Court ousts developer and board in private Beaufort Co. community amid ongoing lawsuit
A judge ousted the managing developer and governing body of a gated northern Beaufort County community in a November court ruling after some property owners sued over questions of the board’s authority and spending practices.
The decision is part of an ongoing lawsuit a group of Bull Point Plantation property owners filed in December 2018, saying developer William Gavigan and the board of directors he appointed had improperly changed covenants to control homeowners association money and misspent community funds.
Gavigan has denied the allegations and has asked the court to reconsider the recent ruling.
The 750-acre gated waterfront property of Bull Point is off U.S. 17 in Sheldon near Gardens Corner. The community includes more than 200 home sites, from 2/3 of an acre up to 10 acres, with community docks, clay tennis courts, stocked ponds and a small island connected by a causeway where member events are hosted.
Gavigan’s company took over the development of Bull Point Plantation in 2017 and assumed control as declarant — a designation that grants a developer special rights such as granting easements and avoiding HOA assessments while building a planned community. But his corporation never had the right to oversee the development under rules for transferring the rights laid out in incorporating documents, Beaufort County Judge Carmen Mullen ruled in a Nov. 18 order.
Gavigan therefore didn’t have the authority to appoint a board — installing himself as president, the court said. The board’s actions, including changing rules to related to oversight of a contingency fund, are void, the judge ruled. Even had Gavigan been the legal manager, the board should have been elected by the property owners association members, Mullen ruled.
Board members were ordered to step down, relinquish control of community money, turn over keys, financial records and other property owned by the homeowners association. An interim board was appointed, and the community will elect a new board within three months, according to the court papers.
Joseph D’Ambrosio, one of the property owners who filed the suit and the president of the interim board appointed by the court, said the new board would evaluate the association’s finances and consider a financial audit.
“We’re taking steps to get the property owners association up and running,” D’Ambrosio said. “We expect we will have a handle on the financial conditions and have Bull Point hopefully back to the way it was before Mr. Gavigan and his company took over.”
Gavigan said last week that the development rights and procedures to appoint the board are the same practices used under previous developers the past 25 years since the community was formed. He denied any improper spending and said the board includes a retired FBI agent and another law enforcement officer who have kept proper accounting.
Attorneys for Gavigan and the board members asked the judge to reconsider the decision in court papers filed recently. Gavigan said Wednesday that the court decided that one corporation, Bull Point SC LLC, did not have legal development rights but didn’t clarify who did have the right to finish developing the property.
Gavigan said he plans another phase of Bull Point with 45 home lots, and to proceed requires the rights the court stripped from his company. He said he wants the court to determine who the rightful developer should be.
“The rights are still out there,” he said. “It needs to be defined.”
D’Ambrosio said the community doesn’t need an overseeing developer now that it’s established, and that his understanding of the court’s order is that Gavigan can still develop his remaining property in the community, but without the previous power.
Gavigan said the dispute is one of the challenges of managing a large member community and said people continue to buy property in Bull Point despite the ongoing court case.
He said he’s planning to build his family’s home on a waterfront property he owns in Bull Point — next door to D’Ambrosio.
This story was originally published December 2, 2019 at 2:30 PM.
