Community comes out in droves to oppose development of Pine Island and St. Helenaville
By Delayna Earley
The Island News
ST. HELENA ISLAND – Hundreds of concerned citizens from all over northern Beaufort County gathered on Thursday evening, March 30, for one reason – to preserve the land and culture on St. Helena Island by protecting Pine Island and St. Helenaville from being developed into a golf course and gated community.
The rally was held at St. Helena Elementary School on St. Helena Island, and community members lined up outside of the school building, waiting to get into the school’s cafeteria. According to Fire Chief Bruce Kline with the Lady’s Island-St. Helena Fire District, about a thousand people came out to support the cause, although not everyone was able to get inside of the building.
One by one, speakers who represented the Gullah/Geechee people, residents of St. Helena Island and local bodies of government got up and spoke about what would happen to the “soul of the Sea Islands” if the Cultural Protection Overlay (CPO) were revoked.
The CPO, community-driven zoning laws that were written in the late 1990s and adopted in 1999, essentially protect St. Helena from being overly developed in order to protect both the land and culture that exists on the island.
“One person wants to change the law to suit his purposes,” Marquetta “Queen Quet” Goodwine, Chieftess of the Gullah/Geechee Nation, said. “We knew this was a unique place, we did not want it to be a gated area, we did not want … our environment to be damaged. We do know that overbuilding on this coast is causing ocean acidification, which is causing us to lose our bivalves, meaning our oysters, our crabs and anything that has a shell on it. We know that it lowers our water quality. We also know that due to climate change we are dealing with sea level issues. So, we do not want our wetlands filled in, and that is exactly what you would have to do at Pine Island and St. Helenaville to build.”
The rally was held to garner support and spread awareness before the April 10 meeting where the Beaufort County Land Use Committee meets and receives recommendations from the CPO committee.
“Y’all are here tonight, refusing to allow, not just your natural resources, but your cultural resources from being destroyed,” State Senator George “Chip” Campsen said. “There is incredible history here that should not be homogenized into the next Hilton Head.”
Mayor Stephen Murray of Beaufort said that the people of St. Helena aren’t asking for anything special, just to have what they have been asking for for 30 years to be honored.
He also said that instead building golf courses and gated communities to keep people out, the people of St. Helena Island should ask for the same amenities that other parts of Beaufort County have, such as community centers and better schools.
“All of the elected bodies have said that this is inappropriate land use and we stand by you,” said Mayor Murray.
Queen Quet and several other speakers mentioned that they hope to have the April 10 meeting moved to a different location, such as St. Helena Elementary School, to accommodate a larger crowd of people.
She also said that it is possible that topics from the 3 p.m. April 10 meeting could end up on the agenda for the County Council meeting later in the evening.
“I see a lot of you showed up here tonight, but we need you to show up on the 10th, too,” Penn Center’s Marie Gibbs said.
Delayna Earley lives in Beaufort with her husband, two children and Jack Russell. She spent six years as a videographer and photographer for The Island Packet and The Beaufort Gazette before leaving the Lowcountry in 2018. After freelancing in Myrtle Beach and Virginia, she joined The Island News when she moved back to Beaufort in 2022. She can be reached at delayna.theislandnews@gmail.com.
