The lively discussion over proposals to make parking more available to downtown shoppers and diners leads me to larger questions that are far more reaching and even more complicated than parking.  Let me explain.

I sent out an email, and posted on Facebook, proposed changes to parking as recommended to City Council by The Redevelopment Commission and Mainstreet, Beaufort.  I sought community input, and I got an earful! I received a broad array of opinions, many that reflected on how writers would be personally affected by changes and others that spoke to the greater community good.  I heard from shoppers, people who work in retail shops and others who work in restaurants.  Some respondents were City residents while many others live outside the City limits but consider Beaufort their hometown. (This is a good thing!)  I heard from people who have lived in Beaufort since childhood and many who relocated to the area recently.

It’s been a healthy discussion and I believe it will lead to the best possible decision.  However, some of the undercurrents speak to an issue much larger than parking.  

Comments like . . .  “I don’t shop and dine downtown because I can’t find a parking space”. . . along with . . . “if I have to pay more to park downtown, I will go to Hilton Head and Bluffton where I do not have to pay” . . . concern me.

When retail shop owners say . . . . “customers cannot find parking spaces because employees park on Bay Street” . . . and employees say. .  “it is unsafe to walk a block to our cars after work,”  I am troubled. 

Threats like . . . “Changes will chase shoppers to businesses like Wal-Mart and K-Mart where parking is free,” . . . are confusing.

And the following . . . ” While I was investigating Beaufort (to locate from elsewhere) I did take into account the inexpensive parking rates in downtown, the available parking not at meters, and the parking meter expiration at 6 pm.  I can not support both an increase in the parking rates and the extension of the fees to 9 PM.  I feel so strongly about this that I can say that I will take my business to other areas of Beaufort without these restrictions” . . . . take me to the edge of anger.

If these comments, and similar ones too lengthy to include, reflect the broader community view, one should ask:  Can we not see beyond our own noses to think about others?  Are we so angry at government that we refuse to hear City Council when we say this is about making parking work, and it is not driven by money grubbing?  (Parking revenues go to a special fund to promote marketing and improvements downtown, and are not comingled into the general fund.)

Is it fair to conclude that downtown Beaufort no longer works as a “hometown downtown?”  Is the Beaufort experience really interchangeable with any other place, USA where parking is free?

Some will remember a time, not that many years ago, when Bay Street stores were vacant with windows boarded up when a thriving downtown   — that once featured three supermarkets, three pharmacies, a half dozen clothing stores, two five and dime stores, two barber shops, two beauty parlors, two hardware stores, four service stations, three automobile dealerships, and Beaufort County’s only public library — was abandoned in favor of big box offerings driven by residential and commercial sprawl changes in lifestyle consumer behavior.

Others will remember the late Bill Cochrane, the developer of  Dataw Island who created Mainstreet, Beaufort under the downtown revitalization model set forth by The National Trust for Historic Preservation.  For those who do not know, Bill threw his weight, and the strength of those he brought to Beaufort, behind the vision of former Mayor Henry Chambers who knew that the Waterfront Park, which is rightly named after him, would revive a dying downtown. Clearly they got it right as we now have one of the most beautiful downtowns in this world.

Because the City Council believes our historic downtown,  accented by the Waterfront Park,  is the golden egg that brings economic value and a richer quality of life to the approximately 60,000 people who call Beaufort home, our budget will allocate nearly $1 million toward maintaining the core business district and Waterfront Park. (This includes debt service on renovations that a small city –comprised of only about 12,000 moderate to low income residents, half of whom rent — could not afford to restore the park without borrowing.)  That’s right. . . . about $1 out of every $12 the city collects will be invested to make downtown every better.  And this does not include additional funds invested in Mainstreet, the Chambers of Commerce and our cultural organizations who “market” Beaufort to those who live here, those who visit and those who might one day move here.

One might assume from writers’ comments that perhaps we are not using the taxpayer’s money as wisely as we should be?  Though I know the answer, I have to ask . . . Is shopping at the big boxes comparable to shopping downtown?  Is dining out on the highway, or in Hilton Head or Bluffton where parking is “free” comparable to dining downtown where you can walk off your lunch or dinner with a stroll through a glorious waterfront park?  Is taking one’s children for a walk around a big box “free parking lot” comparable to taking them to the playground at the Waterfront Park on a beautiful afternoon or weekend morning?     I think and hope NOT.

So what is this all about? 

To remain healthy, Downtown Beaufort must grow. We need more people living in and around downtown. We must encourage, and provide help if necessary, those who live near downtown to fix up their homes. We must encourage others to build houses on vacant lots. We must open our minds to more buildings, while respecting those that serve as the physical signature to our beloved National Historic Landmark.   (A group created a model that shows how 21 residences can fit compatibly on the Post Office block, where about ten houses used to fit, without sacrificing our retail post office and without changing the zoning ordinance.)

Furthermore, we must bring back businesses that fled downtown to create very inefficient, and expensive for the county to maintain, urban business cores in suburban and rural areas.   

More people living and working in downtown is necessary for a healthy downtown.  It will drive up consumer demand for a more diversified retail mix.  It will create an alternative to the “neo-traditional walking communities” springing up in the county that require cars to get to and from. It will provide additional safety through numbers. More people will be walking and riding bicycles and the car will not be as necessary. And it will meet what most real estate prognosticators suggest will be the demand for tomorrow’s buyers . . . small, efficient homes close to goods and services and recreation.

If one reviews the City’s 2010 Comprehensive plan, and the mission directives established for the Joint Planning and Redevelopment Commissions, one will see we are headed toward focusing on infill development of vacant lots, redevelopment of under utilized land and structures, encouraging businesses to locate in the business district and fostering the growth of USCB and the many cultural organizations that make our community special.

Beaufort is a little broken and, with your help, your understanding and your support, we intend to fix it.  Lets think about the greater community and the hometown we all love and want to see thrive into the next century.

We will “fix” parking and will grow to be an even better community.