$8 Sea Pines gate fee being challenged, officials say. Here's the latest

Nearly a week after Sea Pines expected to raise the price of the daily visitor pass from $6 to $8, the proposed fee hike is being challenged.

"Just as we reached the point where we had an agreement between the Resort, Sea Pines Center and those members of the executive committee, we became aware of a possible challenge from a commercial member," a news release from Community Services Associates vice chairman Michael Tucker said.

The commercial member is not named, and Tucker said in the release CSA only recently "received an assertion of approval rights" by this member.

For the gate fee to be increased, three entities must agree to it in writing. Those include the Sea Pines Resort, CSA and "commercial interests," or the shops at Sea Pines Center.

Tucker said the rights being asserted by the commercial member are "under review by counsel" and CSA has been advised not to comment further.

"We are working as quickly as possible to get this challenge resolved so we can execute a gate fee increase," Tucker said.

In April, CSA first announced a consensus had been reached on increasing the fee.

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 previously an $8 gate fee would provide $800,000 in additional revenue to CSA. A $10 fee would provide $1.6 million in additional revenue.

The proposed increase does not affect the commercial vehicle gate fee, which is currently $10.

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.

This story was originally published June 7, 2018 at 9:33 AM with the headline "$8 Sea Pines gate fee being challenged, officials say. Here's the latest."