St. Helena Island doesn’t want to be Hilton Head. Now, a developer is proposing a golf resort | Black History
, 2023-01-02 06:00:00,
PAYFORT – In the 1990s, St. Helena Islanders watched with growing alarm the transformation of Hilton Head Island. They feared the proliferation of golf courses and private societies had a vision for their future.
It was a future many wanted to avoid.
Therefore, to control development on St. Helena, Beaufort County adopted a cultural protection overlay in 1999.
Barely half a page long, it acknowledges the importance of St. Helena Island as a center of the Gullah culture in Beaufort County. It then prohibits development that restricts access to water and places of cultural interest, and notes that concession designs are also prohibited.
Finally, enclosed communities, resorts, and golf courses with nine or more holes are expressly prohibited.
Aside from an exception for ecotourism added in 2014, the overlay was reaffirmed most recently in November 2021 when county officials adopted the comprehensive plan for Beaufort County 2040.
Now, Overlay is experiencing its first challenge.
Developer Elvio Tropeano, representing Pine Island GC, LLP, has come forward with a plan to build a private gated community with an 18-hole golf course to serve exclusive clients on an almost pristine piece of St. Helena Island with an affluent estate. cultural history.
In a zoning map amendment dated November 29, Tropeano asked the county to exclude about 480 undeveloped acres…
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