By Delayna Earley
The Island News
Representatives for Pine Island developers on St. Helena Island say that their new development plan is asking for less than what they have previously asked for, but what are they proposing?
Earlier this month, Kevin Dukes, a real estate attorney with Harvey & Battey, P.A., applied with Beaufort County for a zoning map amendment while representing Pine Island Property Holdings LLC.
Pine Island is currently within the boundary of the cultural protection overlay (CPO) which is a zoning amendment that has existed since the 1990s and prohibits the development of resorts, gated communities and golf courses on most of St. Helena Island.
If Pine Island developers are granted the amendment the property would be excluded from the CPO’s boundaries and would allow the owners to go through with their proposed plan to build an 18-hole golf course and 49 residential structures.
This is the third time that the developers have sought to change the zoning designation for the property.
The first submission in November 2022 was short lived and quickly withdrawn.
The second submission went before the county’s planning commission and was voted down in June 2023, and, ultimately, the CPO was strengthened.
Following the second failed attempt at going through the county, Pine Island developers brought two lawsuits against the county stating that the CPO exceeds the county’s authority in regulating land use and it also violates the constitutional rights of the Pine Island property owners. Both suits are still being litigated.
Pine Island’s Downzoning Plan
“Our vision is to honor and elevate the past, the land, and its people and create an asset that benefits St. Helena Island for generations to come.”
That is the first thing seen on the newly published website for Pine Island’s plan for Pine Island Golf Course.
On the site, developers have proposed a development that they say, “serves as an instrument to help protect and preserve the cultural heritage and community of St. Helena Island while creating opportunities for it’s citizens.”
The plan claims to reduce housing density, protect open space as well as green space, draw a minimal traffic increase, prevent future “max entitlement” development, not displace any residents, limit stress on the community, not have any impact on the schools and will practice responsible stewardship of the local environment.
The site claims that Pine Island Golf Club is “intentionally designed to be a Conservation Development that protects and preserves the environmental, historical and aesthetic values of the property.
The development plan accounts for 49 homes and an 18-hole golf course, but as a plus touted by the developers, they would be reducing the allowable docks along Village Creek by 90 percent, are planning to donate four acres of land to be used for a community center that the community of St. Helena Island has been asking for and offering a $2.5 million community investment with ongoing funding.
A point made on their website and repeated during the April 14 County Council meeting, the project would also provide between 35 and 70 jobs on the island.
Is this better or more of the same?
Supporters of the Pine Island Golf Club being built say that this Downzoning Plan is the best option for the county and people of St. Helena Island because they are asking for less than what they could under current zoning laws.
But Grant McClure, the South Coast Project Manager at the Coastal Conservation League, says that this proposal “mirrors the plan that they submitted a few years ago, just with a few more carrots for the community.”
When it comes down to it, McClure said, they still want to build a golf course, and that violates the CPO.
“This is bigger than one individual property,” McClure said. “If you give one special concession, that sets a precedent. And it makes it a lot harder to say no to other developers wanting to do the same thing.”
When asked if they think that the environmental and cultural impact from this new plan is better than 100 homes being built, he responded by saying that he does not believe that they have ever planned to build the 100 homes that they are talking about.
McClure said that there is not the infrastructure on St. Helena to support the homes that zoning currently allows and there is not a market for that kind of development on the island.
“It is and has always been about a golf course,” McClure said. “[The CPO] has been successful in protecting St. Helena Island from being overrun with golf courses, if one is allowed it gets harder to prevent others from following.”
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.
