18-hole golf course blocked on St. Helena, but how about 3 with 6 holes? 450 say no way
A rally Thursday night on St. Helena Island drew a standing-room-only crowd of more 450 people who were urged to fight against a proposed golf course and housing development — and for the preservation of a special zoning that has protected the island’s culture and landscape for more than 20 years.
A plan by Pine Island Property Holdings LLC to build 65 houses and three six-hole golf courses on 500 acres on the island prompted the rally, organized by opponents of the project.
“I ain’t had a fight in the school in years, but let’s get it on,” said Marquetta L. Goodwine, or Queen Quet, chieftess of the Gullah Geechee Nation.
The rally was held at St. Helena Elementary.
The show of numbers by opponents comes as the county considers a plan by Elvio Tropeano and Pine Island Property Holdings LLC to build the golf courses and possible changes to Cultural Protection Overlay (CPO) zoning that protects St. Helena. The CPO covers some 64 square miles and bans golf courses larger than 9 holes, resorts and gated communities. It was put in place in 1999 to protect the center of Beaufort County’s most notable concentration of Gullah Geechee culture.
Originally, Pine Island Property Holdings sought an exception to the CPO rules in order to build an 18-hold golf course as well as a gated community.
County staff then recommended changes, too, arguing the current CPO language was overly broad with loopholes that made the county susceptible legally.
In January, the county’s Planning Commission rejected the staff’s proposed CPO language changes.
Now Pine Island Holdings has dropped its request to be excluded from the CPO and earlier this month submitted new plans proposing to build three separate six-hole courses instead of one 18-hole course.
Opponents see the three golf-course plan as an end-around of the CPO zoning that prohibits courses larger than 9 holes.
“The bottom line is one person wants a law to be changed to suit his purposes,” Goodwine said during the rally.
What she and others are fighting for, Goodwine said, is to ensure that the CPO continues to protect Gullah Geechee culture and the environment of St. Helena.
“We wrote a law here like no other,” said Goodwine. “There’s not an island like this that still has contiguous Gullah Geechee culture throughout the whole island.”
New owner comes forward
Tropeano, who has purchased the property from the Hannah family for $18 million, introduced himself as the new owner of the property, saying he was no longer the “mystery developer,” at a March 13 County Council meeting.
The land, Tropeano said, has been privately owned for over 150 years and used as a gated, private recreation destination.
“It will continue to be utilized in that manner under my stewardship but in a manner that allows me to protect, preserve and activate the land in an unprecedented manner,” Tropeano said.
Under current zoning, Tropeano noted, the 500 acres of high and dry land with 7.5 acres of deep water shoreline could be developed with 165 homes and over 80 docks. But Tropeano said his development team of planners, engineers, environmentalists, archaeologists and scientists has worked for the past two years on a “bigger and better” vision with a light footprint that respects the environment while having a significant economic impact.
The project and county staff who have worked on the project have been unfairly demonized by the media and local interest groups, Tropeano said.
The rally highlighted how controversial the development has become, with opponents comparing the fight against the St. Helanaville/Pine Island project to Bay Point Island, south of St. Helena Island, at the mouth of Port Royal Sound, where a developer had been planning a luxury resort before finally dropping it last month after a long battle.
Against a backdrop of a flag on the wall that said, “We Be Gullah Geechee,” speakers urged residents to get educated and organized.
“The spirit of our community is we don’t want any golf course,” County Councilman York Glover said. “We don’t want any gated community. That’s the spirit.”
A CPO committee is looking into strengthening the zoning rules now, Glover noted. It’s headed by Goodwine. Glover said the committee is working to make sure the spirit of the community is reflected in the law.
The county’s Community Services and Land Use Committee is expected to discuss the CPO and the committee’s recommendations for it on April 10. Goodwine is urging the county to move the committee’s meeting and a meeting of the County Council that same day to St. Helena.
The golf courses, meanwhile, would be built in an area known as St. Helenaville. Currently, that area is only accessible via a dirt road off of Dulamo Road. Improving the access road also is part of the proposal.
Pine Island Holdings says it’s also proposing 65 recreational or second homes, but it has yet to submit an application for the housing portion of the project.
The entire property is 500 acres and includes the 77-acre Pine Island, which connects to Helenaville via a causeway.
The conceptual application for the golf courses has been reviewed by staff members of the county’s Planning and Zoning Department, which is asking for additional information. It will be reviewed again by a staff review team on April 19.
Chuck Atkinson, assistant county administrator of development and recreation, said in an interview that the 500 acres has been subdivided into five individual parcels.
The staff is still waiting for the submission of a completed application for the golf courses and Pine Island Holdings is working through the preliminary requirements, Atkinson said. If conceptual approval is given, the application would move to the final approval stage. If the application fleshes out at that stage, Pine Island Holdings could then receive a development permit.
“There is nothing unique or special about it,” Atkinson said. “We’ve got developments going on all over this county. “All of them go through the exact same process.”
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At the rally, 450 people officially signed in with an estimated 30 or 40 more standing outside the entrance, not allowed in because the room was filled to capacity. Those inside were greeted with placards on chairs that said, “No Thank You. We don’t need any more golf courses or gated communities.”
“I’m absolutely humbled by the amount of people in this room,” said County Council member David Bartholomew, “and I think we need a bigger venue.”
Bartholomew pledged his support for St. Helena residents, as did Beaufort Mayor Stephen Murray and state Sen. Chip Campsen of Charleston, who also attended.
Murray said anything that happens on St. Helena Island affects the city of Beaufort, and therefore the city should have a say in the discussion. Residents, Murray added, are not asking that private property rights be taken away from the developer, only that the CPO protections put in place in 1999 be respected.
“We’re just asking the county to honor what this community has been very clear about for almost three decades,” he said.
This story was originally published March 31, 2023 at 9:34 AM.
