Rep. Mark Sanford wants to build a world-class park in Charleston: The Tri-County Waterfront Park.

An illustration of Rep. Sanford’s vision for Tri-County Waterfront Park | Image provided by Stantec

An illustration of Rep. Sanford’s vision for Tri-County Waterfront Park | Image provided by Stantec

In the tri-county area that makes up the Charleston region, 113,000+ new homes are expected between now and 2030 – meaning the population will roughly mirror that of Charlotte or Jacksonville. One game-time decision to make: to develop all available land or to preserve open space?

The Port Authority (owned by S.C. taxpayers) holds 1,300 acres at the southern tip of Daniel Island. They had originally proposed to build a giant container port on that land, but public outcry shut that down, and it’s now surplus property. Inevitably, much of it will be developed over time, but the state could carve off 400 acres to create a major urban park in S.C. – similar to that of Central Park in NYC or Millenium Park in Chicago.

The Tri-County Waterfront Park would be located on the southern tip of Daniel Island. The South Carolina Port Authority currently owns this land. | Image provided by Stantec

Why create a park? According to Rep. Sanford, all the great cities of the world have parks of scale in or near their city centers (Sydney has 1,000 acres on the water; London has Hyde and a variety of downtown parks; San Diego has 1,200 acres in town at Balboa Park). Plus, open space adds value. Once land is developed, it rarely goes back to being open space.

Click here to read Rep. Sanford’s contributor piece in CHStoday on his vision for the park – and the way it could potentially shape the future of our state.