'Where does it stop?' This Hilton Head gated community is worried about too much noise

Citing noise concerns, some Port Royal Plantation residents pressed Hilton Head Town Council to reconsider a court settlement agreement with ArborNature, a tree service company, which would move its tree grinding and logging operations closer to their homes.

Council member and mayoral candidate John McCann moved to delay the first vote on an ordinance to lease a portion of town-owned land to relocate the operations from Leg O'Mutton Road to Summit Drive, near the airport. The vote is now expected at the next Town Council meeting on May 1.

McCann, who represents Port Royal Plantation residents, said the delay would allow them more time to learn more about the agreement, one many said they had not heard of until recently. His motion was approved unanimously, with council member Marc Grant absent, after some debate.

ArborNature faced noise complaints in the past. In May 2015, staff received complaints about its Leg O'Mutton Road site, said Teri Lewis, the town's Land Management Ordinance official.

In May 2016, Lewis wrote a letter telling ArborNature it was out of compliance with the LMO, she said. ArborNature appealed that decision, but the town's Board of Zoning Appeals upheld Lewis' decision.

ArborNature then appealed to circuit court. A settlement agreement between the town and the company was reached in June 2017. It said the town would lease a four-acre site on Summit Drive to ArborNature for one year for $1. ArborNature also has the option to purchase the property for $300,000.

Town documents show another stipulation: ArborNature's grinding operation will only take place between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. Monday through Friday.

More than half a dozen Hilton Head residents spoke out against the settlement plan, most of whom said they were from Port Royal Plantation.

"I would encourage the council to undertake scientific noise studies before any decisions are made, because we are already suffering from noise in Port Royal Plantation from the airport," said resident Gary Higgins. "And if ArborNature was allowed to move their operations, in addition to the airport, this is going to have a very detrimental impact on Port Royal Plantation."

Lewis told Town Council at the start of discussion that at its new location, the operations would be at least 500 feet from the nearest property line. At its current site on Leg O'Mutton, the operation is 150 feet away from the nearest property line.

But residents still raised concerns about the proximity to their homes.

"To say that we'll have no impact because there's a 500-foot distance from the grinder to the nearest property line is completely irrelevant," Higgins said. "You need to consider the amount of noise and you need to consider the impact on your citizens. We're all Hilton Head citizens."

Lance Pyle, the general manager of Port Royal Plantation, said he felt the town was pushing the problem "from one location to another."

"Where does it stop?" Pyle asked. "Are we going to be here talking about a concert venue that's going to create noise for our community? Is it going to be a thousand low income houses? Where does it continue to go? It just seems to keep coming toward our direction."

"And the sad part is, the only way Town Council seems to listen is through an attorney," he said.

Mayor David Bennett stressed that the settlement was reached nearly a year ago, and a public vote was taken.

McCann also pointed out the vote was taken publicly. But he said the discussion happened in executive session. The public would not have known what the agreement entailed at the time of the vote, he said.

Public meeting minutes from June 20, 2017 show council member Kim Likins moved to enter a copy of the agreement into the record, and a copy is attached to those minutes.

However, no open discussion took place, according to an archived video of the meeting.

This story was originally published April 18, 2018 at 2:09 PM with the headline "'Where does it stop?' This Hilton Head gated community is worried about too much noise."