Historic Districts & Traditional Neighborhood Design: a Comparison of Mechanisms in the Neighboring Residential Communities
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
University of Pennsylvania ScholarlyCommons Theses (Historic Preservation) Graduate Program in Historic Preservation 2000 Historic Districts & Traditional Neighborhood Design: A Comparison of Mechanisms in the Neighboring Residential Communities of Beaufort and Port Royal, South Carolina Kristopher Balding King University of Pennsylvania Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.upenn.edu/hp_theses Part of the Historic Preservation and Conservation Commons King, Kristopher Balding, "Historic Districts & Traditional Neighborhood Design: A Comparison of Mechanisms in the Neighboring Residential Communities of Beaufort and Port Royal, South Carolina" (2000). Theses (Historic Preservation). 407. https://repository.upenn.edu/hp_theses/407 Copyright note: Penn School of Design permits distribution and display of this student work by University of Pennsylvania Libraries. Suggested Citation: King, Kristopher Balding (2000). Historic Districts & Traditional Neighborhood Design: A Comparison of Mechanisms in the Neighboring Residential Communities of Beaufort and Port Royal, South Carolina. (Masters Thesis). University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA. This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. https://repository.upenn.edu/hp_theses/407 For more information, please contact [email protected]. Historic Districts & Traditional Neighborhood Design: A Comparison of Mechanisms in the Neighboring Residential Communities of Beaufort and Port Royal, South Carolina Disciplines Historic Preservation and Conservation Comments Copyright note: Penn School of Design permits distribution and display of this student work by University of Pennsylvania Libraries. Suggested Citation: King, Kristopher Balding (2000). Historic Districts & Traditional Neighborhood Design: A Comparison of Mechanisms in the Neighboring Residential Communities of Beaufort and Port Royal, South Carolina. (Masters Thesis). University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA. This thesis or dissertation is available at ScholarlyCommons: https://repository.upenn.edu/hp_theses/407 UNIVERSITry PENNSYLVANIA UBRARIES HISTORIC DISTRICTS & TRADITIONAL NEIGHBORHOOD DESIGN: A COMPARISON OF MECHANISMS IN THE NEIGHBORING RESIDENTIAL COMMUNITIES OF BEAUFORT AND PORT ROYAL, SOUTH CAROLINA Kristopher Balding King A THESIS In Historic Preservation Presented to the Faculties of the University of Pennsylvania in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE 2000 Supervisor ( \ ^ Reader David A. Hollenberg Nellie Longsworth Associate Regional Director Historic Preservation Consultant Northeast Region, National Park Service Lecturer in Historic Preservation Lecturer in Historic Preservation fU-<^leyO }radua\^ Group Chair latero fe Professor of Architecture U.X'iVE^SiTY PEmsroumA Acknowledgements I owe many thanks to great number of people who helped, encouraged, and listened throughout the last year as this thesis took shape. This thesis would not have been possible without their generous help. I would like to thank Victor Dover, Donna Alley, Jefferson Mansell, Gregory Huddy, John Perry, Billy Keyserling, David De Long, Withold Rybczynski, and Kathleen Curran for taking the time to speak, and/or meet with me to discuss my topic, and share information. I would like to thank my advisor. David Hollenberg, and my reader, Nellie Longsworth. Their probing questions and constructive criticism have helped me to improve my writing and think more clearly. This thesis would not have been possible without their help and support. Table of Contents Acknowledgements iii List of Figures v Chapter 1. Introduction 1 Chapter 2. Setting the Scene 9 History of Beaufort County 9 Growtii and Development: 1960-2000 26 Chapter 3. Beaufort: Historic Districts and Design Review 29 Preservation in The City of Beaufort Since 1968 29 Preservation in Beaufort: The Early Steps 31 The 1 970 Inventory of Historic Buildings and Sites 37 1972: New Zoning & A Preservation Plan for Historic Beaufort 41 1 979: The Beaufort Preservation Manual 51 The 1989 Update to the Preservation Plan 56 1990: The Beaufort Preservation Manual Supplement 63 Northwest Quadrant Design Principles 70 City Of Beaufort Comprehensive Land Use Plan 72 Analysis of Design Review in Beaufort 75 Chapter 4. Port Royal: New Urbanism and Design Review 83 Reactions to Modem Zoning and Town Planning Techniques 86 New Urbanism: Theory and Code 89 New Urbanism in Port Royal: Dover Kohl and Partner's Master Plan 98 The Town of Port Royal Traditional Town Overlay District 109 Port Royal 1995-2000 122 Analysis of Design Review in Port Royal 1 24 Chapter 4. Conclusion 1 29 Appendices 136 A. The Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation 136 B. Excerpts from the Beaufort Preservation Manual 138 C. Excerpts form the Dover Kohl and Partners Master Plan 145 D. Excerpts from the Port Royal Traditional Town Overlay District Code 151 Bibliography 158 Index 162 IV List of Illustrations Fig. 1 Detail of Beaufort '^ District 19 Fig. 2 Detail of 1797 Survey illustrating the Beaufort 21 Fig. 3 Example of "Beaufort Style" 21 Fig. 4 Example of "Beaufort Style" 32 Fig. 5 Typical Residential Street in Historic Beaufort unsympathetic design 32 Fig. 6 New construction in Historic Beaufort displays Foundation 34 Fig. 7 Preliminary Survey area for Historic Beaufort ^2 Fig. 8 Map Of City-Enforced District 65 Fig. 9 Illustrating effect of incompatible height 67 Fig. 10 Map Illustrating Historic Beaufort Boundaries 74 Fig. 11 Map of Beaufort's Historic Resources ^3 Fig. 12 Port Royal historic house ' ^^^ Fig. 13 Port Royal historic house 104 Fig 14 Port Royal newly rehabilitated historic house '04 Fig 1 5 Port Royal historic house 110 Fig 16 Port Royal Overlay District Boundaries 1 ^ Fig. 1 7 New Port Royal Firestation 1 120 Fig, 18 New houses in Port Royal 1 20 Fig. 19 New house in Port Royal 1-1 Fig. 20 New house in Port Royal Chapter 1. Introduction Historic Beaufort County. South Carolina is experiencing growth at an consists of the coast alarming rate. In fact the entire South Carolina lowcountry, which of growth in the and adjacent lowland areas, is experienced an unprecedented amount as commercial sprawl. form of resorts, retirement and golf course communities as well Georgia. Beaufort Situated directly between Charleston, South Carolina and Savannah, development pressure. A significant County is accustomed to just this type of tourist and the quality of the increase in these pressures over the last ten years has come to threaten soaring, and a regional landscape. With a very strong economy, home construction rates City of renewed residential interest in this area, many of the islands surrounding the Beaufort have been developed into gated golf course communities or retail/commercial historic landscape that strips. This development has come at a great expense to the defines this region. grass marshes and once It is the small town chann and the historic oak trees, sea seemingly endless inland waterways that are being destroyed. One of the oldest colonized regions in North America, Beaufort County's cultural, historical, and and English archaeological resources are immense: it boasts Spanish, French, Scottish, colonization as well as a confluence of the Southeast's most well developed and organized Native American Chiefdoms. The staggering amount of development historic throughout the county and its negative effects threaten these resources, the landscape, and the delicate coastal environment. Beaufort County, like many other historic regions, is experiencing growth at rate is becoming that is detrimental and the need for more extensive growth management evident. Traditional historic preservation techniques have been focused within the City of Beaufort itself and, as such, have been limited to areas with a concentration of historicity and a knowledgeable, active citizenship. While the City of Beaufort has successfully implemented of a series of refined preservation plans, the rest of the county has not been as fortunate. The result is that the historic balance and physical structure of Beaufort County is becoming less and less understandable as the pressures of development drastically alter the landscape. As the pressure for development continues to expand, the smaller less protected towns within Beaufort County are beginning to react. Many have enacted protective measures and comprehensive planning but, unfortunately, most of these reactive measures have come at an already great expense of the historic fabric and defining features of these small communities. Any sort of existing comprehensive planning efforts could have prevented the erosion of the historic towns. Currently Beaufort County is seeing the application of preservation planning and Neotraditional. or New Urbanist planning, as well as areas with no planning at all. The City of Beaufort is a veteran at balancing growth and preservation interests. It possesses many advantages, being the largest and wealthiest city within the county with a well organized and active preservation community. The City of Beaufort also actively supports the preservation of historic resources. The city has invested much in understanding the value of its resources, and creating preservation plans to guide their management. The City has also quickly and scrupulously responded to the various preservations plans created for Historic Beaufort. Beaufort has learned from experience. its share of success as spending nearly 30 years developing its current system. It has seen updating its plan. well