Developers still plan to build on Bay Point. What’s happening on the uninhabited island?

This story, originally published Nov. 29, has been updated with the correct spelling of the attorney for the South Carolina Environmental Law Project, Leslie Lenhardt, and the correct name of the property owner, Bay Point Island LLC.

Bay Point Island, one of the last undeveloped barrier islands in South Carolina, might soon be home to a 4,000-square-foot villa despite conservation groups’ repeated efforts to stop development, according to county documents.

Since 2016, Bay Point Island LLC has attempted to develop on the island. The firm had planned to partner with Six Senses, a chain of resorts and spas, to build an ecotourism resort. Last year, Beaufort County’s Zoning Board of Appeals denied the group a special permit for that resort.

Although the firm is appealing the decision, Beaufort County approved a zoning request from Bay Point Island LLC to allow it to build a single-family home on the island.

The home would replace a fish camp that was removed earlier this year after being destroyed by years of storms, according to Rikki Parker, senior programmer for the Coastal Conservation League.

This time, the property owner will not need approval from County Council or be required to seek public input, as was the case with the ecotourism resort, the Coastal Conservation League said. Since Bay Point already has plots established in 1998, Timothy Pitcher, one of the owners of Bay Point who plans to live in the home, does not need special permission to build there.

“The timing and design of what they’re seeking to put out there causes concerns because we see that as a potential move to establish a foothold,” said Jessie White, South Coast office director for the Coastal Conservation League.

The zoning appeals board’s decision to deny a special permit late last year to the ecotourism resort was unanimous. State and local officials, including Gov. Henry McMaster, opposed the project.

Bay Point, located at the mouth of Port Royal Sound, is a national designation as an “important bird area” by The National Audubon Society. An estimated 5,000 to 8,000 shorebirds take residence on the island from December to March.

A septic permit, too

The state Department of Health and Environmental Control has given Bay Point Island LLC a septic permit, which has been challenged by the Gullah Geechee Fishing Association — an advocacy group established in 2010 to protect the fishing rights of the Gullah Geechee.

The Gullah Geechee are descendants of enslaved central and west Africans who were brought to North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida and Georgia in the 18th century. According to the National Park Service, because their enslavement was on isolated coastal plantations, sea and barrier islands, the Gullah Geechee were able to preserve their African traditions, including their language, Gullah, which is not spoken anywhere else in the world.

Leslie Lenhardt, attorney for the South Carolina Environmental Law Project, is representing the fishing association in two cases involving Bay Point Island. The first case supported the county’s decision to deny the ecotourism resort a special permit after the developer appealed it. The case, Lenhardt said, is stalled with extensive mediation.

The second case is the septic permit for the single-family home.

Members of the fishing association, Lenhardt said, “derive their livelihood and sustain themselves by fishing, especially around the Port Royal Sound and in and around Bay Point.

“It’s an erosional island,” she said. A barrier island. “If they build this and the island erodes, that public beach is gone.”

A barrier island, according to the National Ocean Service, is a constantly changing deposit of sand. As wind and waves shift according to weather patterns and local geographic features, these islands constantly move, erode, grow and can disappear entirely.

Development efforts

In 2016, when Bay Point Island LLC attempted to build a Six Senses ecotourism resort, local governments opposed it. Aside from the environmental reasons, it would have left Beaufort County liable for all emergencies on the island.

It would take 45 minutes to an hour to reach the island in an emergency, assuming a boat is in the water and ready to go, said the Coastal Conservation League’s White.

For the single-family home, Pitcher is prepared to waive all emergency services. That would mean if someone gets hurt, has a medical emergency, or a storm threatens the buildings on Bay Point, Beaufort County is not liable and does not have to send any emergency response.

That’s not a long-term solution, said Parker, the senior programmer for the Coastal Conservation League. “It’s one thing for the initial owner of a parcel to say that, but eventually the property changes hands, and what if someone has a heart attack on Bay Point?” Parker asked. “My guess is that if someone has an emergency out there, the county would feel obligated to respond.”

Since the island can be reached only by boat or plane, the construction company would either have to use a barge to transport building materials and dock on the beach, which would require a state permit, or it would have to use a dock that is both run down and difficult to get to on a good day — impossible at low tide, said White from the Coastal Conservation League.

“I think the public really feels like this issue was resolved when the zoning board of appeals denied their request,” Parker said. “Some people would be very surprised to find out there’s a zoning permit that’s been issued for this villa.”

This story was originally published November 29, 2021 at 4:35 AM.