Hilton Head seeks legal opinion on problematic, subdivided units

Hilton Head Island town officials will soon have an outside legal opinion on how to grapple with the issue of subdivided condos, which some claim are a fire safety hazard and a magnet for criminal activity.

The subdivided — or “lockout” — units, are common in Oceanwalk Villas near South Forest Beach Drive, where many owners turned their condos’ mother-in-law suites and second and third bedrooms into separate units years ago to collect more rent. The practice has also been reported at neighboring Xanadu Villas.

In August 2015, Hilton Head Island Mayor David Bennett called for the town to ban the split units based on those issues after the town found they did not violate the National Electric Code, town zoning or the town’s land management ordinance. Four months later, Mayor Pro Tem Bill Harkins suggested the town seek an outside legal opinion, which the Town Council approved on April 19, voting to retain the Robinson, McFadden and Moore law firm in Columbia.

The review should take up to 30 days and cost up to $7,500; it will include existing zoning and building codes and covenants and past research on the problem. The firm will then advise the town of any specific action it can take to try to eradicate or minimize the issues of the units.

Town officials have acknowledged the lack of individual circuit breakers for each unit poses a safety risk, and residents have complained for about two years that the low rent for the subdivided condos appeals primarily to criminals.

From January to April 2014, when property management for Oceanwalk told residents to stop subdividing units, the villas saw about three times as many calls to the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office than the similar-sized Xanadu and Hilton Head Cabanas.

“Criminals can hide in plain sight there,” Oceanwalk owner Bruce Bartow, who is working to prohibit the split units, told The Island Packet the next year. “You’ve got a major problem right in the heart of your premier tourist district, and it starts with Oceanwalk.”

This story was originally published May 4, 2016 at 1:17 PM with the headline "Hilton Head seeks legal opinion on problematic, subdivided units."