March LIBPA Newsletter
Island Notes:
SCE&G Electrical Transmission Project. Brad Samuels of SCANA reports the project to increase electrical transmission capacity to Lady’s Island is on schedule and should be completed the latter part of May. This is the project that will place a larger capacity electrical cable under the Beaufort River reaching Lady’s Island in the vicinity of the Waterford Apartments and then continuing to the substation on Sams Point Road.

Highway 21 widening project. Robert McFee, DOT Resident Construction Engineer and Lady’s Island resident reports that the project to widen portions of Highway 21 on St. Helena is on track and nearing completion of the relocation of utilities, such as BJWSA, Comcast and SCE&G, out of the path of the newly widened highway.

What a great idea! Recently, some of our business members have requested to receive their LIBPA newsletter via both e-mail and U. S. Mail. We are most happy to provide our members the newsletter in any format(s) they may desire but the request did stir our curiosity. The rational for the request for duplicate copies was that the individual member enjoyed the e-mail version and wanted the paper copy to place in the waiting area so her clients could read it. If this idea should have a possible application to your business and you could use duplicate copies of the newsletter for your business, just call Judy Smith (522-0066) and let her know.

New Development. Just down from Beaufort Academy and prior to the intersection of Sams Point Road and Holly Hall Road is a notice that another development (Cottage Bluff) is in the planning stage. This project is in the conceptual stage and consists of 10.68 acres on which the developer, Mr. Steve Mitchell, desires to build 21 houses. Mr. Mitchell is in the process of completing development of a similar project adjacent to Beaufort Academy. Hopefully, this project will not access Sams Point Road directly into a median as was the case of the first project.

Bateaux Restaurant on Lady’s Island has closed its doors in preparation for relocation to Port Royal. Richard Wilson, Bateaux Restaurant owner and LIBPA member hopes to be able to open at the new location in the last week of March. The Port Royal restaurant will be in the last building on the left on Paris Avenue, just before you reach the port. We wish them the best of luck at their new location.

Relocation: Island Travel which recently purchased Accent on Travel has relocated its offices from the Babcock shopping center to the Food Lion shopping center. Connie Valimont, Beaufort Branch Manager and Marketing Director indicated they are planning an official “grand opening” for the new location on March 15 but invites anyone to stop by and discuss their travel plans anytime.
The New Grayco Shopping Center Is Really Great: 
The new Grayco store and shopping center are a great addition to Lady’s Island. If you have not stopped by the new store you should, it offers a much larger inventory than the former store and reduces the need to leave the island for a wide variety of purchases. The modern look of the shopping center is already attracting new businesses.

As part of the transportation study of the Northern Regional Plan the consultant recommended additional commercial businesses be located on Lady’s Island as a way to reduce the present traffic and prevent future traffic problems, especially in regard to over loading the Woods Bridge. He specifically recommended additional businesses which provide goods and services of the type for which residents and businesses presently leave the island. To accomplish a reduction of 5,470 trips per day over either the Woods or McTeer Bridge it was estimated to require an additional 137,000 square feet of commercial space. To provide an idea of comparative space, a Wal-Mart Super Center is approximately 135,000 square feet. The new Grayco store is 43,000 square feet and the entire Grayco shopping center provides approximately 60,000 square feet of commercial space. So although the new Grayco store and shopping center may not solve all of our traffic problems it is a very large step in the right direction.

To Mr. Richard Gray and Mr. Herb Gray a very sincere thanks for investing in Lady’s Island.
Lady's Island Garden Club Fundraiser:
The Lady’s Island Garden Club which landscapes the area around the “Welcome to Lady’s Island” sign near the McTeer Bridge are having a fund raising sale of hanging flower baskets on March 23 at St. Helena Episcopal Church (concurrent with the house tour and CAPA antique sale). To raise money for the McTeer Bridge landscaping and similar projects, they are offering 10 inch hanging baskets of your choice of Geraniums, Dragon Wing Begonias, Scaevola, Calibrachoa or Boston Fern. Also available are 12 inch hanging flower baskets of mixed plants. Prices will range from $17.50 to $25.00. Orders in advance of the sale can be made by contacting Dr. Jane Hermes at 322-0486. 

A special thanks to the members of the Lady’s Island Garden Club for their efforts to make our island just a little more beautiful. 
Beaufort County Airport: 
A recent visitor to the Beaufort County Airport on Lady’s Island commented that “This is one of the most friendly and hospitable airports I have ever visited.” Comments such as these are a tribute to individuals such as Carter Swenson and Pete Buchanan. Swenson, a retired U.S. Marine Colonel, is employed part time as lineman and duty airport manager. He learned his flying skills at this airport since retiring. Buchanan was a Navy pilot and just naturally transitioned into flying as a civilian. He is a member of Beaufort County Aviation Board. Both men emphasize that the airport is not just for recreational use, but makes many efforts to enhance the community in several directions.

Public health is one of its efforts. Three Convair 340S twin-engine planes are located here as county mosquito-control planes. In 2006 these planes sprayed over 360,000 acres in the county. Their altitude is so low when spraying that in one instance several residents from Hilton Head called that a plane was performing dangerous maneuvers too close to the ground. Callers were mollified when they learned their mosquitoes were officially being exterminated.

The airport is used for medical facilities. Medical officials from Duke University partner with Beaufort Memorial Hospital officials on hospital expansion. They arrive at the county airport. Organ donors’ body parts are flown in for transport to Beaufort Memorial. Doctors use the airport when they fly into Beaufort in conjunction with the hospital or to further their own medical practices.

More uses of the airport that promote Beaufort County: USC officials use the airport for academic purposes and business flights. Six L’s, a tomato packing company, sends officials here regularly in preparation for planting and picking. So do other national businesses that fly in representatives to confer with their local branches’ officers. Local business persons use the airport for their official business purposes. State government uses Beaufort airport as a gateway to this area for public and political discussions and campaigns.

Within the airport terminal building is the Executive Flight School, owned and operated by Doug Carmody, specializing in advanced training for professional pilots as well as training for novice pilots who fly for their own recreation. Most of the students own their planes. Executive Training leases its property from the airport, and it pays a percentage to the county and the airport.

Charter planes fly into Beaufort with the plane’s company officials and guests looking for a welcome climate to play on the local golf courses. Succession, especially, is the destination of golfers from all over the U.S., who, incidentally, spend many thousands of dollars in their few days stay. And of course, local citizens own planes or a fractional part of a plane and fly out of Beaufort. The airport is prepared to be used in hurricane or other evacuations and stands ready with flight assistance after a hurricane.

Local groups make use of the airport building’s conference rooms for their regular meetings. Three such groups are the Sheriff’s Department, the county planning commission, and a local writers’ group. With advance agreement, county citizens may use conference rooms for a meeting at no charge.

County Aviation Board member Buchanan works with others on the airport’s master plan looking forward five to ten years. One of the priorities of this board is to make the 3,430 foot runway into 5,000 feet. The main idea is to improve the facilities and continue to pump money into the Beaufort economy.

As with other groups of folk with fond memories, pilots return often to the airport building’s lounge area to trade stories of past flying adventures and what’s going on today. Pressed into remembering one memorable incident at the airport, both men shared the story of an out-of state pilot arriving to pick up his boss for a flight home. No one was waiting for him. When he called his boss, the man said he was waiting at the end of the lounge for him. No one was there. The pilot asked where? The boss replied, Beaufort, of course. The pilot was in the wrong Beaufort. He should have been in North Carolina.

Joel Phillips has supervised the airport on Lady’s Island, known officially as Beaufort County Airport, for the past year. He has been employed there six years. Although he is a former pilot, he emphasized mechanic, when he talked about his responsibilities. He sees that the airport facilities are maintained smoothly on a day to day basis. His responsibilities are two-fold: daily operation and director of future capital improvements approved by county council. Phillips said that jet and aviation fuels are the primary money makers for maintenance and operation of the airport.

Dr. Larry Rowland, professor emeritus of history at USC, Beaufort, said he could explain why the airport moved from Beaufort to Lady’s Island, but not precisely when. Civil Aviation arrived in Beaufort in the 1930’s when the airport, then located in Pigeon Point behind the National Cemetery, was designated a national emergency landing field. It was upended at the close of World War II and moved to what was then the Naval Air Station (today’s MCAS) to use the old WWII runway. It remained there from 1946 to 1955. In 1955 the Marine Corps was reactivated on that field, and Civil Aviation had to find a new home. Sometime in the late 1950’s to 1960 a runway was built on Lady’s Island, and became the county’s airport. Beaufort Historian Gerhard Spieler notes: “Beaufort County first began acquiring parcels of land in 1955 for an airport. In 1983 when there was a need for a longer runway, Beaufort County purchased the remaining tracts, once part of Eustis Plantation.”

The airport serves as a public branch of Beaufort County. Today it thrives as one of the major business enterprises of the county.

Editor’s Notes: A special thanks to LIBPA member Ms. Jean Bond for taking the time to do the research and preparation for the above article. Prior to retirement Jean was a reporter and a high school journalism and English teacher. After retirement she taught English at Park University classes held at the Marine Corps Air Station.
Membership Report: by Gail Clark, Chairperson, Membership Committee
To those of you who have already paid your 2007 dues, please accept our appreciation for your prompt response and support of LIBPA.

The good news is that most LIBPA members have responded to the initial request to pay their 2007 membership dues. Obviously, the bad news is that some of our members have not gotten around to sending in their dues. A glance at the list of unpaid members confirms that most are long time members who simply forgot to write the check ($45) and return it in the self addressed envelope.

So, in case the first request has gotten lost on your desk or just slipped your mind; we will drop another reminder in the mail this month. If you are not sure as to your status as to the 2007 dues, just call Judy Smith (522-0066) and she will check our current membership roster.

If something crosses in the mail, please accept our apologies and thank you in advance for your support!
Lady's Island Fact (Tree Blight): 
In 2004 residents of Lady’s Island started reporting their Redbay trees were dying. It turned out that the dying trees were the result of a blight of unknown cause that had started in 2002 in Southern Beaufort County and by the time it reached Lady’s Island had killed over 80% of all the Redbay trees south of the Broad River. As it turned out it was a slow moving blight for which there was no cure and in time would kill all of the Redbay trees in the area. It continued to spread until it reached Hunting and Fripp Island after which it simply had no place to continue spreading. Today as you travel in Beaufort County you will encounter the many dead trees left behind from the 2002 blight.
New Business On The Island: 
Lin and Julian Johnson are in the final stages of renovating a store in the new Grayco Shopping Center. Once the renovation is complete (estimated to occur in the first part of March) Lady’s Island will have it’s first meat market. The new store will offer both frozen and fresh meat which can be cut to order. In addition to meat the store will offer rolls and a variety of sauces. LIBPA welcomes the Johnson's and wish them great success.
Annexation - The North Carolina Solution: 
Recently, the Sub-Committee on Special Laws (this is a sub-committee of the State Legislature House Judiciary Committee) held a meeting to review potential changes to the annexation laws of South Carolina and receive public comment on the subject. The Committee consists of Representatives Hagood, Smith, Allen, McLeod and Beaufort’s Representative Catherine Ceips. To date no results from the meeting have been announced but a good number of legislatures are discussing possible changes to the present annexation laws.

During the meeting, public comment representing a variety of viewpoints was received from representatives of the USC Institute for Public Service and Policy, Municipal Association of South Carolina, South Carolina Association of Counties, Special Purpose Districts Association, Duke Energy, Coastal Conservation League, South Carolina Homebuilders Association, South Carolina Landowners Association and the Manufactured Housing Institute. The “North Carolina” solution (municipalities can annex adjoining land which has reached urban density after a one year period to the challenge of annexation was referred to, both as a concept supported and in some cases strongly opposed. To provide some idea of the impact of the use of the “North Carolina” annexation solution the following comparison of growth of South Carolina and North Carolina for the period 1950 until 2000 is provided:
CATEGORY  S. C. N. C.
Average City Square Miles in 1950 9.0 9.4
Average City Square Miles in 2000 39.0 56.5
     
Average County Population in 1950 103,848 81,761
Average County Population in 2000 216,400 205,092
     
Average City Population in 1950 39,944 37,145
Average City Population in 2006    
     
% of Population Growth in Municipalities 14% 52%
     
Average City Median Family Income In 1950 $2,583 $2,980
Average City Median Family Income In 2000 $41,950 $50,477
     
Average Municipal Bond Rating A3 Aa1

Note: The South Carolina data in the above chart was based on the following cities North Charleston, Columbia, Greenville, Spartanburg, Anderson, Myrtle Beach, Florence, Sumter, Rock Hill and Aiken and was presented by Mr. David Rusk at the 2003 Municipal Association Annual Meeting.

It would appear that municipalities will attempt (and usually succeed) to grow in both population and land size. The manner in which that growth occurs can only be controlled by state annexation laws. Regardless of whether one likes or dislikes the North Carolina solution of allowing municipalities to annex adjoining property once it reaches an urban level of density, it does promote orderly and compact municipal growth. While South Carolina law allows property owners self determination, by not allowing municipal annexation similar to North Carolina, it also encourages zoning shopping, shoe string type annexation paths, incorporation as a matter of “self protection” (James Island) and municipal annexation decisions being based on financial return versus sound long range growth concepts. Failure to improve and modernize our state annexation laws will, in one form or another, cost each resident of South Carolina in the form of higher taxes necessary to pay for the inevitable sprawl which will result.

Editor’s Note: A special thanks to Ms. Tara McGrath, LIBPA member and South Coast Office Director, Coastal Conservation League for attending the recent meeting of the subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee.
Trying To See The Future of Northern Beaufort County:
One of the keys to the development of a realistic Northern Regional Plan is to obtain an accurate projection of growth between today and 2025, not only in regard to the number of people but where they will be located and when they will arrive. There would appear to be many methods to develop population growth projections but for purposes of developing the Northern Regional Plan the following system was utilized.

The first requirement was to determine where development would most likely occur. Without getting into annexation discussions, the three areas where it was decided that growth had the highest probability of occurring were Port Royal Island, Lady’s Island and the general area around the Town of Yemassee. The next challenge was to look at past history and determine a future rate of growth. Looking at all of the factors available, it was predicted that we will use up 1.6% of our developable land each year for the next 20 years. If, and these are big ifs, everyone can agree to limit urban growth to Port Royal Island, Lady’s Island and the Yemassee general area we can expect approximately 668 new homes each year in the area of Beaufort County north of the Broad River. This is a very conservative estimate since the same area, during the period 2000-2005, averaged approximately 827 new homes each year. But using the conservative system of growth projection, it would result in an increase of 13, 363 homes in the 20 year period (2005-2025) and would give northern Beaufort County an increase in population of 36,392. This would have the 2025 population of northern Beaufort County at 117,010 up from the present 81,000 residents.

Is this the perfect method to project population growth? Probably not, for with the number of variables (increasing cost of land, taxes, real estate market, economy) it is impossible to guarantee what the future will hold in regard to growth. As we attempt to cope with future growth, we probably need to frequently pause, revalidate any projected numbers and adjust our course accordingly as we move toward 2025.
Growth In Northern Beaufort County: 
The following chart sets forth the number of homes (dwelling units) in existence when the census was conducted in 2000 and the number of homes in existence in January 2006.
Area (2000) Dwelling Units (2005) Dwelling Units Change
City of Beaufort 5,564 5,780 +216
Town of Port Royal 1,745 2,377 +632
Sheldon Area 1,524 2,129 +605
Port Royal Island (UnInc.) 10,616 10,825 +209
Lady's Island 3,585 4,836 +1,251
St. Helena Island 3,648 4,871 +1,223
Total 26,682 30,818 4,136

Note: The St. Helena Island data includes growth on Harbor Island and Fripp Island. The data shown for the unincorporated portion of Port Royal Island includes the Town of Yemassee.

As can be seen, the area north of the Broad River averaged 827 new homes (dwelling units) each year for the 5 year period 2000 to 2005. With Fripp, Dataw and Harbor Islands reaching very close to “build out” status the growth in those areas will be much less in the period 2006 to 2010. St. Helena Island is the unknown factor in that it is zoned rural with a great deal of undeveloped land but will come under intense growth pressure in the future. Lady’s Island will continue to grow but there are many indications that Burton, Shell Point and the Town of Port Royal will be the next “hot spots” for growth in the area north of the Broad River.

Editor’s Note: The data contained in this article is derived from a Beaufort County Growth Analysis prepared January 23, 2006 by Ms. Teri Norris, Planning & Research Analyst, Beaufort County Planning Department.
Planning Of Future Roads In Northern Beaufort County:  by Jim Hicks, Lady's Island Representative, Beaufort County Planning Commission
In today’s world, transportation engineers are expected to be a blend of technician, accountant and fortune teller. We expect them to see the future in regard to population growth, travel trends and road construction. As part of the effort to develop a northern regional plan the firm of Carter Burgess was hired to determine what the traffic picture in the Beaufort County area north of the Broad River will look like in the year 2025. The first answer was that by 2025, in spite of all the road work we will have completed with the proceeds from the 1% sales tax, the following roads will probably fail (provide a level of service F) or be approaching failure (level of service E):

(1) Highway 21 from the Whale Branch to the City of Beaufort
(2) Joe Fraiser Road (LOS F)
(3) Woods Bridge to Bellemy Curve (LOS F)
(4) Woods Bridge to the Publix Intersection (Highway 21/SC 802) (LOS F)
(5) Publix Intersection to McTeer Bridge (LOS E)
(6) Highway 21 in the vicinity of commercial portion of St. Helena (LOS F)

The initial recommendation of the traffic engineering team doing the study was widen Highway 21 to 6 lanes from the Whale Branch to the entrance to Beaufort or at least to the intersection of Highway 170 and Highway 21. In the rest of the areas - build fewer houses (he did not really say it quite so bluntly). In response to this bit of disturbing news, additional study was requested. Specifically, a closer look was requested as to alternate methods to reduce the volume of traffic, such as public transit, access management, bike/walking paths and land management. The second study indicated that a possible 10% to 15 % reduction in traffic might be obtained from alternate methods but in most cases that was not a satisfactory solution. Some of the results of the second study were:

Highway 21 from the Whale Branch into the City of Beaufort: In the year 2025 there is projected to be 55,800 vehicle trips per day on this section of highway which is 17,100 trips over its 4 lane capacity. If you try everything possible (other than building fewer houses) including increasing the amount of commercial services available in the Whale Branch/Sea Brook area and if it all works - you will still exceed the capacity of the existing road by 11,500 daily trips. To achieve this final reduction requires simply building approximately 2,880 fewer homes than is presently projected. Only then will widening the road to 6 lanes not be necessary.

Lady’s Island and St. Helena Island. For the purposes of this study all of the projected road improvements for Lady’s Island (Highway 21/SC 802 Connector Road, 4 lane Lady’s Island Drive, another 2 lane bridge parallel to the McTeer Bridge and St. Helena’s present project to widen portions of Highway 21) were considered completed. Following is an overview of the results of the study as they addressed Lady’s Island and St. Helena future roads.

- Sea Island Parkway from the Publix (Highway 21/SC802) intersection over the Woods Bridge. In this case, we have a four lane highway leading into a very old 2 lane Woods Memorial Bridge which frequently opens for boat traffic on the Beaufort River. This route, which has a maximum capacity of 16,800 trips per day is projected to have a daily 2025 traffic count of 26,400 vehicle trips per day or 9,600 trips more than it is designed to handle. If we are successful in the use of public transit and access management we might be able to reduce the traffic by 1,750 vehicle trips per day leaving approximately 7,850 trips over the road and bridge capacity. The traffic engineer recommended two possible approaches which, while not solving the overload of traffic, would at least reduce it. They are (1) build another (wider) bridge from Lady’s Island to the City of Beaufort in the vicinity of Bellemy Curve and (2) provide more “on island” goods and services.

- Highway 802 (Lady’s Island Drive) from the Publix (Highway 21/SC802) intersection to the McTeer Bridge. This route is projected to see a 2025 traffic load of 34,200 vehicle trips per day which is only 600 trips over its capacity. If we use common sense measures, such as access management and a little restraint in approving new housing construction it is predicted the traffic load can be reduced by close to 3,000 trips per day. This would be more than sufficient to avoid this critical route from reaching a point of overload.

- Sams Point Road. The 2025 Sams Point Road traffic load is expected to be in the range of 29,505 trips per day which is only 990 trips in excess of its capacity. With only minor adjustments to intersections combined with access management and again conservative approval of additional housing construction this overload can be avoided. What cannot be avoided is the fact that if the northern bypass were to become a reality “it will load traffic on to this critical area” and we could be facing another crisis.

- Middle Road. The portion of Middle Road from the intersection with Brickyard Point Road to the entrance to the Coosa Elementary School is projected to fail unless widened.

Summary: When you look at all of the data, it becomes obvious that we on Lady’s Island are, in regard to our roads and growth, walking on the edge of a knife. The frightening truth is that in spite of all of the projected roads and transportation improvement projects, by the year 2025 we could still be within 100 homes of causing Sams Point Road and Lady’s Island Drive to fail. When considering future request to increase the density of property on Lady’s Island and St. Helena Island we should be very mindful of how close we are to the projected traffic breaking point. The data presented in this article was taken directly from the transportation presentation given to Northern Regional Plan Steering Committee on January 26 and is available for viewing and study at the Beaufort County web site.
Community Preservation Committee Report:  
The Lady’s Island Community Preservation Committee recently completed a 3 month review of the Expanded Home Business District zoning. This zoning applies primarily to the residential property along the 4 lane portion of Sams Point Road (500 feet on each side of the road). It is designed to encourage, through the authorization of limited commercial uses, the renovation and upgrade of homes which have been allowed to deteriorate over the years. The review pointed out a number of minor technical errors which will be corrected and indicated a need for an additional authorized commercial use of houses in this district. Specifically, a new category was recommended for general administrative offices that would not be defined by the name or nature of the business but rather by the administrative type of business to be conducted within the district. The Community Preservation Committee will sponsor the recommended changes to the existing county zoning regulations.

Starting in March the committee will begin reviewing the zoning regulations for Business Office District which is located on each side of Lady’s Island Drive. Of specific interest for this portion of the review will be the fact that in the future Lady’s Island Drive will be widened to 4 lanes, Crystal Lake Park developed and the Highway 802/Highway 21 connector road completed. These meetings of the Community Preservation Committee are held at the Lady’s Island Airport conference room.
Lady's Island Elementary - A Very Special School: by Terry Bennett, Principal, Lady's Island elementary School
Lady’s Island Elementary School is a very unique school in Beaufort County. We recently received a Good/Good on the state report card and have earned the Palmetto Silver Award. There are three major reasons why LIES is unique: 1) LIES is an Arts-Integrated elementary school. We were the first school of this type in Beaufort County. This means that our students take the “traditional” classes as well as dance, drama, Strings, and visual arts. Plus we have a very strong curriculum that uses the arts whenever possible. 2) LIES is a school of choice school. We currently receive over 40% of our students through this exceptional status. This status means that we are similar to a magnet school, but we also have an attendance zone. This is a benefit to the entire county (Northern and Southern) because it means that anyone who would like to attend LIES, can, no matter where they live. 3) LIES is on the year round schedule. The year round schedule works great for us and the proof is in our results! This is not unique to Beaufort County, but we are the only school on Lady’s Island or St. Helena Island with this schedule. This calendar offers an advantage to the working parent(s) who often has trouble finding childcare for three consecutive months.

A factor that most people may not be aware of is that LIES is a School Wide Title One Project School. LIES is the only school on Lady’s Island with this federal status. Because of our free and reduced population (last year we finished at about 73%), LIES receives additional Title One Funds to support the education of our students.

Our success comes from the extremely hard working staff. Currently LIES boosts one of the most educated teaching staffs in Beaufort County with almost 80% of the teachers holding a Master’s Degree or higher and there will be an additional 4 teachers earning their Master’s degree before August 2007! Our teachers stick with it. LIES can boost the highest teacher retention rates in Beaufort County and we are not expecting any turnover at all this coming year.

Currently over 175 students attend Lady’s Island Elementary School through the school of choice status. The majority of these students come from St. Helena Elementary and Coosa Elementary School. However, we also receive students from almost every other elementary school in northern Beaufort County, and we even have a couple of students from southern Beaufort County. This means that parents travel back and forth up to 30 miles daily to attend our school. In 1999, when I became principal of LIES, the expected membership was less than 200 students. Over the years, we have grown to 420 students. We are expecting even more in-zone and out-of-zone students this coming school year! It is important to note that our impressive reputation has attracted students from both the public as well as the private sector.

Lady’s Island Elementary School has a very rich and long history. The building was constructed in 1963. Though it has been through renovations and expansions, the most recent renovations have been to bring the building into the 21st century and have not added any additional class space. As you can imagine, popularity has its advantages, but one large disadvantage: we have run out of classroom space. In 1963 the building designers had not heard of full day kindergarten, pre-kindergarten, main streaming of students, reading recovery programs, computer labs, etc. The building codes have changed significantly during the past 40 plus years. Keeping in compliance with them is costly. Budget dollars are being spent to meet regulations instead of on new construction. Of course, we need these new fire codes, safety rules, and hurricane regulations; it just takes money and time to keep on older building up to par. In 2002, plans were drawn to add an additional wing to Lady’s Island Elementary School. This would add the necessary classroom space to allow for more growth or free up classroom space currently being used for specialty programs or office space.

The current reality on Lady’s Island is that Coosa Elementary School is over capacity. If we sent back the 45 plus students from Coosa’s zone that currently attend LIES on the school of choice status, it would be even more crowded. Lady’s Island Elementary School has reached its building capacity. Without a doubt, there are many short term solutions to the overcrowding problems on Lady’s Island. However, we must look to the future. An additional school on northern Lady’s Island will allow for a current student population solution but also be a long term solution as new homes and developments pop up daily on Lady’s Island. We must keep in mind that Lady’s Island is growing at an alarming rate. Many of the new families coming to the island have school-aged children.

In closing, as stated before there are many possible short term solutions including wings at LIES and/or Coosa. However, if we seriously look at the planned projects and the number of building permits already issued for Lady’s Island, the solution has to be an additional elementary school building. The sooner the better. The longer we wait, the larger the problem becomes and the fewer children we can serve. Lady’s Island Elementary has proven itself worthy of its notorious reputation. Our continued progress is only limited by community support, adequate funding, and room to grow.
Southern Tree Services - A Good Neighbor: 
Sonya and Ronnie Reiselt LIBPA members and owners of Southern Tree Services are representative of the business owners, on Lady’s Island, who invest in their community. Recently they welcomed the Waters Edge Church to Lady’s Island by planting two very nice trees on the church’s recently acquired property. As you may have noticed they (Southern Tree Services) have assumed sponsorship of the median in front of Beaufort Academy and are in the process of landscaping it. Sonya and Ronnie also recently purchased the house at 78 Sams Point Road, renovated it, and transformed the building into another site available for expanded home businesses.

A very special thanks to Sonya and Ronnie for investing in Lady’s Island and for your efforts to keep it a great place to live, work and raise a family.
What The Numbers Say About The Real Estate Market: by Jerry Marlow, President, Success Plus School Of Real Estate & Broker with Coldwell Banker Keyserling Real Estate
In an effort to obtain an accurate picture of the real estate market for the area of Beaufort County north of the Broad River the following information is provided in regard to (1) the change in the inventory of single family homes for the period October 1, 2006 and February 15, 2007 and (2) a comparison of homes placed under contract for the first 45 days of 2007 as compared to the same period in 2006. Following is a close look at the recent growth by price range and the amount of inventory increase over the last 158 days.

     CHANGE IN SINGLE FAMILY HOME INVENTORY OVER 158 DAY PERIOD ( OCT. 1, 2006 ~ FEB. 15, 2007) 
         

Inventory. That the overall inventory of homes on the market, in the areas indicated, grew by 20% (108 homes) in 158 days is indicative of the effects of a “buyer’s” market or there are increasingly more sellers than buyers. That in the first 45 days of 2007 (Jan 1- Feb 15) the inventory grew by 71 homes or a 12% increase is worthy of note. This would indicate the trend toward an even larger inventory is still gaining momentum. The largest inventory increase was seen in the Beaufort area (59%) while Port Royal stood out as the only area to experience a decrease (-11%). With the exception of Lady’s Island, most areas managed to hold their inventory of homes in the $300,000 to $500,000 range at a level point or in some cases experienced a decrease. On Lady’s Island, 60% of the total increase in inventory was in the $300,000 to $500,000 range.

Following is a comparison of the number of homes placed under contract in the first 45 days of the 2007 as compared to the same period in 2006.
         
Sales/homes placed under contract. The figures speak for themselves. The number of homes placed under contract in the first 45 days of 2007 has dropped 43% when compared to the same period last year.

Summary: With the number of homes available on the market increasing each day and the number of potential buyers decreasing, it is rapidly becoming a matter of price, product and presentation.