Sea Pines buys building outside of the gate. Here's what they're doing with it

Tired of waiting in line at the gate when you visit Sea Pines?

Plans for a new, faster pass office were announced Tuesday in an emailed newsletter from the Sea Pines Community Services Associates.

The Gallery of Shops building at 14 Greenwood Drive — just outside of the Sea Pines gate — is where the new office will be located, the release said. CSA plans to redevelop this building and install five lanes that drivers will use to purchase visitor passes.

"Upon completion, the office will feature drive-through lanes to facilitate the issuance and purchase of guest passes more quickly and efficiently," the release said.

Detailed site plans will be developed over the next few months, the release said.

At the annual meeting of CSA and the Association of Sea Pines Plantation Property Owners last month, CSA president Bret Martin said the move means passes will be issued "five times as fast."

"The big change is that we believe that we will have almost no sale or issuance of passes at the gate. They will come to this site," Martin said at the time. "That means you won't be standing in line in traffic."

The Lou Hammond Group, a public relations firm representing CSA, said Tuesday afternoon a CSA representative was not immediately available to speak with a reporter about the project.

Information about the sale was not immediately available in Beaufort County property records.

In early April, Sea Pines announced those renting from private owners or resorts other than the Sea Pines Resort could no longer pick up passes at the Sea Pines Resort Welcome Center.

That news release said the change was meant to "reduce congestion at the Sea Pines Welcome Center." But some residents feared the change would create more congestion at the gate.

At the annual meeting, the CSA board announced consensus had been reached on increasing the daily visitor pass fee from $6 to $8, and expected to implement the change as early as June 1.

At the time, an agreement had not officially been signed.

This story was originally published May 22, 2018 at 3:49 PM with the headline "Sea Pines buys building outside of the gate. Here's what they're doing with it."