Credit the Ridgeland Town Council and Beaufort County Council with soundly defeating development proposals that had stung the people like a Lowcountry fire ant.
Ridgeland Town Council voted down a plan to annex 1,400 acres of land into the town, despite the fact that it is nowhere near the town center, in order to build 2,000 homes and 250,000 square feet of commercial space in a rural and environmentally sensitive area near Bolan Hall Landing.
The fight against it had a simple message: “Keep Chelsea Rural.”
On September 23, the Beaufort County Council rejected a proposed development agreement for Pine Island on St. Helena Island. Following that, a landowner representative withdrew a request for a zoning map amendment that would have exempted Pine Island from an overlay district established a quarter-century ago to preserve traditional land uses on St. Helena.
The battle cry there was also straightforward: “Protect St. Helena.”
Before the vote in Beaufort County, 400 people from all walks of life gathered at a public recreation center to express their opinions to the county council. Seventy people signed up to speak in a hearing that lasted more than four hours.
People are still giving 10-minute speeches at 1 a.m., so you know you’ve struck a nerve.
The vote occurred after 2 a.m.
Credit the county council for hearing from both sides of this contentious issue.
Credit the council leadership for maintaining order, and the audience for adhering to the rules against cheering and jeering.
With the population explosion in Bluffton, Hardeeville, and Jasper County, these two projects appeared to be a tipping point, at which citizens and their elected representatives said Enough!
People here understand what overdevelopment means. Roads are inadequate and never keep up with demand. New schools need to be built. Clean waterways are under threat. And the Lowcountry’s unique quality of life and heritage fade away.
On September 16, the Hilton Head Island Town Council heard from both sides about a proposed temporary moratorium on the acceptance and processing of applications for short-term rentals, timeshares, and major subdivisions.
The Town Council did not vote on that.
However, it is solely responsible for this firestorm, which pits disgruntled residents against the real estate and tourism industries that drive the economy.
Hilton Head short-term rentals paid $43.5 million in state, county, and local taxes and fees in fiscal year 2025, including $7.4 million for beach nourishment on the island and $3.7 million for the Beaufort County Green Space tax, according to town figures. They give millions more to public school operations.
Short-term rentals have been woven into the fabric of Hilton Head since the late Phyllis Stone established one of the island’s first, if not the first, short-term rental agencies. In 1953, she advertised oceanfront cottages at Folly Field Beach for $70 per week during the peak season. (“Watch the moon rise over the Atlantic from the porch of your Folly Field Vacation Cottage.” “You won’t forget it.” Folly Field had 21 cottages at the time, which were built to demonstrate to the state the need for a bridge to the island. Three of the short-term rentals advertised — if you can imagine — “TV sets.”
Short-term rentals are not the issue, but the estimated number of short-term rentals on the island has increased by nearly 133% since 2020.
The issue is that massive “homes” that sleep 20 to 30 people are being built with virtually no setbacks from lot lines, trees, or natural buffers — and with no regard for how this will negatively impact neighborhoods.
The town has enabled this by allowing it. How did this happen?
In each of these cases, the disregard for existing neighborhoods, traditional land uses, and carefully established development standards has transformed Lowcountry residents into fire ants.
