Councilman Frank Brafman questioned the philosophy of such expenditures, noting it was his understanding that the community preservation districts were designed to preserve a community, as is, not enhance an area for further development. The council put the request for Dale on hold and asked that the planning board come up with a reasonable policy for handling such requests. That's a good move, handing the matter back to the planners for their recommendations versus flatly rejecting the request. The county has other options for funding certain requests, such as the road money distributed by the Beaufort County Citizens Transportation Committee. That money can be used for sidewalks and bike paths.
Grants are another possibility.
It's not likely that all of the community preservation districts will come in with million-dollar requests. The County Council has been focused on southern Beaufort County and the admittedly pressing priorities of U.S. 278. But there are other areas of the county that would like to have a little attention.