Why does the SPA ignore important cruise ship issues so apparent to everyone else?

The latest Charleston Mercury tackles the issues factually and directly in a manner the SPA and the mayor can’t seem to emulate: “As readers know, we are in favor of having cruise ships and support job growth on the waterfront. This newspaper seeks a sunny outlook for the port and its critical role in fueling our state’s economic engine. We also think that the port should take advantage of the wisdom in using the Columbus Street Terminal for hosting all cruise ship traffic; this is the central point of the controversy.” So why is the terminal location so important? The Mercury tells us:

“The Union Pier property is worth hundreds of millions of dollars, and it abuts a vibrant residential and commercial neighborhood that needs prime waterfront for expansion. This will improve the viewshed for nearby residents and visitors. The area around Morrison Drive and the Columbus Street Terminal can flourish together for the long term. Union Pier, as a host for cruise ships, will remain an eyesore and political albatross for the city of Charleston. We realize that the State Ports Authority’s plan for Union Pier is far better than what exists now, but it will not satisfy the citizens of Charleston or its key legislators.”(1) The Mercury understands what the mayor should but doesn’t. First, any limiting regulations on cruise ships, even were they forthcoming, could be changed, so moving potentially intense cruise traffic away from downtown offers the only long-term protection for our fragile historic districts. Second, this precious, underdeveloped 63-acre Union Pier tract presents the last opportunity to geographically expand downtown Charleston along the waterfront. Charleston’s unique moment to design and develop a small-street neighborhood with shops, restaurants, offices, civic buildings, residences and waterfront parks, all accessible to the public–not to mention the hundreds of permanent jobs it will create–can never, ever happen again!

Embarking cruise ship passengers on home-ported ships like the Carnival Fantasy must venture downtown, creating congestion and confusion, just to sail away and spend their money elsewhere! They’re beginning a week’s vacation, and these cruise ship passengers aren’t stupid. They’ve already paid for their food and berths, and they know that during their upcoming vacation week, they will have ample time to browse shops and foreign markets, gamble, go on excursions, buy exotic gifts, enjoy spa treatments, sunset cocktails… There’s no rational reason to spend money here before their vacation begins, and that’s why they spend so little. Then why bring cruise congestion and traffic downtown when the passengers and the city would be better off if embarking/disembarking tourists had easier access to major highways away from downtown? The common-sense reasons for using Columbus Street or Patriots Point(2) for a cruise terminal–near those highways–is undeniable.

But real issues aren’t the topics that SPA, it’s expensive PR agency or supporters want you to think about. Rather than talk about pollution, managing tourist impacts on historic districts, noise or congestion, we’re treated to this stuff: “The cruise ships themselves are quite awe-inspiring, and rather than detracting from the city they emphasize what the city was originally founded on, a natural harbor.”(3) “Awe-inspiring”? Has this guy seen the Fantasy? It doesn’t matter to him, because from where he lives, he can’t see any cruise ship, or Russia, from his house. Take another letter-to-the-editor from Mt. Pleasant, titled “Undermining Port.” It deliberately conflates cruise ship tourism with cargo shipping: “I am amazed, with our high unemployment, that there should be such animosity to cruise ships and their economic benefit…. “The executive director of the Georgia Ports Authority noted that Savannah is already a much greater port than Charleston. The Georgia ports support 295,000 jobs, $2.6 billion in state and local taxes.”(4) Conflate, combine, confuse–that’s the SPA’s strategy. Of course, the issue is NOT about Charleston’s history as a port, a “natural harbor,” or cargo shipping. We know that the SPA has hundreds of acres of underutilized port facilities, we know that Charleston is trying to get federal funds to dredge Charleston’s harbor, and we know that the port is trying to increase cargo shipping. Everyone favors the dredging, the expansion of port commerce, and more jobs. But cruise ship pollution and cruise passenger impacts on land are a totally separate issue. Thus we all should know that creating enforceable limits on cruise ship tourism–the same limits SPA itself proposed but won’t formalize–wouldn’t impact any other port activity. But dealing in facts is not a high priority for the SPA.

Why is the SPA’s master marketing plan to charge everyone asking for reasonable cruise ship tourism limits with attacking the port itself? Maybe the SPA believes that bamboozling the longshoremen and powerful cargo shippers is the only way to maintain the political cover it needs to confront and confuse the state legislature. But if the longshoremen and container ship operators ever figure out this cruise ship controversy isn’t about them, SPA officials holding their transparently flimsy assertions will be exposed. There’s every reason to limit cruise ship tourism–when all other tourism in Charleston is regulated. SPA officials know there should be limits. They know that cruise ships burn dangerous, low-grade bunker fuel in port that spews dangerous, unhealthy soot. They may know that any cruise terminal would be better were it located away from Union Pier. And they certainly know that they have failed to perform their mandated requirement to study other cruise terminal locations or “consider quality of life impacts of its operations.”(5) Yet, in spite of the facts, the SPA continues to conflate, combine, and confuse hoping the state legislature won’t catch on.

The Mercury asks its readers to look beyond the aesthetics and the environment to what’s economically best for the SPA and the City of Charleston: “The economic value of the Union Pier property speaks loudly; it yells on its merits; it screams best use; it oozes opportunity; and it cries for another path to solving the dispute. The central players need to find a way to sit down and agree that they will all benefit by seeking the best financial deal for the citizens of Charleston, the port and the city.” That “best financial deal” is the one that will also best preserve and protect the historic fabric of the city–the main engine for tourism which, in turn, is the main driver of our economy. But will the SPA sit down and help create a solution?

Sen. Chip Campsen recently wrote, “Economic development and quality of life are not mutually exclusive. Properly balanced, they are synergistic.”

–Jay

1) “Are Cruise Ship Solutions Close at Hand?” – Charleston Mercury
2) “Cruise Solution” letter to the editor – P&C
3) “Keep Cruises” letter to the editor – P&C
4) “Undermining Port” letter to the editor – P&C
5) “SPA Must Weigh Cruises Impacts on Quality of Life” – Sen. Chip Campsen