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Task force members, advocates warn LMO rewrite could accelerate loss of Gullah Geechee land
Summary
Members of the Gullah Geechee Land and Cultural Preservation Task Force and community advocates told the task force May 4 that a pending rewrite of the town's Land Management Ordinance must account for cultural preservation, provide clearer protections and rely on historical studies; staff said this stage will conclude with a code package to come before the planning commission.
The Gullah Geechee Land and Cultural Preservation Task Force heard a progress update May 4 on the town's Land Management Ordinance (LMO) rewrite and was urged by members and community advocates to press for protections for historic native neighborhoods before ordinance language is finalized.
The task force chair summarized the group's role and warned that land loss erodes culture: "If the land is not here, then the people are not here, then the culture sort of disappears," the chair said, framing the rewrite as a decision that will shape how people use and keep their property.
Members asked staff to incorporate past studies into the task force's work. The chair and committee members pointed to the Walker Collaborative report and earlier studies (including the RUDEAD study and Board Ward 1 master plans) as sources that should be compared to any new recommendations. A council member stressed the importance of those historical studies as a tool for native communities during the rewrite.
Thomas Boxley, executive director of the Gullah Geechee Historic Neighborhoods Community Development Corporation, gave the task force a rough estimate of remaining historic-neighborhood acreage, saying the areas he works with include "roughly, 900, 950 acres" and that that could represent "maybe 30" percent of the island's acreage outside gated areas. Boxley said his figures are estimates and offered to provide supporting data to staff.
Several members emphasized the difference in regulatory influence inside and outside planned-unit developments (PUDs) and gated communities; they said the town has more scope to affect land use outside those private covenants and that any LMO changes will therefore disproportionately affect historic Gullah Geechee neighborhoods.
A number of members raised concerns about the pace of the task force's work. Public commenter Thomas Scott told the panel the process felt rushed, warned that important questions about overlay districts and purchase-of-density rights had not been aired in public meetings, and urged that the Walker Collaborative recommendations be weighed alongside task-force proposals. Scott noted that outside legal advocates, including a legal defense fund and the Southern Poverty Law Center, were monitoring the process and had submitted letters to staff.
Staff agreed to assemble more precise ownership and acreage data and to invite Luana (a Lowcountry foundation representative identified in the meeting) to report at the task force's next meeting. A staff speaker said the task force had a meeting that week and was scheduled for a final meeting on May 21 for this stage of work, after which draft code language would be developed and routed to the planning commission and town council.
The task force did not take a formal policy vote at the May 4 meeting; members requested additional data and said they preferred to refine recommendations rather than meet an artificial deadline.
