Mount Pleasant wades back into the cruise ship debate (2024)

The Town of Mount Pleasant first debated the economic benefits of hosting cruise ships two decades ago, after a scheduling conflict forced a vacation vessel to drop anchor off Patriots Point.

The issue came around again in 2017.

It's now resurfacing for its third political port of call.

Public officials, a local waterfront union and community members are at odds over whether Mount Pleasant, and more specifically,Patriots Point, should and can be home to a cruise ship terminal.

It's a timely question, with the Charleston-based Carnival Sunshine set to sail for the last time from its Holy City berth across the harbor later this year.

Also, the future of the existing passenger terminal at Union Pier is unclear as the S.C. State Ports Authority prepares to sell much of the downtown property to a buyer that has stated it doesn't want to deal with the pleasure ships.

Mount Pleasant Mayor Will Haynie last week blasted the idea of putting a cruise hub in his town as "absurd." At a committee meeting May 6, he and other elected officials pointed to the logistical and legal challenges of adding a terminal at state-owned Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum, which has said it has no available land.

Haynie also said this is the first time while in office that he's seen a push to havethe town authorize a proposal of this magnitudeon property it doesn't own. He called it "unprecedented and improper."

The debate was stoked in part by pro-cruise supporters, including a lobbyist and a waterfront union.

But it was the recent actions of a tour boat operator that propelled the issue to the forefront last week, according to Town Council member Daniel Brownstein, who summarized the chain of events on the social media platform NextDoor in a post titled, "Cruise Ships are not coming to Mount Pleasant."

"In April, a Viking cruise ship anchored in the harbor and used smaller boats to tender the passengers to Patriots Point, where buses then took them on excursions," Brownstein wrote Thursday. "This raised the eyebrows of the Patriots Point Development Authority and some on Town Council because there is a state law that says Patriots Point cannot be used for ocean-going container or passenger ships."

The town attorney and a committee determined the harbor shuttles violated a South Carolina statute and local zoning regulations.

In a statement, the parent of the tour-boat operator, SpiritLine Cruises, acknowledged that "one cruise ship did utilize this service" in April under what it described as an existing agreement.

"We will work closely with local and public officials if there needs to be any modifications to these trips moving forward," the company said.

Town Council is expected to draft a resolution to cement its stance on cruise ships. Officials also have asked for a report from the SPA about its position. The maritime agency said it plans to communicate with the town on the matters requested.

Several representatives of the International Longshoremen's Association commented at last week's public meeting that the union will lose hundreds of weekly jobs without a year-round cruise business. The mayor responded that the Carnival pullout, which was driven by the ports authority's plan to sell Union Pier, "was not Mount Pleasant's decision."

Haynie also questioned who would pay for the infrastructure needed to handle cruise ship traffic at Patriots Point, where passenger vehicles would be parked and whether it would require condemnation. He said it's "not going to happen."

"The more I look at this, the more absurd this whole discussion is," Haynie said Wednesday. "We believe active shipping should be managed by the State Ports Authority because they're good at what they do. Patriots Point was not designed to act as a port authority."

Gary Santos, a Town Council member who works in the shipping industry, has been a longtime advocate for developing a cruise business in Mount Pleasant as a way to generate extra tax revenue. He said he petitioned the U.S. Coast Guard in the early 2000s for permissionto anchor ships behind Fort Sumter and transport passengers to Patriots Point on smaller boats, stressing Friday that he's not in favor of full-blown terminal.

Peter Lehman, a town resident who is registered lobbyist for the cruise industry and former business development manager for the SPA, said the changes underway with Carnival pulling out of downtown Charleston represents a "tremendous opportunity for Mount Pleasant to build an economic base."

He said conversations with cruise lines could potentially amount to "seven-figure donations" to Patriots Point and its Medal of Honor Museum.

Most elected officials appear to be lining up behind Haynie.

Council member G.M. Whitley stressed that “we are not a cruise ship destination,” while Jake Rambo told WCBD-TV he's "a resounding no."

A vote on a resolution about cruise ships is scheduled for May 14.