Hilton Head gated community residents denounce plan for 247 waterfront apartments. Why?
A plan for nearly 250 waterfront apartments on Hilton Head Island’s Broad Creek has drawn the ire of residents of a neighboring gated community last week, but not because the residents are worried about noise or crime.
Residents at an Indigo Run community meeting with the developer were incensed because they said the apartment plan won’t do enough to address the island’s workforce housing shortage. They also grilled the developer on what will happen to the people currently living in the 50 mobile homes on the site.
“Workforce housing is our big need, and service people can’t afford the rents there,” one resident told developer Porter Jones. “You’re making a big pitch, and it’s not matching up with our needs.”
The crowd of more than 100 people applauded.
Jones and his Charlotte-based firm’s plan for the apartments requires the property at 201 Marshland Road to be re-zoned to allow for more units. It features four buildings on the 13-acre site, which backs up to Broad Creek.
Jones said rent would start at $1,700 for a one-bedroom apartment to $3,500 for a three-bedroom unit, nearly double the average rent deemed affordable for people who work on the island, according to a 2019 study.
The stark pushback on the plan was a departure from gated communities’ typical concerns with apartment developments on Hilton Head.
As the workforce shortage wears on, restaurants and stores have begun to cut hours or services due to lack of staff. The impact on daily life means island homeowners are no longer insulated from the consequences of the affordable housing shortage.
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About the planned apartments
Mark Barker, of Wood + Partners landscape architects and land planners, and attorney Walter Nester, of Burr, Forman, McNair law firm, accompanied Jones at the Monday evening meeting.
Baker emphasized the preservation of the Live Oak canopy included in the site plan for the apartment buildings and the commitment to prohibiting short-term rentals or timeshares on the property.
The plan for the development shows four buildings: One is five stories, another is four stories, and there are two smaller buildings near Marshland Road. The site plan includes sewer instead of the existing septic systems and a kayak and canoe launch.
Baker said the property, if developed, will take advantage of the town’s newly minted workforce housing program, which will grant the project density bonus if it includes 5% of its units as more affordable workforce housing.
For a project with 247 units, that’s 12 apartments.
When residents pushed back on the rental rates, Baker said the project would target a more affluent part of the workforce than hospitality workers.
“Our employees are the workforce,” he said of his land planning firm and Nester’s law firm. “You’re talking about affordable housing, and no developer will do that with these land costs. It’s just not going to happen.
“This is not where the low end of the service industry will live.”
Relocating mobile homes
The proposed location of the apartment complex is currently the Rollers Mobile Home Park, where around 50 units are connected to septic systems.
Jones said the current owner, based in Georgia, wants to sell the property, which will force those renting land in the park to relocate.
On Monday, Indigo Run residents wanted to know how the developer will help with the relocations.
“How many families will be displaced?” one man asked. “Will you make a commitment to relocate these people?”
Jones said he has established a fund to help mobile home owners relocate. He said he’s prepared to offer $2,500 per property.
It can cost more than $12,000 to relocate a mobile home, according to previous reporting in The Island Packet. In 2019, island charities banded together to help 14 families relocate from a Spanish Wells-area mobile home park.
That cost $86,493.
While other residents argued its not a developer’s job to help relocate families from newly purchased land, the Marshland Road apartments represent an important opposition of forces on the island. As the island “builds out” and land becomes more scarce, residents are asking housing developers hard questions about how their projects will help solve the island’s problems and whether they will create more inequality.
“You’re willing to protect the trees,” one resident said. “You’re willing to protect the oysters, but you’re willing to drive people off the land?”
What’s next?
The town’s planning commission was set to hear the rezoning application for the property on Wednesday, but the original application for 275 units was withdrawn.
Jones has not yet reapplied to the town for the 247-unit development.
Asked whether Baker has presented details of the apartment complex to residents at Rollers Mobile Home Park, he said no.
