From staff reports
Beaufort County has purchased an 11.22-acre property in the Town of Port Royal that is home to a famed live oak tree known as the “Cherry Hill Oak” using $1,550,000 from the Rural and Critical Land Preservation Program.
The Cherry Hill Oak is a South Carolina Heritage Tree, designated in 2013 by Trees SC, and at 113.75 inches dbh, it is larger in diameter than the Angel Oak Tree on Johns Island.
The property offers sloping tree canopied fields with visual and physical water access to the marshes of Battery Creek and was previously threatened by development. The property owner began negotiations with the Rural and Critical Land Preservation Program in late 2022 and County Council unanimously approved the purchase on August 14, 2023. Parties expect to close on the sale to Beaufort County this month.
“This property protected natural and cultural resources and does so in area where public passive recreation opportunities are otherwise limited,” Councilwoman Alice Howard said in a news release. “County funds are uniquely positioned to protect these resources for future public access and are spent well on this opportunity. We thank the landowners and private citizens who rallied to make this opportunity possible.”
Zoned for high density urban development, the landowners, Merryland Investments Battery Creek LLC, sold the property at a bargain-sale and are contributing $50,000 to the Beaufort County Passive Parks Department for the long-term maintenance of the property’s tree canopy.
“We realize the value to all of Beaufort County that this tree and the surrounding property provides and we are pleased to be part of a conservation solution for its future.” Says Tennent Houston, partner in Merryland Investments Battery Creek LLC.
The Town of Port Royal passed a proclamation to support protection of the property on June 21, 2023 and will maintain the property in partnership with county ownership.
“Port Royal is pleased to partner with the Rural and Critical Lands program on another passive park within the Town,” Port Royal Mayor Joe DeVito said. “Resources like the Cherry Hill Oak can be protected and enjoyed by all.”
Led by local neighbor Hope Cunningham and arborist Michael Murphy, citizens have rallied to document, advocate for, and protect the Cherry Hill Oak and the surrounding property from development over the past year.
A private fund for the Friends of Cherry Hill Oak has been created and is held at the Community Foundation of the Lowcountry.
