Kiawah Partners proposes new Orange Hill planned development with fewer homes, expanded conservation

Kiawah Partners representatives presented a proposal to the Charleston County Planning Commission workshop to replace the existing Orange Hill planned development district (PD) entitlements with a new PD that the company says would reduce residential density, preserve more natural area and change the site’s primary vehicle entrance.

The project team said the overall property is 933 acres, the earlier PD entitlement covered 721 acres and a separate adjacent conservancy tract of about 212 acres would remain undeveloped under the proposal. The existing PD allows up to 181 single-family detached homes; the applicant said its plan would be limited to 120 homes. Mark Permar, a project representative, told the commission, “We are proposing a development that has 120,” and described a layout that concentrates residential clusters and a golf course core free of housing.

Why it matters: The property is on Johns Island between Bohicket Road and River Road and includes covenants tied to federal and state wetland permits that the applicant and county staff said restrict disturbance on the conservancy tract. The developer’s plan would reconfigure access and infrastructure in ways the team says would reduce road length and environmental disturbance while creating a managed private club with a limited publicly accessible commercial area.

Key elements and developer claims

- Acreage and entitlements: The applicant said Orange Hill totals 933 acres; for apples-to-apples comparison the team used the 721-acre footprint of the existing PD and noted an additional 212-acre tract that the team is treating as conserved and not part of development math.

- Units and housing type: The current PD entitlement allows up to 181 single-family detached units; the proposal limits development to 120 single-family detached homes. The applicant said there is no proposal for multifamily or attached housing.

- Roads and infrastructure: Project presenters said the existing PD’s internal network totals about 7.2 miles of roadway. Their concept would reduce internal roadway length by about 2.8 miles. The team also proposes moving the primary vehicular entrance from Bohicket Road to River Road based on traffic-flow analysis, keeping Bohicket Road connections limited to a utility tract and an emergency access point.

- Open space and golf course: The plan centers a golf course as a “core” feature distinct from residential areas; the team described a 115-acre irrigated golf area (including practice range) and said fairways and bunkers would be designed to “weave” with the natural topo and tree canopy rather than maximize clearing through residential areas.

- Wastewater and reclaimed water: The project team said it plans an on-site membrane bioreactor system to treat wastewater to tertiary standards and use the reclaimed water for golf-course irrigation and other nonpotable uses. A project engineer described the system as a reclaimed-water facility intended to keep treated flows on-site for irrigation reuse.

- Short-term rentals and management: The team said Kiawah Island Club would manage short-term rental activity and the proposal would limit short-term rental units to no more than 68 units concentrated within walking distance of the clubhouse grounds.

Permits, covenants and environmental protections

Project representatives and county staff described recorded covenants tied to past Army Corps of Engineers and state coastal-management approvals. The team said those covenants restrict development on the conservancy tract and run with the land; county staff characterized the recorded restrictions as enforceable and distinct from changing regulations. The applicant said an earlier permit and recorded covenant preserved uplands and wetlands across the 212-acre conservancy tract and that modifications would require multiagency approvals.

Tree protection and mitigation

The applicant said it has completed an extensive tree inventory and risk grading system for grand and protected trees and is still finalizing counts. Early survey work, the team said, indicates a small share of Class A live oaks would need to be removed (the applicant estimated roughly 8% of Class A live oaks would be physically removed) while most A- and B-grade live oaks would remain. The team pledged inch-per-inch mitigation for A- and B-grade trees that are removed and said final mitigation and any required tree-variance review would occur as part of permitting.

Stormwater and water-quality controls

Project engineers said the plan includes multiple stormwater treatment lagoons, a three-cell retention system with sediment traps and baffles, and design measures intended to reduce sediment, phosphorus, nitrogen and bacteria loads before water reaches local creeks. The team also told the commission it has coordinated with Charleston County Public Works (DES) and DHEC on stormwater modeling and that lagoons and treatment features are sized to meet county and state requirements.

Public comments and commission concerns

Neighbors and task-force representatives praised the applicant’s outreach and the reduction in proposed homes but asked for clearer detail in multiple areas, including quantified comparisons of trees saved vs. removed, precise acreages for natural versus recreation areas, and evidence that stormwater and wastewater systems will perform as modeled. John Zolgour of the Johns Island Task Force said the group welcomed reduced unit counts but urged that mitigation funds and tree mitigation be targeted to Johns Island. Stephen Haynesworth, a nearby resident, said the applicant’s team “have been very cooperative” in sharing plans and meeting neighbors but asked the team to maintain large buffers along Bohicket Road and to protect water quality in local ditches that drain to Bohicket Creek.

What the commission asked staff and the applicant to provide

Commissioners pressed the applicant for: an explicit breakout of acreage (golf course, residential, lagoons, conserved acreage), a final tree-removal tally and mitigation plan, engineered traffic analysis supporting the River Road entrance and needed turn-lane or intersection improvements, and clarifying maps showing where short-term rentals would be located. Commissioners and staff also discussed whether the team should pursue a new PD and a development agreement rather than an amendment to the existing PD.

Outcome and next steps

No formal vote or recommendation was recorded at the workshop. The applicant said it intends to submit a formal PD application and seek a development agreement with the county; staff and commissioners requested more detailed, quantifiable exhibits and final engineering before a formal hearing.