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Residents and tribal representatives urge council to uphold Pine Island protections
Summary
Dozens of public commenters urged Beaufort County Council to preserve the Coastal Protection Overlay on Pine Island and to require formal consultation with the Yamasee nation, while developer representatives promoted a downzoning plan that they said would reduce density and provide community benefits.
Hundreds of residents, tribal advocates and proponents of a developer’s downzoning plan spoke during public comment at the Beaufort County Council meeting on April 14, pressing the council to protect St. Helena Island and Pine Island from what several speakers called threats to longstanding cultural and environmental protections.
Speakers including Robert New and Carrie Major urged the council to uphold the county’s Coastal Protection Overlay (CPO). New said the CPO “has protected the island from the onslaught of golf course developers” and warned that investor strategies and lawsuits are aimed at weakening those safeguards. Major told the council a golf-course development would harm local crabbing livelihoods and appealed to council members to find money for a larger recreational center for children on St. Helena.
A representative of the Yamasee nation told the council the tribe has been excluded from planning decisions affecting Pine Island and St. Helena and cited obligations under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act that, the speaker said, require tribal consultation. The representative asked council and developers to halt planning and permitting until formal consultation occurs.
On the other side of the public-comment period, the developer’s attorney and lead proponent described the submission as a permanent downzoning that, they said, reduces density relative to prior alternatives, restricts docks, preserves roughly 360 acres as open space and commits to community benefits including a donated parcel for a community center and a revenue mechanism for ongoing funding. Attorney Kevin Dukes said the application and exhibits are publicly posted and invited residents to review the materials.
Other residents expressed a range of views: some welcomed reduced density and environmental protections offered by the new plan; one longtime resident described the developer’s monetary offers as improper and likened them to a pay-for-play concern; the developer countered that the plan is transparent and accountable and that community engagement has occurred.
The meeting record shows no formal council vote tied to these public comments on Pine Island at the April 14 session. Council members noted the competing claims — development proposals, legal challenges, tribal concerns and community needs — and did not announce any immediate change in status for the pending planning or permit reviews. The council’s planning and legal staff will be the next official contacts for any procedural steps concerning zoning or required consultations.
