Mount Pleasant residents press council over Patriot’s Point plan and conservation easement; mayor withdraws tourism fee

Mount Pleasant — Residents, conservation advocates and council members pressed the Town Council this week over plans for Patriot’s Point, raising concerns that proposed permanent structures and infrastructure would violate a South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) conservation easement and that the rollout of a proposed tourism development fee (TDF) lacked transparency.

At a special public-comment session that preceded the regular council meeting, dozens of residents and representatives from conservation groups urged elected officials to protect green space at Patriot’s Point and to clarify whether parts of the project would be built on land covered by a DNR easement. Tori Sanders, speaking for the Coastal Conservation League, told the council: “The development standards and permitted uses directly violate the terms of that conservation easement held by DNR.”

Why this matters: Patriot’s Point is a mixed-use site proposed for hotels, conference facilities and other structures. Several speakers said portions of the site are already subject to a conservation easement that limits permanent improvements, and they warned that building on those areas would harm migratory-bird habitat and shoreline green space the town’s tourism economy depends on.

Many speakers also criticized the timing and process used to advance the project and an associated tourism development fee. Mayor Will Haney — addressing the public after widespread criticism — said he had withdrawn support for the tourism development fee and apologized, telling the room he would accept responsibility: “I take full responsibility as the leader of this town.” Several residents said the announcement came too late and that council members and the public had…