With Hilton Head beach parking rates finalized, will new group recommend Coligny fees?

Before hauling chairs and towels onto the beach, visitors to Hilton Head Island will have to pay to park starting in March. The town will charge $3 per hour for non-residents to park at all of the town's beach parks besides Coligny Beach Park, which will remain free for now. The decision was solidified after the Town Council voted 5-2 on a resolution in mid-September, and voted unanimously on the ordinance for the first time in September and the second time on Oct. 1.

But the conversation about a parking plan at Coligny Beach Park will continue into next fall.

During a town council meeting Tuesday afternoon, the council voted 5-2 to create an ad hoc group, comprised of town representatives, including the Ward 3 council representative, and business owners in the Coligny area, tasked with the responsibility of studying the area and discussing the needs of the town and the businesses alike. Their mission will also include a recommendation about adding any parking fees to that popular area.

The group will be formed by November 30 and would share their report with town council by no later than September 30, 2025. This way, members of the council agreed, the group will have seven months of parking data to work with, including the number of vehicles coming in and out of the Coligny Beach Park lot during peak season holidays.

Ward 2 representative and Mayor Pro-Tem David Ames made the motion and Ward 5 representative Steven Alfred seconded. Patsy Brison and Tamara Becker were in opposition. Becker's opposition was spurred by her frustration over the council's unwillingness to address the Coligny Beach parking issue when she suggested it last year. She asked her colleagues "what are we trying to do here?," questioning the need for an new ad hoc task force while the council had already approved the parking program.

In Ames' many years on the council having conversations about a parking plan on the island, he said, the town has not been able to align their goals with the interests of the businesses and the residents on Pope Avenue and in the Coligny Beach area, he said.

"We have tried a number of ways of moving that ball forward, but unsuccessfully," he said during town council. The goal of the group is to help both the town and business owners and residents to better understand each other's needs and to eventually come to a middle ground, Ames said.

How will parking on the island change?

The resolution adds paid parking to Fish Haul Beach Park and Chaplin Beach Park between Memorial Day and Labor Day, and increases parking rates at the 21 metered spaces at Islander's Beach Park, the 50 spaces at Folly Field Beach Park and the 168 metered spots at Driessen Beach Park. Coligny Beach Park parking will remain free.

The resolution stated that:

Council members also unanimously voted on an ordinance that would amend the town's municipal code, which addresses parking fees, payment and enforcement, and would set forth administrative penalties and fines and determine an appeal process.