BEAUFORT, S.C. () — There’s now several options on how to fix the Beaufort waterfront, but officials said it could be years before the city could see those results

“In any situation, one alternative is do nothing. Of course, that’s not a realistic alternative here because we don’t want to see these fences up forever,” said Beaufort City Manager Scott Marshall, pointing at the fencing that has lined the closed portion of the waterfront for months.

The city was recently presented eight options by city hired engineers to fix the waterfront’s relieving platform. They’ve narrowed their options down to three.

The first option is to rebuild the same size and style of the relieving platform that exists now.

The second would be to replace the structure by establishing a seawall and backfilling behind the seawall with dirt. That would mean the entire park, which is currently a platform supported by pilings, would be sitting on top of the dirt.

The third option would be to build a hybrid structure, meaning some structures would be permanently fixed, and some would be floating.

Officials said they’re having to consider a large part of their tourism in their decision.

“What we really need to answer is, do we want cruise ships at the Waterfront Park, or do we not want cruise ships at the Waterfront Park? Because that will drive part of the solutions to whatever we do to remediate this problem with the relieving platform,” said Marshall.

Marshall said questions have been raised about whether cruise ships and shrimp boats should be allowed to dock on the wall, and whether the city wants to accommodate that.  

“Those are all questions that need to be answered and factored in to inform our final decision with regard to a design,” said Marshall.

The city is currently in the planning process with engineers and a waterfront advisory committee.

The engineers are currently putting together a more structured plan and design of what those options look like, what they would encompass and how long it would take to construct them.

Marshall said an estimate on a final completion is looking at 3-5 years. He said the permitting process can take up to two years alone.

“The permitting process through the Bureau of Coastal Management takes quite a while. And it should. It should be very, very thorough and it should be very involved in terms of the impact on the environment and the waterway.  We are also sitting right here on the Intercoastal Waterway, and I’m sure the Corps of Engineers will have something to say about the permitting process as well, once we settle on a design,” said Marshall. “We’ve got to get to the point where we settle on a design first. And so that’s our immediate focus right now.”

When asked if the park would be impacted or possibly closed for construction, Marshall said that it remains to be seen.

“It probably depends on whatever the final design is that we come up with.  I’m sure there will be some impact to the park proper. Where we’re standing on right now, (along the fence-line of the closed portion of the waterfront park} the extent of that impact, we don’t know yet until we know what the final design is going to be,” said Marshall.

In the meantime, the city is working to try and re-open a popular destination for boaters that was impacted by the waterfront shelf closure.

“The secondary focus we have right now is being able to get our day dock back open again so that people can dock their boats and they can walk into the waterfront park. And I think we have a path forward on that,” said Marshall.

It’s unclear yet what path that will be.

The city will take their narrowed down options and meet again with engineers on Oct. 6th.

Officials said once they have solidified those options, they plan to invite the public to review their options.

“We will have a public charrette, which is a very detailed public meeting where we invite everyone to come in and take a look at these different designs, offer any input they have, and also offer any alternative design inputs that they might have,” said Marshall.