Pine Island developer is not done fighting as he brings legal action against county

Sebastian Lee
·2 min read

And it is not over yet.

The owner of Pine Island Plantation, the much-debated 503 acre property in St. Helena, filed two legal actions last week against Beaufort County in his pursuit of building a golf course on the property. Both motions center on the legality of the county’s decision to deny his efforts to build a golf course.

Developer Elvio Tropeano has championed the idea that his Pine Island Golf Club plan would have turned the existing land into a “minimalist” golf course where 80% of the cultural and historic areas would be conserved. His proposal was met by significant local opposition and, after lengthy debate in the council’s public comment periods, the county denied the golf course application. The final council vote was eight opposed and two in favor of removing the property from the from the golf course restrictive Cultural Protection Overlay (CPO). Chairman Joe Passiment was away on a scheduled absence for the final vote.

Earlier this year, the council voted to strengthen the language in the CPO to specifically prevent the creation of an 18-hole golf course. This vote was taken months after Tropeano had filed his application for his plan for the land.

The first and subsequent change to the CPO restricts development on St. Helena aiming to protect the Gullah Geechee culture by restricting gated communities, resorts and golf courses.

In response to the CPO changes, Tropeano’s team filed two legal actions last week:

  • The first is an appeal of the planning commissions ruling that the CPO, before its strengthening, didn’t allow for three six-hole golf courses. The initial CPO defined a golf course as one with nine holes or more holes. This filing was done Wednesday.

  • The second, filed on Friday, is a civil action questioning the legality of banning hotel, gates, resorts and golf courses. Tropeano questions if the ban is an appropriate way to protect the cultural and natural resources of St. Helena. He claims the CPO should be declared inapplicable to Pine Island

“Our team remains focused upon working with our neighbors, stakeholders, elected officials and the county to achieve a beneficial compromise that promotes the cultural and natural resources on St. Helena Island while allowing careful, sensitive, and limited development of Pine Island,” said Ellis Lesemann, Tropeano’s attorney.

Both actions will go to the Beaufort County Court of Common Pleas. No schedule for motions or hearings has been set.

“The county does not comment on matters pertaining to pending litigation,” said Beaufort County Interim PIO Sarah Brock.