LWVHHI STATEMENTS OF PUBLIC POLICY POSITIONS

For 2005-2006

I. Preservation and protection of wetlands.

II. The LWVHHI supports beach management projects that:

a.       are for the public good rather than for the benefit of private property;

b.      are part of a regional beach management plan;

c.       are designed for the specific features of each locale;

d.      are carefully and professionally monitored over the long term;

e.       make use of re-nourishment methods first and employ hard structures only when nourishment alone is ineffective;

f.        include sand re-nourishment as an integral, ongoing part of any hard structure design;

g.       give consideration to requiring sponsors of hard-structure projects to demonstrate, in advance, the financial resources to pay for the detection and correction of any negative impacts that the project might have on down-drift beaches;

h.       require mitigation, re-design, or removal of hard structures that adversely affect nearby beaches;

i.         establish clear goals and quantitatively designed measures of their success.

III.  Preservation and protection of Outstanding Resource Waters (formerly SAA waters),

        including opposition to marinas on such waters, and also the quality of other local

        waterways

IV. Transportation:

            A.  Accommodation Tax (A-Tax) monies may be an appropriate source
                  of funding for the Low Country Regional Transportation Authority (LRTA).

            B.  County Council should put a comprehensive transportation plan in place
                  within a reasonable time.

            C.  Opposition to runway expansion at the Hilton Head Airport. (The Board
                  recommends that our position on airport issues be restudied.)

V.  Tax Increment Financing:  Support of the concept of tax increment
      financing (TIF) for use on Hilton Head Island as one way to finance public projects
      on the island, although it is not a solution to all governmental financing problems
      and should be used judiciously. The League believes that any future TIF programs for
      Hilton Head Island should pass the tests of:  (a) being fiscally responsible,
      (b) providing funding only for needed public projects, and (c) complying with state
      law.

Issues or positions to monitor and study and act upon as needed:

I.  Election process in Beaufort County:  monitor redistricting and HAVA

     implementation

II.  Beachfront and waterway management

III. Education in Beaufort County, including post-secondary education and K–12 school

      Budget process

IV.  Hilton Head Island Comprehensive Plan

 

V.   Ward I Master Land Use Plan

 

VI.  Beaufort County Comprehensive Plan

 

VII. Transportation

 

VIII. Public Safety

 

IX.  Home Rule

X.  Tax Increment Financing (TIF) proposals

XI. Water and sewer service