Planning commission forwards five-year CIP to council after debate over scoring, Spanish Wells intersection

The Town of Hilton Head Planning Commission voted unanimously to forward the town’s five-year Capital Improvement Program (CIP) priorities to Town Council while urging staff and council to note concerns raised about the Spanish Wells corridor and other local drainage and roadway issues.

Don De Adam, the town’s public projects director, presented a one-year snapshot of the CIP (part of the five-year rolling plan). He highlighted near-term work including follow-up beach renourishment tasks, Islanders Beach Park moving to construction, pathway projects such as Jonesville Road and Lagoon Road, and roadway work including Northpointe USPS site improvements and corridor projects listed as line items 49–53 (Gumtree, Squire, Pope, Spanish Wells). He also called attention to park work (Barker Field complete; Patterson Family Park and Taylor Family Park moving to construction), Mitchellville Road finishing soon, the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Center reprogramming, and investment in stormwater pump stations.

Commissioners repeatedly asked for a clearer prioritization methodology. Commissioner Redmond said the commission could not effectively evaluate "80 different priorities" without scoring criteria tied to safety, funding likelihood or other drivers; several commissioners asked staff to map projects to emerging KPIs and provide estimated costs. De Adam said the program was aligned with a prior priority plan adopted by Town Council and that staff would work to add scoring and criteria as the program matures.

A resident and business owner urged that the Spanish Wells/278 Wildhorse intersection be prioritized for lane changes and enforcement, calling it "the worst intersection on the island" and saying, "It needs to be a double turn lane." Commissioners and staff said the corridor will be presented comprehensively at a Town Council workshop on the 28th and that some simple, early improvements could be implemented in fiscal year 27, while larger coordination will depend on SCDOT’s bridge and corridor schedule (staff noted SCDOT work is expected to be complete by 2031).

Commissioner Whaley moved to forward the CIP to Town Council with notation about Spanish Wells and quarter overlay project-area concerns; Commissioner Hewitt seconded. The motion passed unanimously. Commissioners also asked staff to consider elevating drainage items such as Ashmore Channel backflow prevention and North Forest Beach pipe replacement onto the priority list for council consideration.

Next steps: staff will present the CIP to Town Council (workshop on the 28th was referenced) and return any additional scoring or KPI materials that link projects to safety and funding drivers. Cost estimates for each line item were not provided at the meeting.