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As part of a comprehensive plan for the island, county planners are considering rules that would phase out combustion-powered vehicles by 2012.
"It really doesn't make a lot of sense to have cars on a bridge-less island -- from a sustainability, environmental, even economic perspective," said county planner Brian Herrmann, who helped draft the plan.
Under the plan, residents would have until Jan. 1, 2012, to bring combustion-powered vehicles onto the island. After that, no more could be brought on. Residents who already have cars could continue to use them until the cars die. Service vehicles still would be allowed, Herrmann said.
The proposal, which the county Planning Commission is considering and hopes the County Council will approve by March, is part of a larger plan that includes several changes to guide development on the island. Herrmann said that if an ordinance phasing out combustion vehicles is enacted, it wouldn't really change anything on Daufuskie. Two residential, gated communities on the island -- Melrose and Haig Point -- already encourage golf carts as primary means of transportation.
Abandoned cars can leak gas onto the land and into the water, and fuel emissions are an unpleasant addition to an island known for its charm and natural beauty, Herrmann said.
Herrmann said that because of the prohibitive cost of shipping cars to the island and shipping them off when they've outlived their usefulness, the prospect of a largely car-less island might be palatable to residents of the island that is five miles long and two and a half miles wide. The federal stimulus package even includes tax incentives for the purchase of electric-powered vehicles like golf carts.
Other proposed plans for Daufuskie would include a form-based code, which are land-use rules that guide development based primarily on appearances instead of use. Such rules are intended to promote walkable public spaces.
Paula Nickels, editor of Daufuskie's community newsletter, The Front Porch, says she doesn't believe the vehicle ban will offend residents because few have cars on the island. But, she added, residents aren't yet familiar with the proposed plan, and "people (on Daufuskie) don't keep quiet when they hear something they don't like."
If the rules are enacted, Daufuskie would become one of a number of small communities in the United States where cars are limited or illegal; Catalina Island in California, Fire Island in New York and Mackinac Island in Michigan are among them.
Herrmann says the Planning Commission holds up those communities as examples of places where a car-free economy thrives.
"The focus of the plan has been to ... preserve as much of that rural, great character as possible while also balancing the need for some economic development," said Herrmann.
