Bay Point developers’ appeal denied. A resort will not be built on the SC barrier island
A Beaufort County board decision to deny a special permit for a group seeking to develop a highly controversial luxury resort on Bay Point Island, was upheld Thursday.
To environmentalists, Circuit Court Judge Marvin Dukes’ decision means it will be “less likely that a resort will ever be built” on the barrier island at the mouth of the Port Royal Sound.
“Bay Point Island is an ecologically and culturally significant coastal treasure,” Jessie White, South Coast Office Director at Coastal Conservation League, said in a Thursday news release. “Beaufort County clearly recognized this in denying the destructive resort proposal for the island, which would have undermined its rural character and value to the community and wildlife resources that depend on it.”
Bay Point Island LLC filed the appeal in November 2020 after the Beaufort County Zoning Board of Appeals denied its request for a permit that would have allowed the resort a special ecotourism use under current zoning.
The island’s owners and potential developers intended to spend $100 million to build dozens of beach bungalows, spas and restaurants, functioning as an environmentally friendly project by luxury hotel operator Six Senses, according to Bay Point Island LLC’s April 2020 application. A solar field, 10 septic fields and stormwater ponds were also in the plans for the small island that currently has no infrastructure on it. The plans would’ve included about 50 acres of the mostly vacant island.
In the zoning board’s September 2020 decision, it said developers didn’t explain how plans aligned with the county’s comprehensive plan, how they fit the character of nearby St. Helena Island and how the project would minimize environmental effects on traffic, infrastructure and public services, according to previous Island Packet reporting. Moreover, Bay Point Island LLC failed to demonstrate to resort operators how it would meet ecotourism requirements.
The attorney handling the appeal for Bay Point Island LLC was not immediately available for comment Thursday afternoon.
Environmentalists far and wide, elected officials, including Gov. Henry McMaster and U.S. Rep. Joe Cunningham, and several nonprofits vehemently opposed the project for a variety of reasons.
Lack of infrastructure, including emergency services, and with no way to get to the island without a plane or boat, are just the start of complications to be considered. The S.C. Environmental Law Project said in fall 2020 that the developer’s challenge to the zoning board’s unanimous vote ignored “the reality of our eroding shoreline and tramples over the sentiments of tens of thousands of individuals.”
With high levels of erosion, a constantly shifting shoreline and clear impact of saltwater intrusion, the league said the development would be “short-sighted.” The proposed amount of waste-per-day and water withdrawal would have also been problematic.
The Coastal Conservation League said the development would’ve harmed a nationally designated Important Bird Area, septic fields would’ve been an “environmental catastrophe” with sea level rise, and the proposed solar field is insufficient to generate the amount of electricity the resort needed.
The Hilton Head Island Audubon has opposed every version of this project since 2016 and sees the decision as a “positive and encouraging step for the Lowcountry’s ecosystem,” the organization said in a Thursday statement. Dunlins, sandpipers, red knots, sanderlings, willets and ruddy turnstones are all island visitors. During the winter months, Bay Point Island can hold as many as 8,000 shorebirds, the group said.
“Bay Point stands out as a refuge for some of our most charismatic wildlife,” the statement read. “Habitat loss is a big challenge for birds and wildlife. One-third of North America’s bird species are at risk of extinction unless we take significant conservation action.”
Sen. Chip Campsen has been fighting for Bay Point Island for the past two years, a place he said is “one of the last undeveloped barrier island.”
“In protecting Bay Point we are protecting a coast, a culture and a way of life. Judge Dukes’ affirmation of our efforts is welcomed and well-reasoned,” he said.
Open Land Trust Executive Director Kristin Williams said the circuit court ruling “shows that Beaufort County is serious about its zoning laws and the resources they protect.”
“A luxury resort development is not, and should not, be permitted on Bay Point Island. The shifting barrier island would be far better suited as conservation properties like its neighbors St. Phillips and Hunting Island,” Williams said.
Fighting for ancestral lands
In a court document filed in April, the Gullah/Geechee Fishing Association said “the lives of the families in our community rely upon access to Bay Point and the healthy and productive fisheries surrounding it. … Increased boat traffic to ferry tourists to Bay Point will degrade water quality, damage the available fish population. …”
“Bay Point is one of our last undeveloped barrier islands and is important for local wildlife and the Gullah-Geechee fishing community,” the league’s website read. “Its development would also be costly to Beaufort County.”
St. Helena Island native Marquetta Goodwine, also known as Queen Quet of the Gullah/Geechee Nation, said the decision to upholds the board’s original decision was an “outstanding way to conclude not only Oceans Month, but to also conclude a month that has been filled with celebrations of freedom.”
“We have continued to fight for our sacred ancestral lands and the waters that surround us because these are the places that have allowed our families to be self-sufficient for generations and we want these places to remain safe and healthy for future generations to do the same,” Goodwine said in a Thursday news release.
But the Coastal Conservation League isn’t satisfied with just shooting down the appeal, and they say the island is still at risk. In November 2021, the same developer got a permit to build a 4,000-square-foot villa on the island, complete with state-issued a septic permit that put our local water quality at risk.
This is just the beginning. Environmentalists want to ensure the land is eternally protected.
S.C. State Rep. Shannon Erickson, R-Beaufort, called the court’s decision a “well-founded” one, and echoed that of the Coastal Conservation League, saying the next step is to move the island into conservation status.
“Given its extensive natural value, the Conservation League believes the island deserves permanent protection with a long-term steward to allow it to continue to thrive for future generations,” White said.
This story was originally published July 21, 2022 at 2:54 PM.
