Who really wants a slide at the park?

Many islanders were surprised to read in the Post and Courier that the Sullivan's Island Park Foundation has extensive plans for Stith Park and the mound. 

As reported by Prentiss Findlay, plans submitted to Town Council by the Park Foundation include an in-ground slide down the face of the mound on Middle Street, terracing the mound, and cutting  trees to improve the view from the top. 

The Post and Courier states that Town Council has hired an engineering firm to evaluate the feasibility of the Park Foundation's proposal, and that Sullivan's Island residents and the Park Foundation are expected to partner in sharing the cost of implementing the plan. Potential sources of revenue to pay for the project include increases in taxes and fees on SI residents, such as increases in  dog permit fees, trash collection fees, the accommodations tax, and parking fees. Grant opportunities would also be considered.

SI Community Impact has been writing for over a year about the rumblings of significant changes planned by the Park Foundation to our park. Much of what we wrote was dismissed by Town Council and even derided as incorrect by a couple of council members. Yet now comes this article in the Post and Courier, confirming all that we have written.

Question: When were these plans for the park ever presented to  island residents by Town Council or the Park Foundation? Have islanders ever been given an opportunity to provide input on the Park Foundation's plans for the park? Wouldn't that be a good first step? 

After all, the park is Town-owned land, the changes involve taxpayer money, and all SI residents would be impacted by the proposed changes. How does Town Council or the Park Foundation know that islanders want these sorts of massive changes to the park?

Why spend $15,000 on an engineering study to find out if these changes are feasible, without finding out if the changes are even wanted by islanders? 

Other questions come to mind: 

• Who would benefit most from the Park Foundation's proposal--island residents or visitors to the island, along with the bars? Keep in mind that the SI Comprehensive Plan shows that the greatest population growth on Sullivan's Island is in the 55-74-year-old range. The plan projects only a 1.56% growth in the total SI population over the next 15 years. 
• So how many residents would be sliding down the slide?
• Do islanders want to pay for what will be a huge maintenance cost, requiring additional employees and equipment? 
• Even if the initial expense of a slide, terracing, tree-cutting, etc., were to be funded by a grant, islanders would then be responsible for ongoing maintenance expenses, and would also be most impacted by increases in traffic, congestion, and associated parking issues related to having more visitors using the facilities at the park.
• Urban grants come with strings attached.  Even if the Town were to secure grant funding for the changes at the park, what would the Town of SI then be obligated to do in exchange for using funds from a grant?
• Would there be an increase in the Town's liability insurance because of the slide?
• How would the slide be secured at night?
• Wouldn't an increase in fees residents pay  for trash pick-up essentially be a tax increase on residents, to pay for something largely benefiting visitors to the island?

Islanders just voted overwhelmingly on January 6 for increased transparency and openness in decision-making, which would then nurture a greater sense of community cohesiveness. Town Council and the Park Foundation should heed the voters' unmistakable message.  

Parking on Sullivan's Island--Follow up

SI CI recently posted a letter from islander Mike Walsh about parking issues on Sullivan's Island, including some of Mike's very interesting photos.  Based on the many responses to Mike letter, islanders very much appreciated the information and very much identify with his concerns. 

Mike has now written a follow-up letter to clarify a couple of things and also to thank Mayor O'Neil and Councilwoman Susan Middaugh for their prompt and helpful responses. Here is Mike's letter:

***PARKING FOLLOW-UP AND CLARIFICATION***

Not long ago I posted on this website an opinion about the parking boondoggle that occurs so often on our island, most recently on New Year's Day for the Polar Bear Plunge. I included several photographs of what seemed like total disregard for our current parking regulations and asked two questions:  why aren't we enforcing the rules we already have before implementing a new high-tech system and, secondly, if visitors disregard the current laws why would we think they are going to pay any more attention to the new parking plan being considered. I sent the same information and photos to Town Council. Several of the pictures showed cars that had not parked with all four wheels off the roadway, which I for one thought was required. Subsequently I heard back from Mayor O'Neil and Councilwoman Susan Middaugh. Both told me that according to our town administrator and town attorney there is in fact NO state statute requiring all four wheels off the pavement if (A)  there is not enough room on the public right-of-way for this to occur and (B) as long as the vehicles do not block the street. Frankly I was shocked. I think that the vast majority of Islanders BELIEVE this is the law. There is even a fairly official looking sign that sits on Station 25 between Jasper and Middle that states as much (see photo). Apparently this is not an official town sign but has been put there by a fellow Islander who is under the same impression as most of us.

I write this follow-up mainly because I don't want to perpetuate misinformation. Of course, many of the other illustrations in my original posting showed gross "no excuse for this" violations of our parking laws. Those vehicles should have been ticketed. The reason they weren't, as I suspected, was purely a matter of manpower with all of our officers being tied up with more important duties in the busier parts of the island. I was also told that in the future if such violations are observed, the phone number to call is 843-743-7200 and an officer can be dispatched to issue a ticket. (Just don't expect that to happen on St. Patrick's Day!)  

However, there is some good news in all this. Sullivan's Island can write their own parking ordinance that requires all four wheels off the roadway. I am told that as the new island wide parking plan is implemented this will be considered. Prior to that a survey of the island and the right-of-ways will be done to determine where we can expect people to park off the roadway, where there are obstructions to doing so that can be moved, and where there are obstructions like ditches that cannot be moved.

My thanks to Mayor O'Neil and Councilwoman Middaugh for their time and this helpful information.

Mike Walsh

2530 I'On Avenue