmers come from. The type of jobs, the amount of property tax you pay and the ability to gain service depends on change. Topgun, you ready for yesterday arn't you, the name would indicate military service, if your a veteran, (thanks) but you should try to look at the positive to see if the greater good is being accomplished. Who is being hurt by someone spending their money building a business that supports the people, the county and the towns only take from us, what do they give back, what service do they provide and at what cost. who pays>
His developments created 40 jobs? How many jobs have his developments cost when he unceremoniously kicked the existing businesses out? He bought seats on the Corridor Review Board and the County Council to serve his own needs. He has demanded tax breaks on developments that will make him money....don't give them, and he will take his ball and go home! What happened to the great and powerful convention center he promised us a few years ago? The one where he displaced hundreds of residents and the only TV and electronics repair shop in Beaufort? Where do his interests beneift Beaufort? I envy him, I wish I could be a Dick!
Don't blame Dick Stewart for buying up that property, blame the property owners. They agreed to sell out to him. And it was not hundreds of residents as you state it was maybe 15 houses he bought and demolished. Oh yeah, and that old delapidated eyesore of a shack that used to house the so called TV and VCR repair shop?? If that repariman was so good, he could have found another building to operate out of. I took several VCR's to him for repair and I was told I could buy new ones for what he would have to charge to repair them. Oh, yeah, lets not forget the beautiful village on wheels called Live Oaks Trailer Park, or the old restaurant building that could not keep a decent restaurant operator there for more than a couple of months.
Dick Stewart did Beaufort a favor by buying those properties and demolishing those eyesores.
your comments on this subject are dead on....
Why does Beaufort even bother with trying to keep even one library? Most of the people who read have either left or intend on leaving.
Beaufort is about development, just not the human variety. It is quite obvious that there is little concern for education, books, and those sorts of things.
Real estate development and crime........that's Beaufort! Bring on those promised convention centers, entertainment complexes, luxury hotels, luxury waterfront condos, world class restaurants, parking structures, etc. Rodeo Drive eat your heart out. Maybe the taxpayers could even help subsidize some of those projects......how about that for a novel idea?
As far as the crime.....just chalk it up as part of the expense of doing business in such a progressive area. Everyone knows that the most expensive communities to live in around the country are plagued with violent crime.....it attracts the rich and famous.
Give me a break. The tax credits and development agreement negotiated between 303 Associates (Dick Stewart) and Beaufort County, City of Beaufort and Beaufort County School District benefit us. Does anyone not remember the broken down SCDOT maintenance building and delapidated houses on Greenlawn drive on the front door of the City of Beaufort that "miraculously" have disappeared? Why have these monuments to mediocrity and poverty gone away? Well you can be sure it wasn't someone who sat around and b!?%%ed all the time! Go onto the Beaufort County website and find out the amount of property taxes 303 Associates pays on these properties and just look at the difference. THANK YOU DICK STEWART for having the guts and money to invest in Beaufort. Otherwise we would surely have the dilapidated museum of a town that these half wits want.
Did you ever notice that the ones wagging their fingers in objection to development and developers, always have the other hand out for government to give them something?
Give me. Give me. Give me. Give me a break.
Everyone should be "eternally" grateful that Dick came to Beaufort and saved the poor town of Beaufort. Without his philanthropic mentality and excellent business acumen, Beaufort would only exist as a town comprised of "has-beens" and "nitwits." What on earth would they have ever accomplished without such a great leader?
The schools would be bad, many of the existing institutions/businesses such as the newpaper, TV station, and colleges would leave, the housing market would have plunged, and the area would be over-built by greedy developers. Additionally Main Street Beaufort probably wouldn't even exist, and most of the cultural activities such as classical music performances and concerts in the park would be curtailed. Without such activities in the park how would anyone ever discover the sink holes?
Perhaps the greatest losses might include not having a world class entertainment center, a big convention center, a world class luxury hotel, or even a parking structure downtown.
Yes, look around at the thriving local economy and enjoy the benefits of a rising crime rate. And take comfort knowing that Beaufort has become a model community for all of the nation to observe.
Stewart is not altruistic - nor should he be. He is a wealthy man for a reason. He articulates well, and has self-interest at the forefront always. Just ask anyone that has done business with him. As far as Beaufort goes - he views our town as a chess game and takes pleasure in moving the pieces - the "pawns" are local people and their businesses - around.
That our elected officials have no ability to deal with someone as successful as Stewart is not a surprise. They are very much outdone by someone of his caliber.
That doesn't mean that they should fold each time they deal with him. They need to get some guts and say NO. Impact fees are meant to replace taxes charged to everyone who already lives here. Stewart has gotten the City of Beaufort to refuse to participate in the impact fees charged everywhere else in the county since he got here.
For those who are so ready to stand up for his profits at everyone elses expense - maybe they can tell us if they think Stewart was going to take his money and go somewhere else with it? He bought half of downtrown for a reason. That our City officials give him whatever he wants on a silver platter at our expense explains the difficulty we have getting new roads, library improvements and park improvements. Stewart's projects have escaped even road fees.
I don't care how many jobs he has brought here - and most are low paying hospitality jobs - he needs to be treated the exact same way everyone else is.
Given his fortune - he certainly can afford to stand up and be counted like every other business owner in town is. Stweart is nothing special and shouldn't get that treatment. it is time all play by the same rules.
I say again - Stewart has avoided paying millions in legitimate fees and the rest of us will have to pay them in our property taxes or do without. This must end.
These school impact fees are deceptively named because they are required in every instance of new development whether an actual school impact is involved or not. For example, a builder of a retirement community in Fort Mill appealed to the circuit court earlier this year a decision made by the York County Council to deny them a requested waiver of the fees. They claimed they should not be subject to the school impact fee because there will be no resident children. I agree with them. If they truly are a school impact fee as states, how is a retirement community of the elderly going to put additional strain on school services?
http://www.carolinapoliticsonline.com/2008/08/27/beaufort-will-begin-collecting-school-impact-fees/
Savethelowcountry and suppacop say some developers are NOT being charged all legal fees. This sounds like a bunch of baloney. If you got actual documented info, tell us. I'm sure developers that have been paying fees(including Stewart) will line up for the same treatment. I don't think you have the facts cause DIGGIN for facts takes work while JUMPIN to conclusions takes only a finger and a computer. Come on guys, show us or admit you just like to say stuff but have no real info. Dare ya!!!!
Don't think so Mr. "Pluffmud". Maybe it's you and Mtr. "Oldtown" who are jumping to conclusions. Fact of the matter is, if you 2 were to be given the facts, you'll still deny it. It's a waste of time attempting to educate some folks. For your information Mr. "Oltown" I do have a job, I'm retired. Maybe you should get one and maybe you won't throw so much flax around. You can always tell the "Good Old Boys" click. Very prevalent in Beaufort County as a whole, especially in county counci. You can believe it or not, it shoes through their voting process. Y'all have have a nice day now.!!!! Take your heads out of the sand!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The invitation is still open. If you got facts, let's see em.