Beaufort County says ‘no’ to planned eco-resort on Bay Point Island. Here’s what’s next
Beaufort County officials have dealt a blow to plans for an eco-resort on a remote barrier Island.
Plans to develop Bay Point Island into a high-end, off-the-grid destination at the mouth of the Port Royal Sound don’t fit county development code’s definition of ecotourism, county community development director Eric Greenway wrote to a project representative Dec. 10.
Bay Point representatives have said the resort would be environmentally beneficial to the island, a contention county planners rejected.
“There’s going to be a substantial environmental impact to that island with the construction they are proposing,” Greenway said Friday.
Developers will have another chance to present their case during a county Staff Review Team meeting at 9:30 a.m. Jan. 15. The meeting is open to the public but won’t include a chance for the public to comment, Greenway said.
Bay Point representatives have 30 days, until mid-January, to appeal the decision to the county Zoning Board of Appeals, Greenway said.
The island’s owners were “surprised and disappointed” the county rejected plans before a formal proposal had been submitted, Bay Point co-owner Tim Pitcher said in a statement Friday afternoon.
“What has been done is inappropriate, in bad faith, and outside the county planning department’s normal protocol and procedures,” Pitcher said.
Pitcher said developers believe the project fits the definition of ecotourism and look forward to meeting with county officials next month.
Rikki Parker, South Coast Office director of the Coastal Conservation League which, with other environmental groups, has opposed the plans, called the decision “an early Christmas present.”
“We think that’s the right decision, the right interpretation of the code and the right outcome for Bay Point,” she said.
Bay Point owners and representatives of Six Senses Hotels Resorts Spas pitched the public in October on plans for an environmentally friendly resort with dozens of one and two-level villas and resort amenities on the 347-acre barrier island off St. Helena Island. They touted a $100 million project that would create 300 jobs.
The property is accessible only by air and boat, and guests would be ferried from St Helena, Port Royal and Hilton Head Island.
The plans require special county approval as an ecotourism use. The designation requires 85 percent of the development to be dedicated to open space, limits the scope and number of buildings, and has provisions for wildlife viewing and educational opportunities.
Six Senses’ proposal for spas, fitness centers, villas, restaurants and bars are more befitting a traditional resort that requires different zoning, Greenway wrote. The county’s definition of ecotourism is “organized, educational and mainly outdoor recreation with or without lodging, which invited participants to learn about and promote ecological preservation, conservation and sustainability.”
County staff determined the development plans were primarily overnight accommodations, with some recreation on the side.
“In addition, the proposed development of this sensitive island is contradictory to the Eco-tourism definition because it does not promote ecological preservation, conservation, and/or sustainably but rather seeks to diminish those aspects through the implementation of this plan,” Greenway wrote.
Bay Point owners have said they could build 51 beachfront homes under current zoning. Developing the current lots is possible, Greenway said, but would present logistical challenges with utilities and buildingsbecause they likely could not be issued flood insurance.
The island currently has only one building, a beach cottage with no utilities.
