Public commenters warn Beaufort County waterways rewrite could close small charter businesses; committee advances abandoned-boat provisions to council

Dozens of small-boat operators and tour companies urged the Beaufort County Public Facilities Committee on Oct. 20 to narrow a proposed rewrite of Chapter 102 (Waterways), saying the draft would force mobile operators into marinas and add thousands of dollars in annual costs.

"That additional annual cost . . . is over $33,000," said Mara Decker, who identified herself as a local operator and described equipment-storage and marina-slip concerns, arguing the draft would be "arbitrary and capricious" and could put small businesses out of business. Mike Fox and employees described similar risks for kayak and paddle-board firms; Rachel Cantore, owner of Stand and Paddle, said the changes would remove her only practical operating location in Bluffton.

Staff and counsel told the committee they had heard the public comments and had redrafted the ordinance based on feedback. John Robinson (staff counsel) said it was not the administration's intent to prohibit charter fishermen from county landings: "We would take the position . . . that oystermen, crabbers, and other commercial fishermen encompasses charter fishermen and that they are, therefore, exempted." Robinson added the exemption language could be clarified to explicitly name "charter" operations.

Committee members pressed staff on enforcement, economic impact and outreach. One member noted the county had received many public comments opposing broad commercial restrictions and asked for data on how many local operators hold DNR passenger-vessel licenses in each tier (6-and-under; 7–49; 50-plus) to better assess parking and congestion effects.

After extended public comment and deliberation, a committee member moved to bifurcate the ordinance: vote on Article 4—provisions governing abandoned and derelict boats (sections 102.171–102.183)—and refer the remaining proposed amendments back to the public-facilities committee for additional revisions. The motion was seconded and passed by roll call with no objection. Chair announced Article 4 will be forwarded to county council; the committee will revisit commercial-use language at its next meeting.

What this means going forward: the derelict-boat procedures—most of which mirror state removal processes—will be considered by county council. The broader prohibitions on commercial activity at landings and numeric thresholds for commercial passenger operations will be revised and returned to committee for further public review and staff-recommended edits.

Claim and counterpoint highlights from the meeting included: - Claim: "This would force every charter tour and kayak company to rent slips at commercial marinas" (Mara Decker). Staff response: exemptions for commercial fishermen include charter operators and staff said they will add explicit charter language to clarify the exemption (John Robinson). - Claim: "It will put us out of business" (multiple public speakers). Committee response: members acknowledged potential economic impacts, asked staff to provide licensing counts and enforcement information to better tailor the ordinance.

The committee asked staff to provide additional data (counts of DNR license tiers and locations of businesses) before returning the commercial-use portions of the ordinance.

The committee closed public comment after hearing the scheduled speakers, approved forwarding Article 4 (abandoned/derelict boats) to county council, and scheduled further work on the remaining sections.

Next steps: county council will consider the derelict-boat provisions; the committee will reconvene to review a revised draft that clarifies exemptions, enforcement authority and any numeric limits on commercial activity.