Bluffton proactively balancing growth, infrastructure, ambience

As discussions about growth and development continue in southern Beaufort County among everyone from political candidates to private citizens, the Town of Bluffton is continuing to take steps town officials say are intended to keep Bluffton economically vibrant while managing growth and protecting natural resources.

The Town of Bluffton owns and maintains only 15 roads entirely within town limits, limiting its direct authority over many traffic issues. Even so, town officials have taken steps to improve traffic conditions within their jurisdiction, most recently by installing a four-way stop at Lawrence and Boundary streets. A news release said the goal of the project is to reduce speeds and improve safety at the busy intersection.

Other roads passing through Bluffton are Beaufort County-owned and state-owned, but Town of Bluffton Communications Director Debbie Szpanka said the town values its partnership with county and state officials in addressing traffic and other issues.

According to county and state documents, the state is the main entity determining speed limits, but the county and municipalities may conduct traffic studies and submit data and recommendations to the state DOT. The SC DOT also has policies in place to create buffers between roads and adjacent neighborhoods to control noise. These buffer options can include dense boundaries of vegetation to shield neighborhoods from noise.

Szpanka said controlling development is not a simple process because municipalities generally cannot prevent development when proposed projects are funded and comply with applicable laws and regulations. Several candidates in this year’s Beaufort County primary elections campaigned on limiting new development until infrastructure can accommodate additional growth, but Szpanka said doing so is more complicated than it may appear.

Bluffton town officials emphasized in their recent newsletter that they follow a “do what we can where we can” mantra when it comes to making Bluffton as safe, livable and enjoyable as possible. With that in mind, Bluffton is working toward a goal of preserving nearly 500 acres in the Buckwalter area through land acquisition for green space to manage development. They have already acquired 280 acres as part of the Buckwalter Conservation Initiative and are working with the Beaufort County Green Space program to continue toward their land preservation goal. It has been historically difficult for municipalities to deny permits to control overdevelopment and to prevent overwhelming the local infrastructure.

That could change if a bill under consideration in the South Carolina legislature becomes law. Senate bill 227, sponsored by Senator Tom Davis and known as the Concurrency Bill, was introduced in January of last year. If it becomes law, it would give towns including Bluffton more control over development by giving them the power to pass concurrency ordinances to allow denial of permits if infrastructure such as roads, water and sewer cannot currently handle the new development. Some towns and counties have passed such legislation, but the bill under consideration in Columbia would give those local initiatives state backing. H. 4050 is the House companion bill to the Senate legislation currently being considered.

Channing Heiss is a freelance writer and a member of the Beaufort County disAbilities Coalition.