Tightening CPO rules solves nothing, limits options for St. Helena Island landowners | Opinion

Stricter CPO rules limit future

Note: The writer is co-founder of the Community Coalition Action Network of St. Helena Island.

Sadly, the protests of the hundreds of Gullah people herded into attending Beaufort Council Council meetings resulted in the denials of applications for a private golf course community for Pine Island.

But Pine Island developer Elvio Tropeano isn’t the only one harmed by recent decisions tightening restrictions on golf courses, etc., under the St. Helena Island Cultural Protection Overlay Zone.

Also hurt by the stricter CPO are the hundreds of silent Gullah St. Helena Island residents who must travel hundreds of miles weekly to resort jobs elsewhere.

This deprived them of both stable employment closer to home, and an opportunity to finally be free of the CPO roadblocks that prevent them from trying to develop their own property.

As a St. Helena Island landowner, I, too, am impacted.

Many St. Helena Gullah families have lost their valuable waterfront property due to high taxes. But some still have waterfront suited for development as restaurants, and other profitable investments yet all they can basically do with it is farm and grow trees, or lease it or sell it to others.

How can they ever create generational wealth like that? They’re tired of being poor landowners struggling to pay their taxes.

Tropeano plans to use his golf course fees to help end generational poverty on St. Helena.

His future neighbors deserve that chance.

Roy Brown, Beaufort

Support Pine Island negotiations

People are wondering why the leader of the top regional non-profit fighting to save Gullah Geechee land isn’t publicly opposing the development of the much-maligned Pine Island golf community proposed by developer Elvio Tropeano.

It’s simple: Both as a resident of St. Helena Island, and the founder/CEO of the Pan-African Family Empowerment & Land Preservation Network, I don’t see how developing the 502-acre St. Helenaville-Pine Island property threatens either Gullah culture, or Gullah land ownership.

Here’s why: Both Pine Island and St. Helenaville are former plantations.

They’ve been white-owned, private recreational retreats for more than 150 years, and their development will not cause Gullah property taxes to sky rocket across St. Helena Island.

But that’s not the truth that the public, media, and Beaufort County Council are being told. Rather, a well-organized, disinformation campaign has aroused widespread opposition to the project.

It shouldn’t take risking millions fighting lawsuits to force County Council to make a much-needed course correction that can very easily be accomplished through thoughtful mediation and negotiation that secures the best outcome for St. Helena – a low-impact golf course and residential community – instead of the 166 houses and 100 docks that Tropeano can legally develop.

Please urge your County Council member to support Pine Island negotiations.

Theresa White, Beaufort

Profiles in courage

South Carolina women should be proud of their “sister senators,” five women who filibustered a near total abortion ban and were the recent recipients of the JFK Profile in Courage Award.

I know I am proud of their efforts, although futile.

Now it’s our job to fight for the right for all women to make decisions for themselves.

Ceil Treiss, HHI

Referendum questions

The Beaufort County School District is asking taxpayers to approve a second scheduled bond referendum on Nov. 7.

If approved, Hilton Head High School is to be renovated, but renovations will not begin for four to five years.

Wait and submit a referendum at the time.

Beaufort County School District Supt. Frank Rodriquez has stated that this referendum will not raise our property taxes.

The reason the millage rate of 36.3 mills will not go up is because another referendum is about to expire in November 2023 and will be replaced by this new millage rate.

This referendum is the second in a series of three.

The first referendum was in November 2019. The third referendum is scheduled for 5 years later at an estimated cost of $500 million.

The total of these three referendums is estimated at $1.3 billion over 9 years.

Hilton Head taxpayers are being asked to pay for school expansion outside of Hilton Head. Taxpayers on Hilton Head should not have to pay for school expansion in other municipalities.

Enrollment in Hilton Head schools is flat, and, according to the Beaufort County Facilities Master Plan, enrollment is projected to decrease over the next five years by 290 students.

This school bond referendum is not about educating the children in the district, but is about new and improved infrastructure.

John Stremsterfer, HHI