‘A lot of growing to do.’ Why Palmetto Bluff developers say they changed their rules
Palmetto Bluff’s owners, South Street Partners, changed their policies on short-term rentals and club membership last week in preparation for community growth and because of an ongoing lawsuit, according to South Street Partners Vice President of Operations Rob Duckett.
The changes waive the mandatory membership requirement for all current and future residents of the Bluffton community and allow short-term renters to use club facilities for an extra nightly fee if the homeowner is a member. Previously, membership was mandatory and short-term renters weren’t allowed to use club facilities.
Duckett said that they want to add new amenities as the community grows, which means that dues will go up.
“We already have folks that are complaining or are price sensitive to the dues that we have today. We want to add new amenities and that means the dues will go up,” he said. “We felt it was a good time to go ahead and offer to make membership voluntary.”
He said only two people have resigned membership so far. If a resident resigns membership they want to join later on, they would have to pay back dues or a $20,000 reinstatement fee, whichever is less, according to Duckett. This also applies if someone new purchases the home, potentially adding tens of thousands of dollars to the sale home price.
This year the annual base club dues are $6,695, raised about 36% from $4,895 last year. With added required state and county 7.5% admissions tax of $502, it is $7,197. The 2023 POA annual assessment is $4,876, raised about 8% from $4,515 in 2022.
He said the other reason for changing their policies is an ongoing civil action lawsuit against South Street Partners that mentioned mandatory membership and short-term rental policies, among other issues.
“Instead of fighting over it, we just went ahead,” he said. “Making it voluntary, speaks to that objection.”
Attorney Ian Ford, who represents the Palmetto Bluff in the lawsuit, said that while the changes address some concerns they’re not fixing what the lawsuit asserts is the root issue: the members didn’t get the chance purchase the club when it was sold to South Street Partners by another developer in early 2022.
Unlike most private communities in Beaufort County, Palmetto Bluff is owned by a developer instead of its residents and club members.
Duckett also addressed rumors that South Street Partners initiated the changes to sell parcels in bulk to production builders to mass produce homes.
“The answer is it’s not true,” he said. “Our plans are to continue to develop the community for the original vision with a very high quality standard.”
While the changes could be reversed with an email, just like how they were instated, Duckett said this probably isn’t likely.
“The waiver of mandatory membership was important because we’re going to be building a lot of amenities for the future,” Duckett said. “We need to know who we’re going to build them for.”
