Prime St. Helena farmland was listed for sale in 2019. $700K saved it from development
Nearly 90 acres of prime farmland on St. Helena Island is now safe from development, thanks to a $700,000 purchase by four partners who jumped into action after it was listed in 2019, Beaufort County announced on Friday.
The new owners, the Center for Heirs Property Preservation, say the land eventually will be opened up to the public. And farming and forestry projects are planned to demonstrate how undeveloped land on the island can be used in ways that generate income for residents.
The purchase, which involved $650,000 in public funds, was set in motion in 2019, after 88 acres off Tom Fripp Road along Edding Creek were listed for sale by the Charles Henry Trust. The land, now called St. Helena Community Farms, was formerly known as Henry Farms North, a well known farm dating back generations.
The farmland was in danger of being sold on the open market and converted to a housing development or some other use, said Kristen Williams, executive director of the Beaufort County Open Lands Trust (OLT). That’s what spurred four partners into action.
The state of South Carolina, through its SC Conservation Bank, and Beaufort County, through its Rural and Critical Lands Conservation Program, each chipped in $325,000 to purchase the land and a conservation easement that permanently protects it. The Open Lands Trust invested $50,000, and, for a short period, owned the property, bridging the gap between the listing and approval of the grants later by Beaufort County and the state Conservation Bank. OLT also holds the conservation easement.
The final step was turning over the land to the Center for Heirs Property, which will own and operate the programs that are planned for the property.
“Our mission is achieved by preventing land loss, resolving title issues among family members and encouraging sustainable land use,” said Jennie L. Stephens, its chief executive officer. “This is another opportunity to demonstrate how working lands can work for families.”
The deal, which closed Oct. 25, will protect the 880 feet of scenic forest along Tom Fripp Road, 1,100 feet of saltwater tidal Creek on Eddings Point Creek and 55 acres with soil designated as having statewide importance.
It comes as the Sea Islands are experiencing development pressures, and “heirs property” handed down through generations is being lost.
Heirs’ properties — a term that reflects properties shared by heirs of the original owner(s) and generally refers to Gullah landowners — are usually passed through families without clear titles or wills. That can create confusion among heirs when it comes to determining who is responsible for taking care of the land and paying its taxes. The properties often end up on tax delinquency lists because no one pays up.
The Center for Heirs’ Property Preservation operates in 22 counties to protect heirs’ properties by offering legal education and working with families to resolve title issues, while promoting sustainable land use that can economically benefit all generations and communities. It will welcome landowners and the public onto the protected property, Stephens said.
Josh Walden, chief operating officer for the center, said it’s met with St. Helena Island residents about how to use the land. It is currently conducting a feasibility study on the soil and water quality. No specifics have been hammered out on the future use but, in the big picture, the goal is to have an educational component and forestry and farming demonstration projects where people will be “on the ground, hands in the dirt.”
“Utilizing land in a sustainable way can promote wealth or certainly enough money to pay for property taxes,” Walden said.
Of the total purchase price for the 88 acres, $325,000 is public money from the Beaufort County’s Critical Lands Preservation Program. Under that program, important lands, including farms, are purchased to preserve them. Funding comes from taxes approved by voters, most recently in 2018, when they said yes to $25 million.
The South Carolina Conservation Bank, a state agency created in 2002 with a mission of conserving significant lands, paid $325,000. The Conservation Bank is funded, in part, by a portion of the state real estate transfer fees.
St. Helena Island, said Raleigh West, its executive director, “is such a unique and historic part of South Carolina.” The agency, he added, is proud to be a part of protecting important farms and family-owned land there.
The OLT, a not-for-profit that works to protect Lowcountry lands, calls St. Helena Island the last relatively undeveloped Sea Island in South Carolina’s Lowcountry defined by relatively rural, large blocks of historically active working lands in food and timber production.
1,700 acres on island protected
Williams, its executive director, said conserving the lands is important “if we are going to protect family lands, soils, and people on the sea islands for generations to come.”
The purchase brings to 26,000 acres the amount of land protected by conservation easements or as passive parks under Beaufort County’s Rural and Critical Lands Program.
County Council Member York Glover, who represents St. Helena Island, said the purchases help to protect the remaining portion of Henry Farms in the Tom Fripp Community. The 289-acre Henry Dairy Farm was previously protected.
“I am even more pleased to have the opportunity to partner with the Center for Heirs’ Property Preservation with land protection,” Glover said.
More than 1,700 acres is now protected on St. Helena Island, including Penn Center (91 acres); King Tract (14 acres); Christian Trask Tract (92 acres); Orange Grove Plantation (810 acres); Orange Grove House (46 acres); Penn Center Tree Farm (161 acres); the Sanders Tract — Station Creek (160 acres); and the Jones/Scott Hill Farm (92 acres).
The purchase of the 88 acres ensures public access, in some form, to the property, Beaufort County said.
This story was originally published November 13, 2021 at 7:30 AM.
