Parkway path would spare homes, official says

BLUFFTON -- No homes will be torn down to extend Bluffton Parkway, but it's possible that some commercial buildings will have to go, deputy Beaufort County administrator Buz Boehm said Monday.

"It's fair to say that no houses will be taken, but it's going to be very difficult to not take any property at all," Boehm said in an interview.

Residents of several neighborhoods inside the 600-foot-wide corridor where the Bluffton Parkway extension could go -- including Rose Hill Plantation and Heritage Lakes -- have been worried that the county would seize their homes through eminent domain to clear the way for the four-lane road.

Still, it's possible the county will have to take a portion of some residents' lots, Boehm said, particularly in Heritage Lakes. County traffic engineer Colin Kinton has said the county is "going to be threading a needle to fit a roadway through there" because of its proximity to nearby businesses, such as Pier One and Lowe's Home Improvement store.

It remains unclear, however, exactly what path the parkway will take when the county extends it three miles east from Burnt Church Road to Fording Island Extension and straightens it out from Buck Island Road to Buckwalter Parkway. Ultimately, the county needs to find a stretch of land that's 125 feet wide.

County staff is expected in the coming weeks to view the proposals made by engineering firm Florence and Hutcheson. The county plans to present those drawings to the public at meetings scheduled for Oct. 17 and 19, Boehm said.

Boehm said the engineers were directed to avoid houses in their designs after hundreds of residents turned out at two public meetings in August to learn more about the project. Some of the residents were angry that their homes appeared to be in the path. By avoiding homes, however, the county may have to clear some commercial developments, Boehm said, although he did not know which ones.

"We're doing the utmost possible not to disturb anyone's current dwelling," Boehm said.

That doesn't provide much relief to Heritage Lakes resident Betty Parks, who says that locating the four-lane road anywhere near her neighborhood will hurt residents' quality of life. Parks drove around her neighborhood with her husband recently and handed out fliers with the addresses of Beaufort County Council members so residents could express their concerns.

"Whether it takes the houses or not, if it's going to take the back strip of the land, it's still in our neighborhood," Parks said. "It's still going to create more traffic, more pollution, more noise and more crime."

Some Rose Hill residents share those concerns and have forwarded a petition to county leaders protesting the part of the extension that will take Bluffton Parkway near their homes. Kinton said last week that Rose Hill homes and its golf course will not be seized for the project.

It's not just homeowners who are eager to see the potential path for the parkway extensions. The County Council is also awaiting the drawings so it can make a decision about a rezoning that would allow a 34-building neighborhood to be built on the nine-hole Executive Golf Club, behind Tanger Outlet Center 2. On Monday, the council's Land Management Committee voted 5-0 to defer a decision on the rezoning until the parkway's engineering firm presents its report.

The developer of the proposed mixed-use neighborhood has offered to donate a 3,400-foot right of way for Bluffton Parkway. That could save the county more than $5 million. But Councilman Skeet Von Harten said Monday it doesn't make sense to discuss the proposal until after the council has a better idea on whether that land can be used by the county.