Hilton Head weighs potential timeshare ban. Here’s what that means
The era of new timeshares on Hilton Head Island may soon come to an end.
Members of the town’s Land Management Ordinance Task Force will meet Thursday to discuss a long list of “priority amendments” to the town’s development rules.
That list quietly includes a recommendation to “prohibit new timeshare uses” and “restrict existing timeshare uses to current locations.”
That would effectively bar new timeshare resorts from being built on Hilton Head — a win for those who see them as a nuisance.
Hilton Head is home to several timeshare resorts, and one is still under construction in the Folly Field area. These developments have caused heated debates over the years.
The task force is expected to work through the amendments over several meetings, and it’s not yet clear when the timeshare question will come up for a focused discussion or vote.
What’s the LMO?
The timeshare item was identified as part of a long list of changes to town development standards that may be considered in the coming months, according to the meeting agenda.
Town officials refer to this process as the Land Management Ordinance “rewrite.” In addition to adjusting standards for tree clearance, open spaces and building heights, officials hope to clean up the language in the LMO to make it easier for everyday people to understand.
It’s important to developers and property owners, because the land management ordinance sets restrictions on building height, color and use, plus how many trees can be cut down to make way for construction. It’s also important to residents who fear the transformation of quiet, residential areas into commercial hotspots full of traffic and noise.
Over the past few years, town officials have chipped away at many key problem areas in the land management ordinance. Eighteen amendments have been passed so far, dealing with growth, tree protection and community design. Staff now say this final batch of amendments is meant to “functionally complete” a full modernization of the ordinance.
Last year, the Town Council appointed a task force of 21 residents, industry representatives and civic leaders to review and recommend changes to land use, subdivision and design standards before proposals head to the Planning Commission and, ultimately, the Town Council.
The creation of the task force attracted some criticism from residents who viewed it as “kicking the can down the road.” They worried powerful groups would abuse the public input process to tweak the rules in their favor.
Town Manager Marc Orlando called the task force “industry standard” and “best practice” in a September town council meeting, where the decision to make the task force was approved. He stressed the need to ensure the code has been “scrubbed” and “rinsed” from all angles before presenting to the Planning Commission.
Any concrete move to tighten or ban timeshares would still face public hearings and final council votes — meaning the real fight over the island’s timeshare future is still to come.
Timeshare battles aren’t new
It wouldn’t surprise anyone to know that timeshares on Hilton Head Island are magnets for controversy.
In 2015, the Town Council approved controversial resort zoning for the former Port Royal Racquet Club tract along Wimbledon Court and Folly Field Road. That decision later helped clear the way for a 166‑unit timeshare resort near Islanders Beach Park at 15 Wimbledon Court, despite an enormous pushback from nearby residents who raised concerns about traffic.
When the project was permitted in 2021, the then-chairman of the Design Review Board raised alarm that the board has “no true authority to limit the overall height or the scale of the structures.”
Construction has been underway at the site for some time, and phase one of the timeshare resort appears to be nearing completion. Public documents show the project has a new name — The Maidencane — and is being helmed by Myrtle Beach-based Hilton Head Island Acquisition Partners, LLC.
