By NATHAN GILL
ngill@beaufortgazette.com
843-986-5532
Published Tuesday, Nov 18, 2008 12:00 AM
More than 80 Beaufort residents jammed into the County Council chambers Monday night to hear a presentation on what their city should look like in the future.
The Lawrence Group and city planning consultants working on Beaufort's 2009 Comprehensive Plan held public meetings throughout last week to get input from residents to help guide future growth in the city.
Craig Lewis, head of The Lawrence Group's Davidson office, said between 40 and 50 people attended each of last week's meetings, called charrettes, and about 350 more had spoken one-on-one with designers about the plan.
"I recognize almost all of the faces in the room," said Lewis, who is part of the planning team gathering input from residents. "We went through all of our plans -- stayed awake through most of them -- and put together our own smart growth plan."
Highlights of the group's presentation Monday included maps of how various areas in Beaufort might look in the future. The maps were conceptual drawings of what could be accomplished in the next 20 years and had names such as "The Southside Park Neighborhood," "A Village Center for Lady's Island," "Regeneration of Lafayette Street Neighborhood" and "Proposed Bikeways and Trails."
Lewis also discussed the future of downtown Beaufort.
"You clearly want the downtown to be a living downtown that focuses on your history," Lewis said. "And you also want the other neighborhoods to have an identity."
Beaufort resident Patrick Kelly attended the meeting and said the planning will help developers build with set standards in mind.
"I think (the maps) hit the nail on the head," he said. "These small development plans are exactly what needs to happen in Beaufort."
But Lady's Island resident Bill Spies said, "I hope they're not doing studies for the sake of studies and that something will come out of it. But if you don't start with a plan, you'll never get anywhere."
Lewis also presented demographic and growth statistics at the meeting. He said those statistics show the average Beaufortonian is about 31 years old.
Chris Damgen, 25, who lives in the Pigeon Point neighborhood, thought that was interesting, considering the makeup of the group at the meeting.
"It's interesting because you look around the room here, and 90 percent of the (people in the) room are 50 and up," he said. "So how many of these opinions came from young citizens?"
The Lawrence Group will spend the next few months drafting a detailed and lengthy comprehensive plan for the city. Lewis said he expects to present the plan to city officials in January or February, and that the city council then would review it.