By Delayna Earley
The Island News
Just before 2 a.m. on Tuesday morning, Sept. 23, Beaufort County Council once again voted to uphold the Cultural Protection Overlay (CPO) installed on St. Helena Island years ago and chose to not move forward with a development agreement that would allow for a golf course to be built on Pine Island.
In an unprecedented 7½ hour public hearing regarding two agenda items – a motion to move forward to a second reading of the proposed development agreement put forth by the representative developer Elvio Tropeano and an ordinance to amend the zoning map to remove Pine Island from the CPO – with the development agreement being voted down, 9-2, by council members.
What is this about?
The development agreement sought to put an 18-hole golf course and 49 houses on the property, which would ultimately be a gated community.
This plan to develop a golf course is in violation of the CPO, which was instated in the late 1990s to protect and preserve the Gullah/Geechee culture that is prevalent on St. Helena Island.
During the nearly four hours of comments during the public hearing in Monday’s council meeting, most of the speakers stood and spoke to how devastating they feel allowing a golf course and gated community to be developed on Pine Island would be to the people, culture and way of life on St. Helena Island.
In contrast, there were speakers who stood up and spoke in support of the development agreement for Pine Island, as they believe that the plan that has been put forth will benefit residents of St. Helena Island by providing jobs, will be the best option for conservation and will provide funding to give back to the local community by repairing boat ramps, donating to the Beaufort-Jasper Housing Trust, supporting a Cultural Center and Village Entrepreneurial Market and committing $2.5 million for the Coastal Community Foundation or a similar nonprofit.
“Though some may not want it, Pine Island will be developed,” said Kevin Dukes, a local lawyer who represents the developer.
If they are unable to put a golf course on the property, developers have said that they can legally go forward with a higher density plan with a significant increase in the number of homes built on the island.
With the 149 homes and 90 docks proposed under the full density plan, there would be no golf course, and they would be able to do this with the CPO as it stands with the necessary permits.
Council hears the public
According to Beaufort County public information officer Hannah Nichols, more than 500 people attended the Beaufort County Council meeting held at Burton Wells Recreation Center in Beaufort on Monday.
More than 70 signed up to speak during the public hearing regarding Pine Island, and while not all 70 stayed to speak, Nichols said that at least 50 speakers stood up to express their opinions on the development agreement on St. Helena Island.
The public hearing portion of the meeting lasted for more than four hours.
This is not the first time that the question of setting aside the CPO for a golf course on Pine Island has come before County Council
In 2023, council instead voted to uphold and strengthen the CPO on St. Helena Island.
There was a diverse group of people who spoke both in defense of and against passing the two ordinances – many were lifelong St. Helena Island residents while some were new to the area or lived elsewhere in Beaufort County; there were elders and young men and women, politicians, business owners and religious and cultural leaders.
When it came time to vote, only two held council members voted in favor of continuing negotiations, Councilman Logan Cunningham and Councilman Mark Lawson.
Cunningham spoke to the audience about consistency and asked how they expect to fix the issues that are there and better the amenities if they refuse opportunities like what is being provided to them by the developers at Pine Island.
Councilman York Glover disagreed with him and said that the people who live on St. Helena Island have said what they want, and it is Council’s job to listen to what they want.
Is this the end?
“Pine Island will be developed.”
That is what was said during the meeting on Monday by Dukes as he presented the development agreement to council.
After council members voted not to move forward with the development agreement, Tropeano and Dukes immediately withdrew his request to have the zoning map amended to have Pine Island removed from the CPO.
According to Nichols, this allows him to be able to resubmit his application for the zoning map amendment sooner than the year waiting period he would have to wait if council had voted against it.
As for the proposed agreement, the vote made in the wee hours of Tuesday night means that the development agreement will not move forward for a second public hearing, but the developer can come back and submit a new proposal in one year from now, per state code.
Alternatively, as previously mentioned, Tropeano has said previously that if he cannot develop a golf course then the plan is to go forward with the development plan that they can do under the CPO, which would the higher density plan if they are able to get proper permitting.
Pine Island Property Holdings LLC has filed a lawsuit, as well, appealing the County’s denial of the developers’ plans.
Delayna Earley, who joined The Island News in 2022, formerly worked as a photojournalist for The Island Packet/The Beaufort Gazette, as well as newspapers in Indiana and Virginia. She can be reached at delayna.theislandnews@gmail.com.
