St. Helena Island land protection upheld by Beaufort County planning commission
ST. HELENA ISLAND, S.C. (WSAV) — Will the Pine Island development benefit the future of St. Helena Island, or is it something that will destroy the culture and natural beauty?
Citizens on both sides made sure their voices were heard before it fell into the hands of the county's planning commission.
One St. Helena Island native turned to the folks attending Beaufort County's planning commission meeting to make sure her point was heard.
'Do you know what the word preserve means? It means leave it alone!'
Emotions were high in the room for many island natives and surrounding community members.
It was a pretty even divide for and against the developers' new plans for 49 homes with a golf course. The original proposal called for 145 homes.
'You allow one golf course,' said one citizen in opposition to the development. 'Everybody's going to come with the same package, and you got to give it to everybody. And then Saint Helena will look exactly like every other island that's absolutely disappeared from the Gullah culture.'
Developer, Elvio Tropeano, said the new model fits into the islanders' wants and needs, and the counties standards for smart growth.
He asked that the property be removed from the cultural protection overlay, which has protected the land from resort development, golf courses, and gated communities since 1999.
'Pine Island was never owned by Gullah Geechee for over 160 years. It was owned by a family that we all knew was not Gullah Geechee,' said one citizen who backed up Tropeano's move toward removing the property from the CPO.
But another citizen argued that Tropeano is no exception to the overlay.
'One guy comes along and wants to say, it doesn't apply to me. I'm going to come in here and take these 500 acres and I'll do what I please with it.'
Tropeano explained that the new proposal for the development was changed to benefit the residents and natives of St. Helena. It was something he said came from talking and working with the people living on the island.
He said one of the goals of the development would be to give jobs and economic wealth to folks on the island.
'The CPO has become a cultural straitjacket. It freezes our people in place economically, while outsiders write grant reports about preserving the soul of St. Helena, as if culture exists without people,' said one citizen backing Tropeano's development.
But another citizen said you can't put a price tag on the St. Helena Island culture.
'No one has said tonight the value of our lives because it's priceless. There's no number you can place on that. There's nothing that you can give us to sell us again, like our ancestors were once sold. But the wisdom that emits from that land came to our people in the 1990s.'
The planning commission voted unanimously against the project. One board member said they know this is not the end of the developers' push to bring in the 49 homes with the golf course, but at this time couldn't support it because it goes against the CPO.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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