On Nov. 2, county voters will go to the polls to decide whether to increase their sales tax from 6 percent to 6.5 percent to raise $1.3 billion.

Most of the money would go toward roads, bridges and public transit, but $221 million is earmarked for "greenbelts," a term that includes everything from city parks to large regional parks to protecting farms.

About 35 sports and recreation advocates gathered Monday at the Patriot's Point Athletic Complex to emphasize what they believe has been an overlooked aspect of the tax discussion.

Mount Pleasant Town Councilman Gary Santos said the tax would generate millions for new parks and recreation opportunities at a time when childhood obesity is rising and public schools are cutting back on physical education.

"There's been so much concern and so much talk about the half-cent sales tax in relation to traffic and in relation to CARTA (the Charleston Area Regional Transportation Authority), it seems to me one of the biggest parts, recreation, has been kind of left out," he said.

Santos also coaches a Mount Pleasant youth football team and noted he had to take the team to Sullivan's Island recently to practice.

"We find ourselves in the situation now where our ball fields are just packed," he said.

"It's a good problem, but we have an increasingly growing population in Mount Pleasant and we need to make sure our infrastructure stays up."

The referendum does not include a specific list of park and rural land projects, partly because identifying potential land purchases could drive the price up.

If the tax is approved, the Charleston County Parks and Recreation Commission would make recommendations to County Council on divvying up the greenbelt money.

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