Decades ago, then-Charleston Mayor Joe Riley often outlined his vision of public access along the entire waterfront of the southern peninsular city, from Calhoun Street on the Cooper River to the baseball park on the Ashley River that ultimately would bear his name. While in office, he helped realize large chunks of this vision, from the Ashley River Walk along Lockwood Drive to Waterfront Park (which also bears Mr. Riley's name).
Still, there remain holes to fill before that laudable vision is fully realized, and it's worth celebrating the recent decision by Mayor William Cogswell and City Council to spend $2.75 million to buy the small waterfront parking lot at 10 Concord St. — and to do so without resorting to the heavy-handed, too-often-abused option of eminent domain.
Mr. Cogswell should task the city's Parks Department with remaking this property, which currently is a surface parking lot, into a southern extension of Waterfront Park that the public can access and enjoy.
The sale price for the 0.157-acre parcel might raise a few eyebrows; it is significantly more than the $1.48 million restaurateur Martin Sprock spent to purchase it four years ago, though the sum is identical to the 2022 sale price for 6 Prioleau St., a nearby parking lot that's a little larger but is not right on the waterfront.
And city taxpayers' actual cost has been significantly offset by a generous contribution from Charleston businessman and philanthropist John Winthrop, whose office sits just across Concord Street. His contribution was key to bringing about this desirable outcome.
The city had planned to acquire the property several decades ago when it first was developing a new waterfront park where rotting old commercial wharves once stood, but for some reason that didn't occur, perhaps partly because it was only a small parking area at one end of the planned park. In recent years, however, its future became a source of controversy as Mr. Sprock twice asked the city, without success, to approve plans for a new house — a use allowed under its current zoning.
Preservationists and neighborhood leaders understandably fought against those house plans, which they considered too tall and too damaging to the surrounding neighborhood.
The recent purchase ends a lawsuit against the city over those denials and thankfully puts that controversy to rest. It also extends one of Charleston's most popular parks and moves the city a small step closer toward realizing Mr. Riley's longtime vision of public access around the water's edge. But it's equally important for the future, as the city's ownership can be expected to pay dividends as the city considers a new barrier around the peninsula to minimize damage from future storm surges.
Having a private residence at 10 Concord St. would create an especially challenging situation to work around in creating such a new barrier: It could have forced any new structure farther out into the marsh and river, possibly driving up environmental damage and the price tag.
Those are all reasons we supported City Council's 2021 decision to acquire the property, and urged the city to find a way to complete the transaction without condemning the property.
The acquisition of 10 Concord St. and its conversion into new waterfront park space might be one of the smallest steps the city takes to realize the vision of public access along the peninsula’s edge. The potential development of the Union Pier site to the north will be a much bigger, more significant action, but major accomplishments often require both large and small steps. And each one taken is worth celebrating in its own right.
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