Pine Island: Looking Back & Moving Forward

As we make our way through the thick of summer in the lowcountry, we find ourselves reflecting back on this time just over a year ago, when we joined forces with St. Helena Island residents to uphold and reinforce the intent of the Cultural Protection Overlay (CPO), a zoning law written by and for the people of St. Helena Island to safeguard its Gullah/Geechee land and culture. You can view the CPO language here.

From late winter to early summer of 2023, the Conservation League, along with hundreds of St. Helena community members, conservation groups, and concerned citizens from Beaufort County and beyond, rallied against ill-conceived plans to evade the CPO with both a requested rezoning and a proposal for three six-hole golf courses on Pine Island.

The CPO was drafted by the community and envisions St. Helena’s cultural identity sustaining into the future. That vision has never included golf courses, resorts, or gated communities.

Certain coastal development patterns such as resorts and gated communities with golf courses have a documented history of displacing Gullah/Geechee people up and down the federally designated Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor.

Sea Islands elsewhere have succumbed to suburbanization and incompatible development, but St. Helena continues to thrive with Gullah/Geechee land ownership, working farms, open spaces to fish and hunt and recreate, rural businesses, and places for cultural and historical interpretation and reflection.

Despite challenges throughout a long public decision-making process, we stood alongside the community as they remained present and engaged, amplifying their voices and pushing the process forward. As the Pine Island developer maneuvered and pivoted strategies to try and get a golf resort approved in spite of the CPO, the community packed the council chambers time and time again, making it clear golf has no place on St. Helena Island. In June, Beaufort County Council and Planning Commission voted in agreement with the community and local zoning laws, blocking the avoidance of the CPO.

Take a look back at some of the highlights from community engagement last year. Click the photo to hear from community members. 

Despite this, and the long-standing protections of the CPO, the Pine Island developer continues to try and circumvent the rules, filing multiple lawsuits against Beaufort County seeking a special exception to build a gated golf resort in the exact location where it is expressly prohibited. 

In September 2023, the  Conservation League, Penn Center, Gullah/Geechee Sea Island Coalition, and individual St. Helena landowners were granted intervention in the appeal and pre-trial mediation process, ensuring the interests of the community would continue to be represented in the litigation. Months later, intervention was also granted to several individuals who support the golf resort development on Pine Island. 

Pre-trial mediation was scheduled for this past April but was delayed by the Pine Island developer and pro-golf resort supporters challenging Beaufort County’s approach to mediation, attempting to force individual council members to participate.

After some back and forth around this highly unusual request, the process has picked back up and mediation is scheduled to proceed in early September.

As this case continues to evolve, we’ll continue to update you.

If you’re interested in thanking Beaufort County Council for continuing to stand strong in its decision to uphold the CPO, you can attend and give public comment at the Beaufort County Council Meeting on Monday, August 26th at 5:00 p.m., or find their contact information to send them a message here.  

Residents Continue to Rally in 2024 

In March 2023, close to 1,000 people attended a rally at St. Helena Island Elementary School to voice opposition to the rollback of the CPO protections and incompatible development proposed for Pine Island. This showing of solidarity was truly inspiring.

In 2024, community members continue to show up time and time again to council meetings, fighting for St. Helena’s culture and rural character. While more than a year has passed, the enthusiasm for retaining what makes St. Helena special has not waned.

We thank you for your continued support in 2o24 and we look forward to continuing the work to protect St. Helena Island from incompatible development. The land and the people are inseparable. Protecting the landscape on St. Helena is paramount to ensure its Gullah/Geechee culture continues to thrive!

Penn School for Preservation Relaunching  

The CPO’s roots date back to the Penn School for Preservation, a program focused on rural economic development, land use and environmental protection, and community empowerment. Graduating classes in 1994 and 1995 learned about zoning and planning and gained leadership and advocacy skills.

In the Spring of 2024, almost a year after the community united and rallied in opposition to an exclusive gated golf resort at Pine Island, we were thrilled about the announcement of the relaunch of the program as the Emory Shaw Campbell Preservation School. We look forward to continuing our partnership with the Penn Center and community leaders and partner groups on this impactful project!

As always, please let us know if you have any questions and thank you for your continued support.