McMaster, Cunningham among those opposing Bay Point resort. Now it’s decision time
The fate of a private barrier island could finally be decided by a Beaufort County board Thursday.
Plans to build a $100-million resort on Bay Point Island will go before the Zoning Board of Appeals at 5 p.m. with a chance for the public to comment.
The gathering at Burton Wells Complex at 1 Middleton Recreation Drive will be among the first in-person meetings in Beaufort County since the coronavirus pandemic began.
The zoning board will decide whether to allow the resort plans as a special ecotourism use, the only way the resort could be built under its zoning.
The project would include villas, wellness centers, a spa and an educational lab among other amenities under Six Senses Hotels Resort, a Thailand-based resort operator with properties throughout the world.
Plans have been widely opposed by environmental groups and other local organizations, including the Beaufort County Open Land Trust, Port Royal Sound Foundation Maritime Center and Gullah Geechee leaders on St. Helena Island.
More recently S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster weighed in to oppose the plans in a letter to the zoning board in August. U.S. Rep. Joe Cunningham, D-SC, this month called for the board to reject the plans.
“Now is our time to take a stand to preserve and protect Bay Point Island,” McMaster said in a video statement his office released this week.
Developers have promised the resort would require only a light footprint on a fraction of the sprawling island on the Port Royal Sound across from Hilton Head Island and would educate visitors on the local environment and culture.
“We continue to believe this is a very important project for Beaufort County and for the state,” Hilton Head Island attorney Tom Taylor, who is working with the development group, said last month. “We believe it will be beneficial for ecotourism in the state, and we are really very proud if it.”
County planning officials have changed course since rejecting a proposal last year and have recommended the project move forward only if certain conditions are met, including a conservation easement to prevent building on the remaining island property.
Other conditions include a development agreement between the county and developers and the creation of a charitable foundation dedicated to the neighboring community culture.
Taylor said project representatives will address the conditions during the meeting Thursday.
This story was originally published September 23, 2020 at 3:23 PM.
