In September 2025, two major land-use decisions were put before elected leaders in Beaufort County and the Town of Ridgeland. Both proposals involved significant development in ecologically and culturally sensitive locations that don’t currently have the necessary infrastructure. Both proposals required changing or circumventing existing zoning restrictions for those locations to accommodate the development projects.
Zoning may sound wonky and boring, but it’s the tool communities use to shape the future of their region. It creates the legal rulebook for land-use based on how a community sees its own values and how it wants to grow. Of course, communities change and evolve, and zoning is intended to be updated to reflect changes in community values. There are processes for that to happen. However, in both projects presented this past month, it wasn’t the community working to update zoning changes – it was developer groups trying to force changes to accommodate their projects. And in both cases, community values prevailed.
Thank You Ridgeland Town Council
We would like to thank Mayor Malphrus and the members of the Ridgeland Town Council for voting against annexing the Tickton Hall property into the Town of Ridgeland, thereby preventing the property from being upzoned and developed. This property, situated along two miles of Euhaw Creek, was proposed for over 2,000 homes and 250,000 square feet of commercial space; however, it lacked sufficient infrastructure to support water and sewage management. This was not a good project for the future of the Town of Ridgeland or the Port Royal Sound.
Thank You Beaufort County Council
We also want to thank Chairwoman Howard and the members of the Beaufort County Council for voting to deny the development agreement for a gated golf resort community on Pine Island, located on St. Helena Island. Approval of this project would have, in turn, required changing and undermining the values codified in the Cultural Protection Overlay to protect the cultural heritage and assets of the Gullah Geechee community, which have deep roots on the island.
Democracy works when people show up and speak up to voice their concerns to their elected officials, and those officials listen and they vote based on what is legal and what reflects the values of their community. Thank you to those who made their voices heard for these proposals and for the future of conservation in the Port Royal Sound Watershed.
