Hilton Head Town Councilman Edwards to step down

Hilton Head Island Town Councilman Lee Edwards is resigning.

His decision to step down was announced Monday at a council workshop with Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce leaders.

Edwards represents Ward 3, which includes the Spanish Wells, Wexford, Long Cove Club, Indigo Run, Point Comfort and Shipyard Plantation neighborhoods.

But Edwards recently purchased a home outside of the ward in Sea Pines.

“I hate to move out the district and step down,” he said Tuesday. “But we just found a house that was really ideal, and we couldn’t pass it up.”

Regardless of the move, Edwards said he was not planning to seek re-election when his term ended at the end of the year — nor is he planning to run for a seat in Ward 2, where his new home is located.

Edwards joined the council in 2011, taking over the seat vacated by former Hilton Head Island Mayor Drew Laughlin.

A special election will be held in the next few months to determine his successor, Edwards said.

He said he plans to remain on the council until a replacement is elected because he doesn’t “want Ward 3 not to have representation.”

This story was originally published February 9, 2016 at 8:51 PM with the headline "Hilton Head Town Councilman Edwards to step down."