Old Town, a down-home upscale neighborhood in the South Carolina river town of Bluffton, is defined by its Southern hospitality and luxurious lifestyle.

“It’s the heartbeat of Beaufort County and what draws many people to the area,” said Dave Jarman, a broker with Corcoran HM Properties. “‘Charming’ is the first word that comes to mind. ‘Welcoming’ is a close second.”

He added that Old Town is so darn friendly that “it’s common for strangers to say ‘hello’ or ‘how are ya’ll doing?’ as they pass by.”

The atmosphere, according to Mary Vaux Bell, an agent with Daniel Ravenel Sotheby’s International Realty, is “relaxed, chic and very down to earth.”

More: Home to Hobart’s ‘Millionaire’s Row,’ Sandy Bay Offers Waterfront Living and Walkability

Boundaries

Old Town, which may be accessed via car or boat, is bounded by Bridge Street and the May River waterway on the south, Burnt Church Road on the east, May River Road on the north and Verdier Cove Road on the west.

Price Range

Noting that properties in Old Town don’t come on the market very often, Ms. Vaux Bell said that riverfront or marsh-front single-family houses, which typically are on 0.75 of an acre to 2 acres, generally run $1.5 million to $2.5 million.

The inner streets of the community, whose houses are set on a quarter to a half acre, are also desirable places to live, she said, adding that they typically sell for around $1 million.

More: Londoners Pay a Pretty Penny to Live in Holland Park—Home to Summer Opera, Grand Mansions and Victoria Beckham

Housing Stock

The houses in Old Town, which is in a National Register Historic District and a Preserve America Community, were originally built and used as summer residences and typically feature significant porch space as well as interior space. They date from the 1800s to the present, and generally are on lots starting at one-tenth of an acre.

The architectural styles and materials, which range from clapboard siding and brick to tabby, vary.

“While there are new homes, many of the older ones have been updated or restored for a relaxed and understated yet posh coastal-cottage aesthetic,” Ms. Vaux Bell said. “The homes in the inner streets are mostly new but custom designed to blend in with the Spanish moss, mature oaks and oyster-shell driveways.”

Mayor of Bluffton

Another year is ahead of us, and this year will be full of completing many of our capital projects and more.

One item that is important to any town is an update of its comprehensive plan. The appropriately titled Blueprint Bluffton was adopted last month. Many residents are not sure about how towns in South Carolina operate; this plan is a major tool.

Blueprint Bluffton is a new comprehensive plan for the town that is intended to guide decision-making for the next 10 years. The plan presents a broad direction for where and how the Town should invest over this horizon. The goals, strategies, and recommendations are products of a community-wide conversation that culminated in 2022.

Starting in late 2020, Bluffton began a process to develop its Blueprint Bluffton. A blueprint represents a vision. It assumes a plan of action that, taken together and in the right sequence, leads to a desired outcome. Similarly, effective community planning requires coordinated action or investment. These steps are incremental, but collectively they drive the town in the direction desired by the community.

The State of South Carolina requires comprehensive plans to include nine topical sections and a tenth focused on implementation and priority investments. The Blueprint Bluffton plan assigns a broad goal for each section and a series of targeted objective statements to focus the plan’s recommendations.

Public engagement is an essential component of the comprehensive planning process, and the long-term success of the plan. Several methods of community outreach and engagement were used in this process to reach as many residents and stakeholders as possible.

Bluffton’s planning processes have helped shaped our town every step of the way. This process was important because it gave everyone an opportunity to voice opinions and ideas. This updated comprehensive plan helps us to view our town’s future from 50,000 feet, to ensure we have analyzed all the town’s components and how they interrelate as we aspire to grow thoughtfully as Bluffton preserves its spirit, essence and quality of life.

Bluffton has nearly twice as many residents as it did in 2010, and population growth has a domino effect on numerous parts of the community. Blueprint Bluffton will address these areas, including transportation, housing, land use, parks and recreation, as well as preservation of the natural and cultural resources that characterize the town.

The adopted version of Blueprint Bluffton is located on the Town’s website https://www.townofbluffton.sc.gov/203/Planning.

If you ever have questions about our wonderful town, don’t hesitate to contact Town Hall at 706-4500 or email Lisa Sulka at lsulka@townofbluffton.com.

BLUFFTON — The May River is a nearly 15-mile, meandering stretch of water that bisects the town. At low tide, rolling patches of brown-green cordgrass reveal themselves, along with jagged beds of spitting oysters.

In the winter, bufflehead ducks bob along with the current, while hooded mergansers try to avoid the bald eagles that make their nests in the sparse rows of trees yet to be felled by developers.

In the warmer months, bottlenose dolphins shoulder their way around boats, kayaks and paddleboards.

Many of the boaters and paddlers came to Bluffton as tourists but were so taken by the river’s natural beauty that they bought property in one of the planned unit developments within the watershed.

Between 2001 and today, the town’s population has increased from about 2,500 to more than 32,000 people.

During those years, the May River’s water quality has declined. In 2001, the Department of Health and Environmental Control designated the May River an Outstanding Resource Water. In 2009, that same department shuttered shellfish harvesting on a 4-mile stretch at the river’s headwaters due to fecal coliform bacteria from human waste.

Despite efforts to reverse the trend, that section remains restricted today.

Scientists warn that development needs to stop or the entire river could be lost. Town officials, unable to reverse the clock on a massive population boom, have turned their focus to failing septic tanks.

Rising sea level

Larry Toomer’s business depends on the May River.

He owns the Bluffton Oyster Co., which holds the exclusive lease to commercially harvest oysters on the river. Toomer has also served on Town Council since 2012.

“The only way for human fecal coliform to be in the water is from failing septic tanks. Unless of course you just dropped your drawers and pooped in the river,” Toomer said.

On a cold January morning, he stood on the boat ramp outside the Bluffton Oyster Co. with a paper cup of steaming gas station coffee in hand.

A lifetime of wrestling shrimping nets has left him with a sturdy build. His rose-colored face is in stark contrast with his ghost-white hair.

Behind him, dense clouds of powdery fog swallowed the river, giving his shrimp trawler the illusion of flight. The well-worn ship is easily two stories tall. “Daddy’s Girls” is painted in black-and-blue block lettering on the side. Named for his three daughters, the trawler has become the unofficial town seal.

Stopping occasionally to greet customers by name as they trickled into Bluffton Oyster for the day’s catch, Toomer delivered an impromptu lecture on the inner workings of a septic system.

When a home is on a septic system, he said, everything that is flushed down the drain goes into a tank below the house. The solids are filtered out and held in the tank. The liquids go into a drain field below.

“Do you understand what I’m saying?” Toomer said, elaborating on the path of human excrement. “Every day, right out the toilet.”

When a septic system is functioning property, the liquid waste percolates into the soil. There, natural microorganisms kill fecal coliform bacteria before they find their way into the river. A single teaspoon of healthy soil contains more of these micro-organisms than there are people on the earth.

But in Bluffton, human waste is being washed into the river before it has a chance to percolate into the soil. This malfunction is due, in part, to rising sea levels.

“I’m living proof. I started going in the river when I was 5, 6 years old. There are areas that used to never see saltwater that saltwater is now covering, and you can’t see the dirt,” Toomer said.

At high tide, the saltwater from the river is now breaching septic drain fields. At low tide, when the water retreats into the river, it brings with it any bacteria it may have picked up, including the potentially harmful bacteria found in human feces.

That bacteria can accumulate in oysters, which are constantly pumping water through their systems and pulling out the nutrients they need to survive. A contaminated river can mean contaminated oysters, which is why the Food and Drug Administration has strict water-quality guidelines around oyster harvesting.

Once a forest

While rising sea levels and septic systems are part of the problem, the loss of forested land around the May River is also a culprit, scientists say.

In a study published in 2021 in “Marine Pollution Bulletin,” scientists showed that when salinity in the river goes down, levels of fecal coliform go up. That is why, after heavy rainfall, the river registers higher levels of fecal coliform.

The study’s authors, including Professor Eric Montie from the University of South Carolina Beaufort, explained that one of the jobs of a maritime forest is to keep rainwater out of the river.

When rain falls on forested land, it gets absorbed into the soil. Then the trees suck water out of the forest floor and transfer it into the atmosphere in the form of evaporation.

In contrast, when rain hits an impermeable surface, like a roof or a paved road, it runs off and can find its way into the river.

The headwaters of the May River used to be surrounded by maritime forest. Today, the area is consumed with residential development, including Bluffton’s first and largest planned unit development, Palmetto Bluff.

The original developers envisioned a space where residential development could coexist within a preserved wilderness area. To that end, they set aside 130 acres of forested land along the May River, shielding it from development.

But with a total land mass of 20,000 acres, Palmetto Bluff also includes 4,000 entitled homesites, a country club, an 18-hole golf course, restaurants, shops, a marina, public docks, basketball, tennis and pickleball courts, a shooting club, a chapel, a spa, a post office and a luxury resort.

Montie’s recommendation is to slow down development and preserve more forested land within the watershed. But town officials argue they have little to no recourse for slowing down development.

Limited jurisdiction

Bluffton’s population boom began in the late 1990s, when town officials started allowing planned unit developments, which fell outside town limits, to annex in.

Before these communities annexed in, the town was only 1 square mile. Today, Bluffton is nearly 54 square miles. Ninety-two percent of that landmass falls within a planned unit development.

The development agreements were in place before the communities annexed in, which leaves town officials contractually obligated to honor agreements they did not make.

Under these development agreements, enough homes are plotted for Bluffton’s population to more than double, reaching an eventual 70,000 people.

“We’re squeezing more and more people into a smaller space than probably that many people should be living in,” said Kimberly Washok-Jones, director of projects and watershed resilience.

Although powerless to stop the growth, town officials can enforce best management practices for storm water runoff. Under these practices, all the planned unit developments are required to be on sanitary sewer.

Town officials are currently working to transfer the buildings on Bluffton’s remaining 8 percent of landmass over to sanitary sewer.

The problem is not all of the land within the watershed falls under the town’s jurisdiction. Much of the land to the north and east of the May River lies in unincorporated Beaufort County.

Many of the homes in this area are still on septic. It is also the lowest-lying area of the riverbank, leaving it the most vulnerable to rising sea levels.

Beaufort Jasper Water and Sewer Authority has estimated the cost of switching those homes to sanitary sewer to be somewhere between $8 and $9 million.

The town has offered to split the cost three ways with the sewer utility and Beaufort County.

Mayor Lisa Sulka and Town Council have given the town manager the go-ahead to sign the agreement. They are just waiting on Beaufort County.

“It’s time for us to get off our butts, put our money where our mouth is and get it done,” said Toomer from the boat ramp.

Toomer’s livelihood is not the only one at stake.

Bluffton Oyster Co. is the last remaining hand-shucking oyster house in the state. Through a window in the retail space, customers can watch the company’s 12 shuckers work.

Each shucker stands at a table with a stainless steel platform that has a rod sticking up. To break the shells, the shuckers place an oyster against the rod and give it a whack with a mallet. Then they scoop out the meat. A sign on the window asks people to please refrain from taking photos.

In addition to the shuckers, the Toomer family employs 15 oyster pickers. The workers go out at low tide and handpick each oyster that comes to market.

Wading through pluff mud — known locally as Carolina quicksand — can be dangerous. The pickers have to work with spotters.

The Toomers also employ a full staff at their restaurant, The Bluffton Family Seafood House, just up the road from the dock.

Much of the seafood at both the market and the restaurant comes fresh from the May River. Oysters harvested from the river are also shipped to restaurants around the state.

Outside Bluffton Oyster, which stands on reclaimed ground built up from a hundred years of discarded oyster shells, Toomer expressed confidence that Beaufort County would come up with its share of the money to switch the homes over to sanitary sewer.

Once all the septic tanks are gone, he feels strongly that the health of the river will take a turn for the better.

If you don’t have a New Year’s resolution locked in yet, here’s a fun one to consider: Try some of Beaufort County’s newest restaurants in the coming year.

We’ve put together a list of suggestions to get you started. This list is not meant to be comprehensive but includes highlights and places that have generated some buzz on social media.

With options such as steaks or seafood for date night, a fun brunch with a group of friends, or fast-casual takeout for the family, there’s something for everyone.

Here are 13 of the restaurants that opened in 2022:

NECTAR FARM KITCHEN BLUFFTON

Modern Southern cuisine for breakfast, lunch and supper; a SERG restaurant with a location on Hilton Head

OLDE SCHOOLHOUSE RESTAURANT

Traditional Southern breakfast and lunch in a historic building; known for generous portions

KYRA

Italian and Mediterranean fusion with lunch and dinner menus

QUARTERDECK

Seafood menu with seating overlooking the Calibogue Sound; next to the Harbour Town lighthouse in Sea Pines

MAMA G’S PIZZA

Upscale homemade pizza “for grownups” with Italian small plates and gelato

CRAVE STATION

Food hall-style space offering pizzas, burgers, sushi and Asian-style bowls, and ice cream

JAH’LION GRILL AND BAR

Authentic Caribbean cuisine in a sports bar atmosphere

PARIS BAGUETTE

More than 70 bread and pastry items plus salads, wraps and sandwiches

CELESTE COASTAL CUISINE

Cajun- and Creole-influenced menu with fresh, local seafood plus steaks and oysters

JINYA RAMEN BAR

Slow-cooked, customizable ramen and Asian salads and small plates; vegetarian options

KIND OF BLUE

An eclectic Southern menu with live music nightly and on Sunday mornings

BOWDIE’S CHOPHOUSE

Upscale steakhouse with extensive menu of cocktails and wine; wine lockers available

CAVA

Healthy fast-casual Mediterranean

This story was originally published December 29, 2022, 2:47 PM.

(Editor’s note: This story has been changed to reflect who owned the land to be purchased by the county.)

Affordable housing is planned along Bluffton’s busy Buckwalter Parkway, but that doesn’t necessarily mean apartments.

The Beaufort County Council on Monday night authorized the purchase of two parcels of land equaling 10 acres next to the Lord of Life Lutheran Church, in Bluffton, but owned by St Andrews by the Sea. The county plans to establish affordable or workforce housing on the land.

At the moment, the county is only moving forward with the purchase of the land, which will cost them $3.6 million from the General Fund. County officials say it’s too early to say what sort of properties would be best suited for those 10 acres.

Councilman Logan Cunningham, whose district includes the Buckwalter area, said he would prefer the properties not be rentals. Instead, Cunningham would like to see single-family or starter homes that can be purchased rather than rented.

“It’s got to be more than just rental properties because the rental properties just keep jacking their prices up,” said Cunningham. “People can actually reinvest in themselves instead of paying the money to a big company that’s running and managing the property or one [owner] that owns 20 things.”

However, the advantage of apartments, according to County Administrator Eric Greenway, is a potential to reduce traffic while using the land more densely. About 140-150 apartment units could fit on the property compared with about 70-80 townhouses or a dozen or more homes.

Greenway sees advantages and disadvantages to both options.

“Of course, apartments are going to get a large number of units, you’re going to help more people, but it’s not very long-term,” he said. “A [property] that they can buy outright might be a better situation for this bigger property, in this location, than anything else.”

Cunningham said he’ll hold a town hall forum later about the project to educate and gauge how his district would like the property handled.

The County Council will make the final decision on the project. The purchase is expected to close at the end of April and Greenway doesn’t expect anything to be done with the property until early next year.

The 10 acres’ proximity to Buckwalter would give the future residents easy access to the many amenities of Buckwalter Place, something the county says makes the location very appealing for a housing project.

Buckwalter Place has grown a lot since it was established nearly a decade ago. It’s added the culinary institute of the south, medical facilities, two grocery stores and multiple businesses and restaurants.

“This is kind of one of those internal opportunities where the folks can live there and shop and go to restaurants and usually go to work without having to travel,” Greenway said. “There’s a lot of employment opportunities there.”

This is one of the first strides the county has made this year toward affordable housing. More is expected to come as the multi-government regional housing trust fund comes online.

The trust will see local towns, cities and counties create a joint fund to create and promote affordable housing across the southern Lowcountry. Beaufort County will be the largest contributor giving more than $3.4 million in 10 years.

“This highlights our commitment to actually meeting the need of affordable housing,” said Greenway.

This story was originally published March 1, 2023, 12:17 PM.