Dorchester commission recommends conservation easement for roughly 297-acre UTI tract near St. George

The Dorchester County Greenbelt Advisory Commission voted to recommend approval of a conservation-easement application for the roughly 296.74-acre UTI tract along the southern edge of the Town of St. George.

The recommendation, made after an executive session and a motion to approve the application, will be forwarded as the commission's formal recommendation. Commissioners voiced support for the project’s water-quality and conservation benefits during a public presentation and follow-up questions.

Applicant representative (name not specified), who presented the application, said the property includes planted loblolly pine stands, food plots, freshwater wetlands and a portion of the headwaters of Grand Branch. The presenter said the tract is mapped as high priority under the statewide conservation-priority mapping used by the South Carolina Conservation Bank and that the bank approved matching funds at its December 2024 board meeting. "I'm gonna keep this sweet," the applicant representative told the commission during the presentation. The presenter also said notification letters were sent to all adjacent landowners and that "100% of the adjacent landowners were totally in support of the project," as reported to the commission.

Commissioners and the property owner discussed site history, farming potential and allowable uses under the proposed easement. The presenter said USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service mapping identifies about 82.86 acres as prime farmland soils and about 70.5 acres as soils of statewide importance on the parcel. The presenter also noted that significant portions of the tract are shown as a natural repair (natural resource) corridor on the Dorchester Comprehensive Plan and that the county's Green Belt master plan cites conservation easements as a tool for protecting swamps, streams and floodplains.

The property owner (name not specified) described prior land sales to the state and to the town and said converting timberland back to farmland would not be prohibited by the conservation easement: "there's nothing in our conservation easement that prohibits any land owner currently or in the future from converting the timberland back into farmland. That would be allowed. And encouraged, maybe." The owner also said the property can be subdivided into no more than three parcels and that no more than three residential structures would be permitted; the presenter added that a total of 35,000 square feet of impervious surface would be allowed under the proposed easement terms.

Commissioners asked whether any water-volume or hydrological studies quantify how preserving the tract would affect downstream flows into the Edisto River system; the applicant representative said no specific water-volume studies were available at the time of the presentation. Commissioners also asked whether the town of St. George had provided further input after a prior site visit that included the town's mayor. The presenter said there had been no further correspondence with the town after that visit.

The commission discussed possible future public uses informally; the property owner said he would not oppose leasing or donating land for a park or ballfield in the future but noted that some parcels previously sold to the state and town had already provided sites used for public facilities. The presenter clarified that the conservation easement and the application process do not change county zoning: "It should not change the zoning," the applicant representative said.

After reconvening from executive session, a member moved to approve the application and the commission voted in favor; no opposition or abstentions were recorded on the meeting record. The chair said the motion passed and that the commission’s recommendation would be made. The meeting adjourned following the vote.

Next steps identified at the meeting were limited to forwarding the commission's recommendation; no timetable or agency-level approvals beyond the South Carolina Conservation Bank application were specified during the discussion.