Hilton Head National redevelopment under fire at Bluffton town hall

Near the end of a town hall held Tuesday night, Beaufort County Councilman Tabor Vaux asked the crowd of roughly 50 residents packed into a meeting room at the Bluffton Branch Library two simple questions.

The first: Do you support proposed plans to redevelop the Hilton Head National Golf Club?

No one raised their hand or otherwise indicated support for the proposal — which has the potential to transform the 300-acre greater Bluffton golf course into a massive commercial, residential and entertainment district.

The second question: Do you oppose plans to redevelop the course?

Dozens of hands shot into the air, accompanied by pleas for county leaders to “say no” to a zoning request from the course’s owner, Scratch Golf LLC, that could pave the way for redevelopment.

If approved, the request — which has been tabled by County Council to allow officials the opportunity to negotiate with the course’s owners — could allow the construction of up to 700,000 square feet of retail space, 400 apartments, 500 single-family homes, an assisted-living facility, a 125,000-square-foot convention center, a water park, and a 1,500-seat performing arts center by 2030.

Tuesday’s town hall, hosted by Vaux and fellow County Councilman Mike Covert, gave locals the opportunity to express their concerns about the proposal.

Debbie Fejes summed up the comments of many in attendance, saying, “We have significant concerns about the traffic impact, the water (quality) impact, and the infrastructure impact.”

John Lopat, owner of a local construction company, joked that projects similar to the proposed development helped make him rich, but nevertheless he still opposes it.

“It’s too big,” he said. “The scale is outrageous.”

Vaux, who heads a County Council subcommittee tasked with negotiating a potentially scaled-down development agreement with the course’s owners, echoed this sentiment.

“I’m doing everything I can to make sure (the property owners’ initial zoning request) does not get approved,” he said.

He cited lack of communication between the course’s owners, county officials and staff, and the public as a major problem that has given everyone involved “a big black eye.”

In a statement issued through a spokesperson Tuesday night, Scratch Golf president Bill Palmer said, “We care about this area and the people who live here,” and the company is “listening to local government officials, area business leaders and citizens, and taking into consideration their feedback.”

But the property’s “future as a golf course is not sustainable long term ... which is why we are planning to redevelop the land,” he said.

That redevelopment “will create hundreds of jobs, and the economic impact could exceed $100 million within four years of the first year of development,” Palmer said.

This story was originally published March 7, 2017 at 5:39 AM with the headline "Hilton Head National redevelopment under fire at Bluffton town hall."