Strategic Action Plan Provides Framework for Significant Progress
Hilton Head Island Mayor Alan Perry
Are you aware of our town’s current activities? If not, I encourage you to delve into our Fiscal Year (FY) 2023-2025 Strategic Action Plan. We adopted the plan in June, following a meticulous process that took place eight months ago. During a recent full-day workshop, Town Manager Marc Orlando provided us and the public with an encompassing overview of policies, projects, initiatives, and notable achievements. We’ve already made significant strides in this year alone, reflecting our collective dedication to accomplishing the objectives set out in this strategic action plan. Here are some highlights I find particularly exciting:
Successful land acquisitions. Over the years, the town has acquired land throughout the community. This year, we have successfully secured various parcels of land that align with our plans for parks, green spaces, and workforce housing. To enhance transparency, we have introduced a town-owned property dashboard on our website to provide updates on our property holdings. Notable recent acquisitions include a 12.019-acre piece on Jonesville Road, a 3.04-acre section on Shelter Cove Lane, a 0.52-acre area on Mathews Drive, and a 7.19-acre tract on Bryant Road in the Muddy Creek Area.
Significant growth management. The town’s staff has been actively addressing the impacts of growth by making a series of amendments to the Land Management Ordinance (LMO). These amendments aim to tackle challenges associated with growth in a comprehensive manner. The amendments will help us maintain the character of existing neighborhoods, establish a consistent and predictable process for approving new developments, improve the overall quality of the built environment, and begin district plans that offer guidance for a comprehensive overhaul of the LMO. Additionally, the town launched an initiative to seek proposals for code writing services with the goal of revising the LMO and the Municipal Code.
Improvements to major corridors and streets. Significant enhancements have been made to major streets and corridors in the town, including the initiation of maintenance and beautification projects in January 2023. Another improvement involves the installation of the Adaptive Traffic Signal Management System, which began in February 2023 and is expected to be operational this fall.
Economic growth highlights. Hilton Head Island has experienced noteworthy economic growth, with 85 new businesses being established between January 1 and June 21, 2023. This figure excludes certain categories such as short-term rental owners, in-home businesses, homeowners’ associations, and entertainers.
Town and Beaufort County collaborative achievements: Over the past year, the town and Beaufort County have worked together on various impactful projects and initiatives. These include the William Hilton Head Parkway Gateway Corridor project, updated impact fees for library and transportation services, the relocation and mitigation of St. James Baptist Church, a mutual land swap involving Barker Field and Old Schoolhouse Road Park in exchange for the Cross Island Boat Landing, enhancements to the Cross Island Boat Landing and Ramp, a Green Space Land Acquisition Program for preserving natural areas, active involvement in the 1 percent Sales Tax Committee and Program Planning, diverse road improvements and maintenance efforts, Hilton Head Island Real Property Reassessment endeavors, and funding for the Adaptive Traffic Signal Management System through Traffic Impact Fees.
As we continue to make progress on our strategic action plan initiatives, our goal is to keep you apprised of our successes. You can check out the adopted Strategic Action Plan on the town’s website at hiltonheadislandsc.gov. Be sure keep up with the town’s latest news by following us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.
