By JACK SHEEHY
MAIN STREET BEAUFORT

I am confused. David Taub says that Main Street Beaufort shouldn’t be an “agent” for developers. Of course they should be. Main Street is the agent for developers, property owners, downtown merchants, people looking to lease property in the downtown, the citizenry in general and the city of Beaufort.

That’s part of our Charter. He says that he is confused about why MSB submitted the conceptual plan to HDRB (the city Historic District Review Board). There was a very simple way to find that answer. Ask the Main Street executive director or the board chair. He also might have asked the city manager. Instead, he either jumped to conclusions about what he thinks is happening or this is part of a larger agenda — his or somebody else’s.

So, let’s start with some facts.

Main Street conducted a parking study of downtown at the request of the city. Main Street’s consultant concluded that there is a deficit of parking spaces today and that deficit would increase to over 300 spaces by 2012.

Typical downtown businesses like banks have abandoned our downtown because of the parking situation. Others are threatening. Property owners are reluctant to add residential or office space to their second floors because parking would be a natural requirement of a potential lessee.

Without traditional downtown businesses, property owners will have to resort to renting to the usual assortment of T-shirt shops one normally finds in tourist towns, changing the character of our downtown. Not wanting that to happen, and seeking to increase property tax rolls, the city council declared that it is committed to infill development in the downtown and committed to providing the parking necessary to support that development.

The consultant hired to conduct the parking study also evaluated several potential sites in the downtown, none of which were of adequate size or shape to be the site for a parking facility.

Main Street Beaufort and the city approached Dick Stewart about the potential of using his property at the corner of Port Republic and Scott streets for a parking structure.

Stewart informed Main Street and the city that he was planning to build a small parking structure on that site for his own needs and that he was interested in participating in a public/private partnership on that location that could ultimately solve some of the city’s parking deficit.

The plan was discussed with the Historic Beaufort Foundation and input solicited.

The city and Main Street Beaufort convened a workshop at City Hall to gather input from all constituent organizations, included HDRB and HBF. That evening, the HDRB suggested that a conceptual plan for a parking structure be submitted for their review so that it could be assessed for its appropriateness within the context of our historic downtown.

The city felt that Main Street Beaufort should be the applicant on their behalf as the public part of the public/private partnership. So, here is an example where Main Street was the agent for the city.

The conceptual plan was not submitted to HDRB at their last meeting because Main Street’s Atlanta-based consultant was unable to attend. It will be presented at the next meeting.

Taub’s letter suggests that something underhanded has occurred. His suggestion that this action “violates their National Trust for Historic Preservation charter” is obviously his opinion, but based on what?

The NTHP doesn’t seem to agree with him. His statement that “I am told that the NTHP is looking very closely at this situation and has expressed grave concern” is at best an attempt to mislead. Main Street Beaufort is regularly evaluated by Main Street South Carolina and the national program and we work closely with them.

Taub chose to write his letter from a position of ignorance. He has not contacted anyone from Main Street Beaufort for the real story or, even the chain of events that have led to this point. Instead, he chose to follow rumor and innuendo. At no time did he contact me or the Main Street executive director.

Had he done so, we would have provided him with the entire timeline of events… who did what and when. He would have learned that Main Street has been directed by the city through every step of the way and we certainly welcome working with developers.

Good development keeps downtowns vital and alive. But, he chose to select items from the media and to quote unnamed sources. So, one has to wonder, what is his real agenda? It is easy to fan the flames of dissent and frighten the citizens by publishing a document such as this without benefit of facts. Is he attempting to rally the citizenry for his own agenda or is someone behind the scenes pulling the strings?

Taub’s insinuation impugns the reputations of all those dedicated volunteer board members. This isn’t some anonymous organization. The Main Street Beaufort Board is made up of your neighbors; they are Beaufort citizens, property owners, merchants, restaurant owners, taxpayers all, who love this city and want continued growth while preserving history.

His suggestion that “We should reach a common vision of what we want Downtown Beaufort to look like a decade or two from now, etc.” shows how out of touch he is.

That effort has been ongoing for years and if he chose to participate he could have. Main Street Board meetings and merchant meetings are open to the public. So are city council meetings and workshops. Where has he been?

Main Street intends to support the approval process for whatever is proposed for that location. It all begins with the submission of a conceptual design.

Jack Sheehy is the former chairman of the Main Street Beaufort, USA, board of directors.