Workforce housing project gets OK from Hilton Head board. Who is it for?
Some Sea Pines Resort employees’ commutes may get much, much shorter in 2022.
Last week, plans for a 2.78-acre, 16-unit development to house Sea Pines Resort employees on the south end of Hilton Head Island received unanimous approval from the town’s design review board, moving it to the final steps in the process — a building permit and development plan approval. Once the town approves the permit, construction would take one year, a Sea Pines press release said, with move-in tentatively scheduled for early 2022.
The development, designed by Bluffton landscape architecture firm Witmer Jones Keefer, would house employees with the greatest need, to be evaluated yearly, according to the resort’s press release. Rent would be charged at or below fair market prices.
Currently, many Sea Pines employees, as well as other employees of Hilton Head’s robust restaurant and hospitality industries, commute long distances due to the high costs of living on the island. The proposal comes as community leaders place greater pressure on town officials and developers to create better housing options for those who power Hilton Head’s economy.
That the development would house Sea Pines Resort employees was kept under wraps for several months as design plans moved through the review process. On Monday, nearly a week after the plans had been approved, resort officials clarified their involvement.
Sitting at Target and Palmetto Bay roads just minutes from the Sea Pines Resort, the project would be in one of the three areas town leaders have identified as a prime location for workforce housing. It would include a two-story residential building, clubhouse and activity yard, and each three-bedroom, three-bath apartment would have laundry facilities, a kitchen and a living room.
“This project has been designed with flexibility in mind,” said Cliff McMackin, Sea Pines’ director of resort development. “The units are suitable for families or for international workers.”
At their Tuesday meeting, design review board members outlined conditions the development would have to meet to begin building, should it receive a building permit. Among the conditions: increase the trunk sizes of live oak trees to be planted, ensure the building meets residential lighting requirements and move accessible parking spaces closer to a wheelchair lift at the clubhouse.
“Conditions are checked by the town staff as the building is being constructed,” said Michael Gentemann, chair of the design review board. “They do not have to come to the review board.”
The decision on Palmetto Bay Lodges comes as the town inches closer to creating a formal workforce housing program and to changing its rules to allow workforce housing to be built in certain zoning districts. Official workforce housing, which would be regulated by the town, is not currently permitted anywhere on the island.
Under the proposed program, zones eligible for workforce housing would be: those with low to moderate, moderate, and moderate to high densities; community commercial districts; light commercial districts; medical districts; mixed-use planned development districts; mixed-use waterfront districts; and the districts surrounding Main Street, Mitchelville, Sea Pines Circle and Stoney. Certain property types, including single-family subdivisions and individual units in multifamily buildings, would not be eligible.
In early August, town manager Steve Riley announced that the town had sent letters to 4,300 property owners notifying them that the town planned to change its rules, and that they could be affected. Later that month, the town planning commission unanimously recommended that town council approve the proposed changes and create a workforce housing program.
Town council is scheduled for a briefing on the amendments at 4 p.m. Tuesday.
This article has been updated to reflect the role of Witmer Jones Keefer.
This story was originally published September 14, 2020 at 2:23 PM.
