When will you have to pay more to get into Sea Pines? Not today, but here's the latest
On the day Sea Pines expected to increase the daily pass fee to $8, visitors continued to pay $6 at the gate.
Sea Pines' Community Services Associates said Thursday afternoon it "hopes to implement a new daily visitor gate fee as soon as practical upon the signing of an agreement." That agreement has not yet been reached, according to an emailed statement sent through the Lou Hammond Group, a public relations firm.
At the annual CSA meeting in April, the board announced that a consensus had been reached on increasing the cost of the daily visitor pass. It hoped to implement the $8 fee by June 1.
The final agreement must be approved in writing by CSA, the Sea Pines Resort and the Sea Pines Center.
The Lou Hammond Group said previously that if the number of daily visitors remains consistent over the next year, the fee may increase again to $9, and ultimately to $10 over the next several years.
Mark Griffith, chairman of CSA, said at the annual meeting an $8 gate fee would provide $800,000 in additional revenue to CSA. A $10 gate fee would provide $1.6 million in additional revenue.
The proposed increase does not affect the commercial vehicle gate fee, which is currently $10, CSA said previously.
The possibility of a gate fee increase has been discussed several times within the last year. The last increase was in 2013 when it was raised $1, bringing it to the current $6.
Sea Pines announced last week it had purchased the Gallery of Shops at 14 Greenwood Drive, and plans to redevelop it as a new pass office.
According to Beaufort County property records, CSA purchased the site for $1.4 million.
The new pass office will have five lanes that visitors will drive through to purchase a pass, according to a previous news release. CSA hopes the new office will reduce congestion at the gate.
Detailed site plans have not been released.
This story was originally published June 1, 2018 at 9:13 AM with the headline "When will you have to pay more to get into Sea Pines? Not today, but here's the latest."