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He says ...

July 28, 2008

Prepare to be disappointed on Pinckney Point

The phones and the e-mail lit up last week over the Pinckney Point Marina deba cle. As expected, the appeals to the Department of Health and Environmental Control were denied, which sends the matter to an administrative law judge for hearing.

This will be another feature of the process that unfortunately has a tendency to be somewhat circular. The judge will rule on the permit primarily on issues of compliance with the applicable standards. If the standards are not well defined, or if the rules do not speak to the particulars of this case, then we may be disappointed with the ruling. However, the process does not end with an administrative law judge. We have only begun to fight this thing.

From the mass of communication we had last week, there is a matter of geography that needs to be cleared up. Pinckney Point is not the same thing as Pinckney Island. Pinckney Point is a head of land at the end of Pinckney Colony Road that is a serene bluff overlooking a bend in the Colleton/Okatie estuary. Pinckney Island is a federal wildlife management area, which is accessed by a road off the causeway connecting the two bridges to Hilton Head Island.

Pinckney Island is several miles from the controversial proposed marina, but not immune from threat. There are some thorny issues on the horizon having to do with federal maintenance of our wildlife refuges. In fact, I have had a conversation with U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson on this, but no promises were forthcoming.

One of the promises I made to you, however, was to return more of the dollars we send to Columbia back to Beaufort County. To this end, we have secured a $500,000 community development block grant for sewerage along Buck Island Road. While it’s a pile of money, and I am certainly happy to see it come home, we will have to keep the pressure on to add more funding to the Buck Island/Simmonsville area, particularly for sewer age, but also for road and pathway improvement. Even a casual inspection of these neighborhoods reveals a vast, long neglected need. Failing septic tanks are a serious health issue not only for those living in close proximity, but polluted ground water migrates readily to local water bodies which are sources of highly prized local seafood –shrimp, fish, crabs and particularly oysters.

Suffice to say that the state is on this one, along with the county and town of Bluffton. Lastly, in response to the hundred or more calls from my friends in Sun City, let me say this about incorporation: It is a very complex process that will not occur without extensive consultation and voting in your community.

Likewise, annexation into either Bluffton or Hardeeville is not something that a vocal minority can accomplish “under the radar.” Not only will you get your day at the polls, but the current residents of the receiving municipality will have an opportunity to vote on the wisdom of the proposed annexation, as well. I share your frustration with many of the development decisions being made in and around your vicinity

DHEC officials should spend less time in Columbia

July 23, 2008

This last week, our Department of Health and Environmental Control gave the Pinckney Point developers approval for three of the seven community docks and 30 of the 70 boat lifts that they requested for the Okatie River.

Bluffton Today - July 21, 2008

"I Say" by Representative Bill Herbkersman

Keep fighting against the Pinckney Point marina

I wasn’t able to give you too much on the Oklahoma Southern Legislative Conference last week. That was because I was immersed in the conference at the time and didn’t really have the necessary distance from the subject matters to accurately analyze the material. Suffice to say that I learned much about how to deal legislatively with problems related to rapid growth from folks who experienced it first hand. They were generous with sharing what worked for them, as well as what should have worked but didn’t.

We were also able to tour the Oklahoma bombing site. Needless to say, I was moved by the tragedy itself, but even more so by how the people were able to put aside momentary differences to get past the catastrophe and carry o­n with civic life.

My homecoming was marred somewhat by the news of the ruling from DHEC on the Pinckney Point Marina application. While some of the requested docks were not approved, the overall impact of the docks that were approved flies in the face of the expressed will of the public in this matter. As most of you know, I was in the forefront of allowing the public a voice in the deliberations before the regulatory body. There was a meeting at Bluffton High, which was attended by literally hundreds of concerned citizens, most of whom were overwhelmingly opposed to this marina. While the developer did not call it a marina, it certainly appeared to those of us who saw the plans to be a marina.

We now have the right to appeal, which will certainly be invoked. I am currently in conversation with Dana Beach at Coastal Conservation League, Ann Timberlake at Conservation Voters, and locally with Nancy Schilling and Dave Harter with Friends of the Rivers. We are all concerned with inaccuracies in the application, as well as the ruling. There are instances of misapplied guidelines and poor internal review, not to mention grievously insufficient data o­n impacts of a project such as this, in the area where it is proposed. At a minimum, I feel it is prudent to assess the potential impacts on this fragile water body before we put in a marina. This seems to be only common sense.

As this situation plays out, I will keep you up to date with the latest information. The appeal may take some time and there may ultimately be a role for you to play. I have found over the years that if there are gaps in the regulatory regime that potentially allow that which should not be allowed, then strong, committed, public opinion can save the day.

This fight is not about stifling anyone’s right to develop land in a manner that adds value to their investment, it is about diminishing that which is held by the public, by the people, and taking from all, for the inappropriate benefit of the few.

TOWN TAKES STAND AGAINST PINCKNEY DOCKS

Date: Thursday, July 17, 2008

Section: NEWS

Edition: BFT

Page: 1

Pinckney Point isn't in Bluffton, but the headwaters of the Okatie River are.

That's why the Bluffton Town Council voted Tuesday night to send an official letter to the Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management asking the state to reconsider the dock permits it recently granted to the developers of Pinckney Point.

The state issued permits for three boat docks, each with 10 boat lifts, plus a community boat ramp on the 229-acre teardrop-shaped parcel of land at the end of Pinckney Colony Road.

The county has so far denied permission to build on the point; the developers want 76 homes. The county's denial of the housing development and the question of who owns the only road leading to the point remain deadlocked in local courts.

At Tuesday's council meeting, several residents from the Pinckney Colony area asked town officials to do something about the docks. After the public comment period, Mayor Hank Johnston asked the council if members would like to go on the record about the docks as a group or individually.

"The consensus of the council was that since the headwaters of the Okatie River are really in the town of Bluffton, that this particular dock project could potentially have some impact on that," Johnston said.

"We voted to send a letter (to the state) from the town requesting that the permit be appealed.

"It's about the water impact," he said.

Through a quirk of old-school mapmaking, the Okatie River begins south of U.S. 278 and somewhere along its marshy route becomes the Colleton River.

The state's dock permits refer to docks in both the Okatie and Colleton rivers. Either way, it's the same watershed and, really, the same river.

Pinckney Point is not in the town limits. Only the river's headwaters are.

"Look at half of the May River and it's not in the town of Bluffton, either, but we still take action for the entire watershed," Johnston said.

"We do tend to look at most of our planning efforts today on a watershed basis. With the Okatie headwaters being in the town, we need to take a strong look at anything that might affect it."

S.C. SHOULD WAIT ITS TURN TO OK DOCKS

Date: Monday, July 14, 2008

Section: CAUSES

Edition: BFT

Page: 6

Mark Peterson calls the state's recent approval of three docks with 30 boat lifts in the Colleton River "presumptuous."

It's a good word. It could probably use some four-letter modifiers.

The state's decision to approve multiple docks for a development that hasn't yet passed its first county permitting hurdle after 250 people last summer begged them not to opens a door perhaps best left shut.

The owners of the 229-acre Pinckney Point property at the end of Pinckney Colony Road hope to build 76 homes on their teardrop-shaped parcel. But the state should note that the word "hope" is not "will" or "can."

County officials have denied the property's owners permission to build what they want, so the owners are suing. Nobody's sure who owns the only road to the property, so that's in court, too. Nothing is settled.

Peterson, the head of the Pinckney Colony Neighborhood Association, said members of his group plan to appeal the state's decision, as well they should.

To say the state's put the permitting cart before the county's development horse barely does that time-honored cliche justice. One landowner, in essence, just received permission to build three docks with 30 boat lifts on one parcel of land long before anyone at a local level has approved the land's subdivision. Ask and ye just might receive. And ye might set a precedent.

Yikes.

Peterson says the state's permit apparently makes the docks conditional on Beaufort County approval, but that still doesn't excuse the state wasting precious resources on tripping the county's horse with an out-of-place wagon.

Wait your turn, South Carolina. If Beaufort County's officials - or its courts - say developments this controversial are OK, then, and only then, is it time to consider how many docks to allow developers to build.

STATE APPROVES MULTIPLE DOCKS FOR PINCKNEY POINT

Date: Sunday, July 13, 2008

Section: NEWS

Edition: BFT

Page: 1A

Priscilla Coleman offered the bounty of her family's Pinckney Colony land Saturday morning at the farmers' market in Port Royal. At the same time she worried about the latest revelation on the proposed development at Pinckney Point.

She was among those surprised Friday when the state issued permits to build docks with 30 boat lifts and a private community boat ramp at Pinckney Point.

"I was just shocked when we got the notification," Coleman said as she tended her table of fresh herbs and cut sunflowers. "When you've got that many boats it's going to have an impact on water quality," she said.

Pinckney Point LLC filed an application with the OCRM last year to build seven community docks, each with 10 boat lifts as part of a development on 229 acres at the end of Pinckney Colony Road off U.S. 278. The docks would serve a 76-home development that has not yet been reviewed by the Beaufort County planning staff.

The dock permit "validated" July 3 by the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control's Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management scales back the original request to less than half the original plan, allowing for three community docks, with 10 lifts each, along with the boat ramp.

Public notification in the form of a memo from Steve Brooks of OCRM was dated July 9 and Pinckney Colony residents found out about it on Friday. An appeal must be filed within 15 days of notice of the decision, according to DHEC procedures.

Mark Peterson, president of the Pinckney Colony Neighborhood Association, said an appeal already is in the works.

"I guarantee it will be appealed by someone, if not all of us," he said of the various community organizations that oppose the Pinckney Point development.

In addition to various neighborhood associations, organizations such as Keep Chechessee Rural, Friends of the Rivers and the Coastal Conservation League also oppose the Pinckney Point development.

Opponents say it would change the rural character of their neighborhood and threaten water quality in the Colleton and Okatie rivers.

Last summer, more than 250 people attended a hearing on the Pinckney Point dock permit application scheduled by OCRM. Objection to the docks in particular and the development in general was "damn near unanimous," Bluffton Mayor Hank Johnston said at the time.

Beaufort County Council Chairman Weston Newton of Bluffton has called the multiple docks "a de facto marina" in the pristine estuary.

Peterson said the developer shouldn't have been allowed to apply for the dock permit without securing Beaufort County approval first.

"I don't understand why DHEC even accepted their application," Peterson said Saturday. "It's presumptuous to even apply before the development has been approved by Beaufort County."

He also said "special conditions" of the dock permit make it conditional on Beaufort County approval as well.

"I don't believe Beaufort County Council will support this decision because it conflicts with their own ordinance," which limits docks to 300 feet in length, Peterson said.

The county has already denied the project and Pinckney Point LLC lost a decision by the Beaufort County Zoning Board of Appeals. The developer has filed another appeal in state Circuit Court that has not been scheduled for a hearing.

Meanwhile, another lawsuit over ownership of the dirt road that gives the developer access to the Pinckney Point peninsula has been heard by Beaufort County Master in Equity Marvin Dukes, who won't consider a decision until final arguments are filed.

Beaufort County brought the suit against property owners Agnes and David Pinckney, Dot P. Gnann and Pinckney Point LLC to establish ownership of the 0.2-mile dirt road after the Planning Commission and County Council failed to resolve the matter.

The road became an issue in fall 2005 when David Pinckney put up fence posts on an unpaved portion of the road leading to the home of his cousin, John Pinckney. The posts were meant to thwart the proposed development and later were removed.

PINCKNEY COLONY ROAD OWNERSHIP DEBATE GOES BEFORE COUNTY JUDGE

Date: Friday, June 27, 2008

Section: NEWS

Edition: BFT

Page: 5A

The future of rural Pinckney Colony rests on the ownership of a 0.2-mile dirt road - a question that is being debated before a Beaufort County judge.

The county brought the suit against property owners Agnes and David Pinckney, Dot P. Gnann and Pinckney Point LLC, after the Planning Commission and County Council failed to resolve the matter.

Beaufort County Master-In-Equity Marvin Dukes heard testimony in the case Thursday and is scheduled to continue with witnesses and cross-examinations starting at 9:30 at the county courthouse. With a number of witnesses still to be heard, it appears the case will continue past Friday before Dukes will begin his deliberations.

Robert Achurch, attorney for the county, called county Tax Assessor Ed Hughes as one of the first witnesses, using the tax records to show it was unclear whether John C. Pinckney, who sold the 220 acres to Pinckney Point LLC in 2005, actually paid taxes on the road.

The county's attorneys say the dirt road is a public road, maintained by the county for a number of years. The road is needed for access to the acreage at the north end of Pinckney Colony where Pinckney Point LLC wants to build 76 homes and seven community docks.

Pinckney, speaking in a videotaped deposition from his home in North Carolina, said he is unhappy that his relatives worked to oppose the sale of the property and the development plans.

According to him, the original price for the property had to be dropped from $17.5 million to $10.5 million because of the question over the road.

PINCKNEY POINT ROAD REMAINS UNRESOLVED

Date: Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Section: NEWS

Edition: BFT

Page: 1

Memo: QUOTE: "This is just one small part of a larger issue."

Jerry Stewart, Beaufort County Council

The Beaufort County Council on Monday rejected a proposed settlement that would have allowed development to proceed on Pinckney Point.

The proposed settlement was the result of mediation talks between county officials, neighboring property owners and Pinckney Point LLC attorneys, who met in Charleston earlier this month to try to work out a compromise on the ownership of a road that would need widened to allow development at the end of Pinckney Colony Road in Bluffton.

The developers, a group out of Florida, have plans for 76 single-family lots on the 220-acre former farm, as well as seven community docks in the Okatie and Colleton rivers.

But first, they must get permission from the county to replace and relocate the dirt road which runs within the waterfront setback buffer. The county Zoning Board of Appeals has already rejected the request, which means the developers' next step is the circuit courts, attorney Robert Achurch, who is representing the county, told the council.

The proposed agreement, which Achurch declined to release because of the ongoing legal status of the case, acknowledged that the road was owned by the county.

Because of that acknowledgement, Councilman Bill McBride encouraged his fellow council members to accept the agreement rather than leaving the issue in the hands of a circuit court judge.

"Since they're acknowledging it's a county road, that means we can prevent it from becoming a gated community, which, as you all know, I have a great dislike for," McBride said.

Councilman Jerry Stewart, whose district includes Pinckney Point, said he agreed with the majority of council members that the agreement should be rejected.

"This is just one small part of a larger issue," Stewart said.

The council got better news earlier in the meeting on another mediation matter, this one involving a suit filed by the county against the builders of the county courthouse, administrative building, law enforcement center and detention center.

The four buildings located on Ribaut Road in Beaufort were completed in 1991 but have suffered from water damage and structure deterioration for more than four years.

Mediation attorneys Michael Seekings and Jeff Leath of Charleston told the council a settlement of $8.2 million had been reached on the four buildings. The attorneys had estimated total repair damages in the range of $6 to $8 million.

"This is a tremendous result of which we should be very pleased," said Chairman Weston Newton.

MEDIATION DOESN'T SETTLE PINCKNEY POINT ROAD QUESTION

Date: Thursday, March 20, 2008

Section: NEWS

Edition: BFT

Page: 9

Attempts to mediate who owns Pinckney Colony Road were unsuccessful on Wednesday and the question appears headed to court.

"There was no agreement, but we aren't allowed to discuss what was said," said Julian Weston, president of the Pinckney Point Property Owners Association. Weston attended the mediation session in Charleston.

At issue is whether the county or the adjoining property owners own the dirt road leading to the tip of Pinckney Colony.

Developers are hoping to build 76 homes on the 229-acre tract but must first get permission from the county to widen Pinckney Colony Road to their property.

Neighbors who oppose the project contend the dirt road belongs to them. They were pleased in September when the county Zoning Board of Appeals rejected the developers' request to widen the road.

Without a mediated agreement, the question of road ownership will apparently be heard in court next month.

The developers have also not yet heard from the S.C. Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management about their request to build seven community docks and 70 individual boat lifts.

PINCKNEY POINT REVIEW POSTPONED

Date: Thursday, January 3, 2008

Section: NEWS

Edition: BFT

Page: 5

Dateline: BEAUFORT

The Pinckney Point developer pulled a conceptual review of its project plans off the Beaufort County Development Review Team's Wednesday meeting agenda.

The expected review of plans for the proposed 229-acre residential community in Pinckney Colony was removed from the agenda Wednesday morning at the request of Pinckney Point LLC of Jacksonville, Fla.

"They didn't indicate when they would be ready to resubmit," Zoning Administrator Hillary Austin said.

Conceptual approval is the first step in the county's development process.

The project, on the banks of the Okatie and Colleton rivers, has been before the team before, but action was tabled until the developer could approach the county Zoning Board of Appeals for a river buffer variance.

The board, which originally heard the request in April, denied a variance in September.

Residents in the Pinckney Colony community are opposing the plans for the 76-lot subdivision.

They also have expressed opposition to the developers' plan for seven community docks on the property.

The state Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management held a public hearing on the dock application in August but has not made a determination.

COUNTY BEGINS NEW YEAR WITH OLD DEVELOPMENT PROPOSAL

PINCKNEY POINT PROJECT GOES BACK BEFORE REVIEW TEAM TODAY.

Date: Wednesday, January 2, 2008

Section: NEWS

Edition: BFT

Page: 1

Beaufort County's Development Review Team will begin the new year today with an old project.

Pinckney Point, a proposed 229-acre residential development on the banks of the Okatie and Colleton rivers in Pinckney Colony, will be before the review team for conceptual approval, the first step in the county's development process.

The project, proposed by Jacksonville-based Stokes and Co., has been in front of the team before, but action was tabled until the developers could approach the county's Zoning Board of Appeals for a river buffer variance.

The board originally heard the request in April and rejected it in September, the majority agreeing that the work could take place without a variance.

Residents in the Pinckney Colony community are opposing the plans for the 76-lot subdivision.

Residents also have expressed opposition to the developers' plan for seven community docks on the property.

The state's Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management hosted a public hearing on the dock application in August, but no determination has been made by the agency.

Today's meeting, which begins at 11:30 a.m. in the county's administrative building on Ribaut Road in Beaufort, has a lengthy agenda of 12 projects.

All content herein is Copyright © 2008 Savannah Morning News and may not be republished without permission.

Date: Friday, September 28, 2007

Section: CAUSES

Edition: BFT

Page: 14

At some point, the developer of Pinckney Point has to realize that very few people want 76 new homes on the lightbulb-shaped property.

The area's residents don't. People who use the nearby Okatie and Colleton rivers don't. Mother Nature seemingly doesn't.

And neither, apparently, does the Beaufort County Zoning Board of Appeals, which on Wednesday turned down the developer's request to relocate the only entrance into the property at the end of Pinckney Colony Road.

Without that road, the developer can subdivide the property into just a handful of lots - which means the development is basically dead in the water.

Perhaps it's time to call it a day. Or, maybe, an Open Land Trust nature preserve.

The county tried to buy the land for $8 million from John Pinckney last year, but embarrassingly ran out of cash in its Rural and Critical Lands Program. Pinckney soon found another buyer, Pinckney Point LLC, who gave him $10 million for the old homestead and grass farm.

But that entrance road has proved to be troublesome, perhaps insurmountable. Mother Nature is standing firmly in the development's way.

The narrow road is dirt; it's right beside the Okatie River, and the point's neck is too narrow to widen the road to two paved lanes and still keep it 100 feet from the river, as county ordinances require.

At this point, the developer can fight its battle in court - which is a no-win situation, particularly when it comes to public opinion - or, perhaps, offer the entire property to the county for $10 million or so.

The county's land-buying program has the cash this time. And county officials have had the courage to follow their own ordinances and resist approving 76 homes where only five could otherwise be built.

We're proud of the county so far. Take this one step further and spend a little more money to buy what we should have bought months ago and we'll practically be singing the county's praises in the street.

Or, maybe, from behind our cane poles on the banks of the Okatie River.

PINCKNEY COLONY RESIDENTS APPLAUD BOARD'S RULING.

Date: Thursday, September 27, 2007

Section: NEWS

Edition: BFT

Page: 1

Developers of Pinckney Point LLC received a temporary setback Wednesday night at the hands of the Beaufort County Zoning Board of Appeals, which turned down their request for a river buffer variance.

On a three-two vote, the board rejected attorney Walter Nester's argument that an economic hardship would be created if the request to build a new road into the 229-acre tract was rejected.

The property is currently accessed by a dirt road that runs through the river buffer and setback zone. The road is maintained by the county although there is a question about whether it's owned by the county or residents living in Pinckney Colony.

The board, which heard the variance request in April, had hoped the County Council would first address the issue of whether it's a county road or not. But the council's Public Services Committee two months ago opted not to consider the question and sent it back to the ZBOA for a ruling.

"Basically, this question was put in front of the Public Services Committee and they punted it back to us, which I don't like but that's where we are," said ZBOA Chairman Thomas Gasparini.

Several Pinckney Point property owners spoke in opposition to the variance request, expressing concern that the waterfront buffers and setback standards be maintained.

Attorney Roberts Vaux, representing the Pinckney Point Property Owners Association, argued that the developer should be required to get permission from the county or the courts to realign the existing road before a variance is granted on a new road.

"They've got the cart before the horse," Vaux said.

Board member Claude Dinkins, after several minutes of silence, made a motion to approve the variance but could get no second. Board member Philip Leroy then made the successful motion to deny the request, which was applauded by people in the audience.

Planning Director Tony Criscitiello said the developer can still build on the property, zoned rural, but he'll have to use the existing road.

The developers, Stokes & Co. of Jacksonville, Fla., have proposed 76 lots on the property but using the existing road would require a reconfiguration of that initial development plan.

PINCKNEY POINT LLC SEEKS RIVER BUFFER VARIANCE.

Date: Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Section: NEWS

Edition: BFT

Page: 1

A variance hearing tonight could determine a developer's access to Pinckney Point.

The Beaufort County Zoning Board of Appeals meets at 5 p.m. in the Council Chambers at 100 Ribaut Road, Beaufort.

Pinckney Point LLC is requesting a river buffer variance to allow for relocation of a road to the 229-acre property it wants to develop.

The board also is scheduled to hear public comment on the variance request.

County Zoning Administrator Hillary Austin said Tuesday the dirt access road to Pinckney Point crosses a narrow "bottleneck" that brings it within the river buffer.

"They're requesting a variance to move the road outside of the river buffer," Austin said.

The county zoning staff has not made a recommendation on the variance request but will meet to consider a position this afternoon.

The proposed development is opposed by members of the Pinckney Colony Neighborhood Association, many of whom have owned land between the Okatie and Colleton Rivers for generations.

Association President Julian Weston, via Savepinckneycolony.com, urged development foes to attend tonight's meeting "and express their opposition to the granting of any variance of the river buffer standards."

The zoning board considered the same variance request in April before it was withdrawn by the developer because of questions about ownership of the road, which is in litigation.

Development plans for 76 homes have not been reviewed by the county because of the pending road issues.

On hold as well is the developer's application to the state Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management for a permit to build seven docks with up to 70 boat slips.

Stokes Bush & Barnes Land Co. LLC, an Atlanta developer, bought Pinckney Point for $10 million last year from John C. and Nancy Pinckney. Prior to the sale, Beaufort County tried but failed to buy the property for $8 million when its Rural and Critical Lands Program ran out of cash.

Stokes & Co. formed Pinckney Point LLC, based in Jacksonville, Fla., to develop the property at the end of Pinckney Colony Road off U.S. 278.

Contact reporter Richard Brooks at 815-0818 or richard.brooks@blufftontoday.com

NEW FACES JOIN OLD WARHORSES AGAINST PINCKNEY POINT DEVELOPMENT.

Date: Sunday, September 2, 2007

Section: NEWS

Edition: BFT

Page: 1

State Rep. Bill Herbkersman believes the environment is a unifying issue in Bluffton.

He said that was confirmed by the crowd of more than 250 people at a Thursday public hearing on a dock application for Pinckney Point.

"I was extremely pleased, in a couple of ways, by the turnout," Bluffton's representative said Friday.

"First was seeing all the usual people who have been working hard on these issues for a long time. And there were a lot of new faces that we welcome to the environmental dialogue we've had for years," he said.

"It was a good indication of the undercurrent in the community," he said. "We've got to do something to save the environment or change our way of life."

Herbkersman formally requested the hearing by the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control's Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management because the agency received so many letters objecting to the development before the Aug. 6 deadline for written comments.

"Our environment is under assault and it's critical that y'all are here," Herbkersman said at the hearing Thursday. "Your comments help the state enforce existing laws and help us (in the Legislature) pass additional laws to protect the environment."

The Republican said Friday he didn't consider it unusual that opposition to the Pinckney Point development crossed political party lines and included developers like himself.

"It's about smart development and smart growth," he said. "If you start assaulting what people came here for in the first place it takes no time to turn the other way and lose what we have."

Stokes Bush & Barnes Land Co. LLC bought Pinckney Point for $10 million last year from John C. and Nancy Pinckney. Prior to the sale, Beaufort County tried but failed to buy the property for $8 million when its Rural and Critical Lands Program ran out of money.

Stokes & Co. formed Pinckney Point LLC to develop the property and has filed an application with the OCRM to build seven community docks, each with 10 boat slips, on the Okatie and Colleton rivers as part of a development on 229 acres off U.S. 278.

The developer has applied to build six piers of between 169 and 975 feet in the Okatie River, a 900-foot pier in the Colleton River, an 86-foot boat ramp with a floating dock in an unnamed tributary and a boardwalk to a nearby marsh island, according to a public notice from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the state OCRM.

The Corps of Engineers has jurisdiction over construction in wetlands and navigable waterways but delegates permitting authority to the state agency.

Development plans for 76 homes at the end of Pinckney Colony Road have not yet been reviewed by the Beaufort County planning staff. The county Development Review Team is waiting for a determination on ownership of the narrow dirt road leading to the property.

Contact reporter Richard Brooks at 815-0818 or at richard.brooks@blufftontoday.com

OTHER VOICES

Additional comments from the Thursday public hearing about the development of Pinckney Point:

- "Study after study after study has recognized these as pristine headwaters. If we mess this one up there's no going back to fix it," said Eric Woods of Bluffton.

- "It would be the death of the Okatie River if we allow this (development) to occur," said Bill Marscher, former chairman of the county Clean Water Task Force.

- "The developers of much, much bigger communities have much less dock space. These docks will change the configuration of the river," said Bruce Yingling of Pinckney Colony.

- "Community docks are intended to combine the interests of lots of people ... but marinas have a different set of standards, more stringent regulations. This is a marina and it's the wrong place for it. This is a bad application," said Spring Island resident Dick Stewart, a former Beaufort County Council member.

- "We strongly oppose this dock permit application. It clearly has no regard for the surrounding community.... One boat lift per home site is essentially a marina," said Julian Weston, president of the Pinckney Colony Neighborhood Association.

Date: Sunday, September 2, 2007

Section: CAUSES

Edition: BFT

Page: 10

Bluffton has done its part. Now it's up to our elected and appointed officials to listen.

More than 250 people turned out Thursday night to speak against the proposed development at Pinckney Point.

Specifically, they are upset about plans to build a marina on the pristine Okatie and Colleton rivers.

Pinckney Point's developers don't call it a marina. They refer to it as seven community docks, each with 10 boat slips.

It's a marina.

And it would be built on a public waterway classified as an "outstanding resource" by the state.

Thursday's crowd had a passion that reminded many of the famous "Little Old Ladies in Tennis Shoes" who worked so hard against, and ultimately defeated, plans to build a BASF plant on the Colleton River three decades ago.

The citizens who gathered Thursday night have the same mindset. They won't take no for an answer.

This is about more than docks. The planned marina is part of Pinckney Point's plan to develop 229 acres at the end of Pinckney Colony Road off U.S. 278.

Beaufort County could have prevented the development by paying $8 million for the land, but its Rural and Critical Lands Program had run out of money at the time.

But the preservation program's bank account has been replenished by the passage of a $40 million referendum in 2006, so the county could get another chance.

Local residents don't want the development. They hate to see one of the most beautiful spots in southern Beaufort County marred by bulldozer tracks.

Mary O. Merrick brought the house down Thursday night when she told the crowd: "I've lived at Pinckney Colony on the Colleton River for 86 years, and I intend to live there and fight this development until my dying day."

The people are with her. Are the people's representatives?

We'll find out as the dock permit application and development plans are addressed by various state and county agencies.

PINCKNEY POINT PROPOSAL RAISES BLUFFTON'S PASSION.

Date: Friday, August 31, 2007

Section: NEWS

Edition: BFT

Page: 1

Long-time Bluffton residents raised the specter of BASF and other past threats to the Colleton and Okatie rivers in speaking Thursday against a proposed development at Pinckney Point.

More than 250 people attended a hearing that was scheduled by the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control's Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management because the agency received so many letters objecting to the development.

Mayor Hank Johnston asked for a straw-poll show of hands and proclaimed the opposition "damn near unanimous."

Roberts Vaux, a Bluffton lawyer, whipped the crowd into frenzied applause with the reminder that local activism stopped a BASF chemical plant, a Chicago Bridge & Iron foundry, a Thunderbird fiberglass boat plant and other industrial uses of nearby Victoria Bluff.

"We defeated them through meetings just like this," Vaux said. "We've fought this fight for 40 years, and we'll fight it for another 40 years."

But it was Mary O. Merrick who best captured the mood in the Bluffton High School auditorium with a passionate vow.

"I've lived at Pinckney Colony on the Colleton River for 86 years and I intend to live there and fight this development until my dying day," Merrick said.

Pinckney Point LLC has filed an application with the OCRM to build seven community docks, each with 10 boat slips as part of a development on 229 acres at the end of Pinckney Colony Road.

The Jacksonville, Fla.-based developer's application also includes a boat ramp with a floating dock in an unnamed tributary and a boardwalk to a nearby marsh island, according to a public notice from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the state OCRM.

The docks would serve a 76-home development that has not yet been reviewed by the Beaufort County planning staff.

Beaufort County Council Chairman Weston Newton of Bluffton declared the proposal "a de facto marina" in a pristine estuary.

"It's too much and too concentrated in an area that's already threatened," Newton said.

Reed Armstrong of the South Carolina Coastal Conservation League said the total number of boat slips is well above the threshold for a marina but the developer is attempting to spread them among a number of docks to avoid scrutiny.

"Large-scale marina operations are a more serious environmental threat, and the OCRM has established more stringent regulations for them," Armstrong said.

"The OCRM should reject this application and the developer should resubmit it for what it really is - a marina," he said.

Henry Diercxsnes of Callawassie Island gave the DHEC and OCRM hearing officials a petition with more than 500 signatures from dock permit opponents living at Spring Island, Callawassie, Chechessee, Bailey's Landing, Camp St. Mary's, Oldfield and Sun City.

DEVELOPER HAS APPLIED FOR 70 BOAT SLIPS IN OKATIE, COLLETON RIVERS.

Date: Thursday, August 30, 2007

Section: NEWS

Edition: BFT

Page: 1

A proposal to build what critics consider a de facto marina in the estuary off Pinckney Point is expected to draw a crowd to a public hearing tonight.

"The community is well educated on this issue and I hope there's a good public turnout," said Nancy Schilling of Friends of the Rivers.

"Bodies in the room make a difference, so people should show up even if they don't plan to speak," Schilling said.

The meeting at 6 p.m. at Bluffton High School was scheduled by the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management.

The deadline for written public comments on the Pinckney Point development was Aug. 6. But a hearing was scheduled because the OCRM received so many letters objecting to the development, according to project manager Curtis Joyner of the agency's Charleston office.

Two of the state's top permitting officials toured the waters off Pinckney Point by boat on Aug. 15, a trip organized by Friends of the Rivers to inspect the potential site of up to 70 boat slips.

"It was not an official site visit but we wanted to see it for ourselves," Carolyn R. Bolton, deputy commissioner of the Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management, said following the boat ride. "It was good to get out and actually see the conditions first hand."

Pinckney Point LLC has filed an application with the OCRM to build seven community docks, each with 10 boat slips, on the Okatie and Colleton rivers as part of a development on 229 acres off U.S. 278.

The Jacksonville, Fla.-based developer has applied to build six piers of between 169 and 975 feet in the Okatie River, a 900-foot pier in the Colleton River and an 86-foot boat ramp with a floating dock in an unnamed tributary, according to a public notice from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the state OCRM.

The Corps of Engineers has jurisdiction over construction in navigable waterways but delegates permitting authority to the state agency.

Stokes Bush & Barnes Land Co. LLC, an Atlanta developer, bought Pinckney Point for $10 million last year from John C. and Nancy Pinckney. Prior to the sale, Beaufort County had tried but failed to buy the property for $8 million when its Rural and Critical Lands Program ran out of money.

Stokes & Co. formed Pinckney Point LLC to develop the property.

Development plans for 76 homes at the end of Pinckney Colony Road have not yet been reviewed by the Beaufort County planning staff. The county Development Review Team is waiting for a determination on whether the county owns the narrow dirt road leading to the property.

The developers want to realign the road but the county's Zoning Board of Appeals has declined to consider the request until the County Council decides who owns the road.

But Administrator Gary Kubic told the County Council on Monday night the issue should be determined by the Development Review Team. If the developers don't agree with the decision they can appeal to the Zoning Board of Appeals or the County Council, Kubic said.

Contact reporter Richard Brooks by phone at 815-0818 or e-mail at richard.brooks@blufftontoday.com

Date: Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Section: CAUSES

Edition: BFT

Page: 8

The Colleton might be Bluffton's "other" river, but it's no less important than the May in judging how we're handling all this growth.

If the shrimp and oysters die in either river, we've failed.

And we're a bit closer to failure in the Colleton than we are in the May. In the former, the oysters are already disappearing. And all those new sandbars didn't get there by accident.

Something's changing in the Colleton River. It's not yet time to declare failure, but we just might be getting there.

That's why we hope everyone who can attends Thursday's meeting about the proposed Pinckney Point docks.

The developer of the 227-acre parcel there wants to build seven community docks and a community boat ramp on the Colleton and its upstream sister, the Okatie.

That's a lot of docks, especially when one considers each dock would have 10 boat lifts. Whether that makes it a "marina," as some opponents claim, isn't clear. But it does mean it's a lot of docks and a lot of boat lifts - and that at least is worth seriously debating.

Many residents of the Pinckney Colony and Camp St. Mary's areas, along with state Rep. Bill Herbkersman, wrote letters to the state Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management asking for a public hearing on the dock permit. They're getting their wish.

That hearing's set for 6 p.m. Thursday in the Bluffton High School auditorium. Go. You'll have a chance to have your say, OCRM officials promise.

According to the OCRM's official public hearing notice, you can also submit "important facts and statements" in writing to OCRM officials at the meeting, or by mailing them to:

SCDHEC-OCRM

1362 McMillian Ave., Suite 400 Charleston, SC 29405

Attn. Steve Brooks

The Colleton might be the other river for those of us used to the May, but what happens on the northern part of the Bluffton peninsula sets a precedent for what happens on the south.

Let's fight and win the battle there, on the Colleton, before it makes its way down here.

Date: Friday, August 24, 2007

Section: CAUSES

Edition: BFT

Page: 13

Column: When Life is Fair

When life is fair, Bluffton Police Chief David McAllister will need to deploy all of his traffic unit's officers to Bluffton High School at 6 p.m. this Thursday because of the massive traffic jam caused by the overflow crowd attending the Ocean and Coastal Resource Management meeting to protest the proposed permit to allow Pinckney Point LLC to build 10 docks with the capacity of approximately 70 units and a community boat ramp along the Okatie and Colleton rivers.

This all out thoughtless assault on our river systems by assorted developers has got to be stopped. Pinckney Point LLC is based out of Jacksonville, Fla., so you can only guess how much they care about the long-term effect these docks will have on our ecosystem.

The OCRM's Web site says that one of the agency's goals and objectives is to "encourage low impact and alternative development to preserve water quality and environmental integrity."

How in the world is allowing the construction of these proposed docks and ramps with approximate lengths of 170 to 900 feet going to preserve water quality and environmental integrity along these waterways?

Actually, we aren't talking about docks and a launching ramp; we're talking about building a marina, according to S.C. Regulation 61-47, which defines marina as "any water area with a structure (docks, basin, floating docks, etc.) which is: 1) used for docking or otherwise mooring vessels; and 2) constructed to provide temporary or permanent docking space for more than 10 boats, or has more than 200 linear feet of docking space."

So really, 10 docks and a ramp is just spin for allowing this LLC to construct a marina, make money and go back to Florida at our river's expense.

What about the possible effects of these recreational vehicles on the area's rivers?

To quote from OCRM's own shellfish management report of 2006, the Okatie River from its headwaters to Station 16, at the confluence of the Pinckney Colony tributary, will remain "restricted" for the purpose of shellfish harvesting.

It cites the recent developments all along the Okatie and Colleton rivers as contributing to this restriction, despite efforts to control runoff.

Does this sound like an area that needs more pollutants from gasoline engines to enter the water?

Beaufort County is currently considering additional development along the already fragile Okatie. The county should be upfront and state a strategy: You can live along our rivers but you can't build into them anymore.

We need a concerted effort by all governments in the region, not just within Beaufort County, to protect our environment from the inevitable destruction of the purity of our waterways.

I know we don't like to vote around here, but this is a chance to hopefully make a difference and support all of the volunteer groups fighting for our rivers. If not, you can just come to Thursday's meeting and complain.

In the meantime, you can contact me at whenlifeisfair@hargray.com

Date: Saturday, August 11, 2007

Section: REGIONAL NEWS

Edition: BFT

Page: 6

A plan to build seven docks with as many as 70 boat slips on the Okatie and Colleton rivers will be the subject of a public hearing later this month.

The S.C. Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management has scheduled the hearing for 6 p.m. Aug. 30 in the Bluffton High School auditorium.

"We received a number of comment letters about this project, the majority expressing concern so the hearing was scheduled to give citizens an opportunity for further comment," said OCRM project manager Curtis Joyner of the Charleston office.

The developer, Pinckney Point LLC of Jacksonville, Fla., filed an application for the project last month as part of the long-range development plans for the 229 acres off U.S. 278.

Development plans which have not yet been approved by the county call for 76 homes at the end of the Pinckney Colony dirt road.

OVERSIGHT OF THE COUNTY'S LAND-BUYING PROGRAM HAS SAVED 10,000 ACRES FROM DEVELOPERS' BULLDOZERS.

Date: Wednesday, August 1, 2007

Section: COVER STORY

Edition: BFT

Page: 16

Caption: Photos by Scott Salisbury/Bluffton Today

(1) ON THE COVER: Otis Daise pours out fresh plumbs at the farmers' market in Bluffton Oyster Factory Park.

(2) Everything you see here - trees, marsh, river - is protected by the county land-buying program's most ambitious purchase south of the Broad River, the 148-acre Okatie Headwaters Regional Park Preserve.

(3) Feel free to use the oyster shell bank near the Bluffton Oyster Co. to launch your boat or kayak. The county's land-buying bank, with help from the town's, ensures you can do that.

(4) Feel like a picnic? Check out the Pinckney Colony Preserve, located near the intersection of U.S. 278 and the park's namesake road.

(5) Sometimes, nothing more is planned for a purchased property than just leaving it alone, like at Calhoun Plantation along Pinckney Colony Road.

Otis Daise makes his living on land like the Bluffton Oyster Factory Park.

Each Tuesday there, the St. Helena Island native spreads around his farm's corn, tomatoes, squash, butterbeans, watermelons and okra, because "you gotta have okra."

And each Tuesday, customers like Anne Quigley of Bluffton line up to buy what Daise sells.

They owe it all to Beaufort County's land-buying program, funded twice now by county voters. One of the program's key south-of-the-Broad purchases was the oyster factory and five acres around it on Wharf Street by the May River. It's now a farmers' market once a week.

"You can stop here and get your vegetables and get your fish at the oyster factory and have a nice view, all at one time," Quigley said.

Since the land program's beginning in 2003, sometimes working with municipalities, more than 10,000 acres have been preserved from development through either outright purchases or the setting aside of development rights.

Either way, it's working.

"My phone rings a lot with people saying 'We've got the best property for you.' One of my first jobs is to act as a filter," says Glenn Stanford, the project manager for the Trust for Public Land, the group tasked with overseeing the Beaufort County Rural and Critical Lands Program.

Stanford and his crew have about $40 million left to spend, something like four-fifths of the money voters approved in a land-buying referendum last fall.

About half of the money from both the first $40 million referendum and this newest one has been spent south of the Broad River - mostly near the headwaters of the Okatie River, along the May River near its mouth, along the still-rural Pinckney Colony Road and deep inside the Bluffton Park development.

It's not easy work, Stanford said. Trust for Public Land staffers have to balance subjective criteria like where a property is, how much is available, how much it costs, what its value is (on paper, aesthetically and environmentally) and whether the politicians with the purse strings support their proposals.

Sometimes they don't. "It happens," Stanford said. Sometimes, Beaufort County Council members don't like a land-buying plan. When that happens, the deal dies and Trust for Public Land moves on to the next idea.

"They're not just a rubber stamp for TPL, not by any stretch," he said. "And we don't want them to be."

The referendum's original $50 million is "a lot of money, but it's not a lot of money" at the same time, he said.

By law, Trust for Public Land can't offer more than a property's fair-market value. And staffers "try not to put all of our eggs in one basket" by spending on small properties that cost millions, Stanford said.

If a property on U.S. 278 costs $5 million or more - and most does - "there goes 10 percent of our money," he said. "But 278 is certainly important."

The trust has "a lot of projects in the hopper," Stanford said.

The most recent to close was on Lemon Island along the Broad River, where the buy eliminated from development 130 possible new homes.

Trust for Public Land buys land for the county in two ways - by purchasing it outright (like the oyster factory and Lemon Island), or buying conservation easements or development rights (like on the Ulmer property along the May River).

Efforts don't always succeed. An attempt to buy property on Pinckney Point at the end of Pinckney Colony Road failed, and a development is now planned there. Stanford called that "a sad situation."

But for every defeat, there are Lemon Island and oyster factory and Ulmer property successes.

Contact Rob Dewig at 815-0829 or robert.dewig@blufftontoday.com

PICK YOUR PARK

The county's Web site has a nice list of the properties purchased through the Rural and Critical Land Preservation Program, which is administered by the Trust for Public Land.

Major acquisitions in the Bluffton area include the following highlights. (This list is not all-inclusive):

- The Okatie River Headwaters Regional Park Preserve - three tracts, 148 total acres, including 2,500 linear feet along the Okatie River. Combined, they cost $9.9 million to preserve. Two of the tracts make up all the trees you can see south of the bridge across the Okatie (just east of McGarvey's Corner, where S.C. 170 and U.S. 278 intersect). The third, known as Barrel Landing, is on the northwest side of the bridge.

- The Bluffton Oyster Factory Park - 5 acres fronting Wharf Street, including public access to the May River. It cost $2.5 million, with help from the town of Bluffton and the Beaufort County Open Land Trust.

- Pinckney Colony Preserve - 38 acres at the intersection of U.S. 278 and Pinckney Colony Road, including 27 acres of freshwater wetlands. It cost $3,150,000 and is developed as a passive park with picnic tables.

- Calhoun Plantation - 86 acres along Pinckney Colony Road, with 145 nearby acres protected by a related conservation easement. The easement is held by the Beaufort County Open Land Trust and prevented the development of 80 potential homes. It cost $850,000 to purchase the development rights.

- The Alan Ulmer Property - The Ulmer family has agreed to place 1,500 acres under a conservation easement, although only about 500 are protected so far. When completed, the development rights buy will prevent 5,000 possible homes and 100 acres of commercial development.

- Altamaha Property/Heyward Point - 100 acres bought for $3.1 million to protect a historic Indian town. The S.C. Department of Natural Resources contributed $300,000. A park is planned for the site.

- New Riverside - 477 acres for $1,090,000 in Rural and Critical Land funds, with $2,410,000 coming from other sources.

Source: www.bcgov.net/public_info_officer/rural_critical_lands/r&cl_main.php

Date: Sunday, July 15, 2007

Section: NEWS

Edition: BFT

Page: 3

Infobox: ON THE NET: To view an online copy of Pinckney Point LLC's joint permit application to the state OCRM and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, go to: www.scdhec.net/environment/ocrm/notice/docs/PN070607/JPN070607_pinckney.pdf

Developers of Pinckney Point LLC have applied to the state and federal authorities for a permit to build seven community docks on the Okatie and Colleton Rivers.

The docks, as proposed by Thomas and Hutton Engineering, call for the capacity of 10 boat lifts each.

The applications also include a community boat ramp with a boarding dock.

"We think it's outrageous," said Nancy Schilling, founding director of the Friends of the River, a nonprofit organization that works to protect the area's environmentally sensitive waterways.

"The county residents have worked so hard with the Clean Water Task Force and the Special Area Management Plan to identify ways to protect the water quality, and then a project like this comes along," she added.

The developers are still negotiating with the county for a river buffer variance to relocate a dirt road onto the 229-acre tract they hope to develop at the end of Pinckney Colony Road.

The County Council Land Management Committee heard arguments from the developers in June about the road ownership but delayed any decision for further negotiations with neighboring property owners.

Initial development plans for the property, which are opposed by the Pinckney Colony Property Owners Association, call for 76 residential lots on the point of land between the Colleton and Okatie rivers.

The dock permit application is being considered by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the S.C. Office of Coastal Resources Management.

Written comments are due before noon on Aug. 6 at U.S. Corps of Engineers, Regulatory Division, 69A Hagood Avenue, Charleston, S.C. 29403

Contact reporter Lolita Huckaby at bftbay@charter.net

MURKY ROAD OWNERSHIP DELAYS PROJECT

PLAN CALLS FOR 76 HOMES TO BE BUILT ON PINCKNEY COLONY ROAD.

Date: Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Section: NEWS

Edition: BFT

Page: 21

The convoluted tale of development at Pinckney Point boggled the minds Tuesday of members of Beaufort County Council's Public Services Committee which had been asked to determine who owns the road leading to the controversial project.

The committee opted to delay any decision at the request of attorneys representing Pinckney Point LLC. The developers were hoping the County Council would say they have no problem with plans to remove part of the dirt road, which the county has maintained for years, from the Okatie River buffer zone.

County Attorney Robert Achurch told the committee he has no problem with the request, as did County Engineer Bob Klink.

But after listening to attorney Roberts Vaux, representing some of the Pinckney family members who are concerned about the proposal to build 76 homes on the 229-acre tract, the committee members agreed to table indefinitely the issue for more information.

Developers of the former farmland at the end of Pinckney Col ony Road, between the Okatie and Colleton Rivers went before the county Zoning Board of Appeals in April to ask for permission to relocate the road from the river-front buffer.

But the ZBOA members wanted to know if the County Council, representing the county which is presumed to own the road since public works crews have scrapped it for so many years, objected.

The ownership of the road leading up to the Pinckney Point LLC property line is still in question and the subject of a lawsuit filed by the county in November 2005.

Without the ZBOA approval, the developers, Stokes, Bush and Barnes Land Co. of Atlanta, cannot get conceptual approval for their plans.

The committee also delayed a proposal from the county staff to spend $1.2 million in surplus funds from the S.C. 170 widening project on decorative lights across the Broad River Bridge and a restroom facility at the new fishing pier at the bridge.

Several citizens spoke against the lights, suggesting the county use the money for bike paths, landscaped medians along S.C. 170 or even purchasing additional land along the corridor to prevent further development.

"This is the worst pork-barrel project I've ever seen," Councilman Paul Sommerville said. "You gotta be kidding - $500,000 for lights on that bridge!"

Deputy County Administrator Buz Boehm explained the money had to be used in connection with the S.C. 170 project, which was approved as a sales tax referendum in 2002.

All content herein is Copyright © 2008 Savannah Morning News and may not be republished without permission.

Recalling Pinckney Black Roots

Submitted by esmith on November 28, 2005 - 11:56pm.Cover story

An author adds a chapter to the history of Pinckney Colony.

Kim Rowland/Bluffton Today
Mary Pinckney Easterling Powell displays copies of her books at her Beaufort home.

RICHARD BROOKS
BLUFFTON TODAY

A Pinckney Colony native documented the genealogy of her white family, then turned her attention to the black families whose history is intertwined with her own.

Mary Pinckney Easterling Powell wrote “Over Home” about the family that gave Pinckney Colony its name.

After its publication, Powell said, her black friends challenged her to write about their history as well.

As Eloise Pinckney Green, who nursed Powell’s brother before his death, pointed out: “We’re a part of Pinckney Colony, too.”

Powell also was encouraged by her granddaughter, Mary Pinckney Battle, who majors in Southern studies at Ole Miss in Oxford, Miss.

“She (Battle) is interested in our life and especially our relationship with the blacks,” Powell said.

The result is “Back Home Roots,” subtitled “A Missing Chapter in the Story of Pinckney Colony.”

It was published last month. Powell talked about her writing experience amid boxes of books stacked in her Beaufort home overlooking Battery Creek.

“I really wrote this for the blacks,” Powell said. “It deals with their roots — as much genealogy as I could get.”

She said family Bibles were the main source of much information in the book along with the memories of older Pinckney Colony residents.

But there aren’t many older than Powell, who just turned 96.

Powell said she started researching “Back Home Roots” at the black cemetery on Pinckney Colony Road, visiting with descendants of those buried there and collecting their family histories.

“It was a wonderful feeling to re-establish these relationships. It was a revisiting,” Powell said. “They didn’t mind me coming to their house and they opened up to me and told me their stories.”

PLANTATION HISTORY

In 1847 the original settler, James William Porcher, wanted to start a plantation next to his childhood friend, James Kirk, who built Rose Hill.

Porcher brought an educated slave, Nero Wright, from his father’s plantation near Savannah to help establish his new farm, which thrived thanks to their agricultural expertise, Powell said.

While other antebellum plantations were obsessed with cotton, Porcher and Wright produced enough food to establish trade with other planters.

Powell credits Wright with helping establish an agricultural base that would exist long after the cotton economy failed.

Porcher’s plantation eventually would be farmed after the Civil War by Confederate veteran Eustace Bellinger Pinckney, the grandfather of Mary Pinckney Easterling Powell.

Descendants of Porcher’s slaves remained at what became Pinckney Colony and worked for the four sons of Pinckney and his bride, Mary Martha “Daisy” Porcher.

While Pinckney Colony blacks took the name of their former owners after the Civil War, many surnames were added through marriage, Powell said.

The names Chisolm, Alston, Martin, Cohen, Green and Frazier are common among the black descendants of Pinckney Colony.

Powell said her family’s Huguenot background played an important role in race relations at Pinckney Colony.

“Huguenots were very religious and I believe they may have wanted the blacks to be able to read the Bible,” she said. Less altruistically, education was an asset to the farm, she said.

“We had a relationship with blacks that others didn’t. We were taught to get along,” Powell said. “We would have been punished if we were ugly to black people.”

Pinckney Point road reopened

Submitted by esmith on December 3, 2005 - 11:59pm.News

Fence posts removed from dirt road right of way.

BY LOLITA HUCKABY AND RICHARD BROOKS
BLUFFTON TODAY

A lawsuit filed by Beaufort County against some Pinckney Colony residents has been temporarily resolved.

The county filed a complaint last month against John David Pinckney and some of his relatives for placing wooden fence posts in a dirt road maintained by the county.

The fence posts were on property claimed by Pinckney but narrowed the road right of way to about 20 feet.

A hearing before Master in Equity Curtis Coltrane was scheduled for Wednesday at the Beaufort County Courthouse, but the defendants agreed to move the posts from the right of way, according to the judge.

“There will still have to be a hearing on the merits of the question as to road ownership, but that’s not scheduled at this point,” Coltrane said Friday.

The road provides access to the 229-acre Pinckney Point property at the end of Pinckney Colony Road.

Pinckney Point is owned by John C. Pinckney, John David Pinckney’s cousin.

John C. Pinckney and his wife, Nancy, have contracted to sell the land for $15 million to an Atlanta developer, Stokes & Co., which has proposed building more than 70 single-family houses on the site.

The county originally was interested in buying Pinckney Point for $8 million through its Rural and Critical Lands Program but could not secure funding.

John C. and Nancy Pinckney have said they want to sell the land to distribute the money to their children in order to avoid an estate tax burden.

Other Pinckney family members and residents of Pinckney Colony oppose the development. Among the opponents is Julian Weston, president of the Pinckney Colony Neighborhood Association.

Weston has said that development plan does not meet the county’s Development Standards Ordinance requirement for a 50-foot-wide access road to the property

In October the county Development Review Team rejected development plans for Pinckney Point, citing the need for an archaeological survey and other requirements.

Other county staff concerns included:

The need to reroute proposed roads and water and sewer utilities so they would not cross a river buffer.

The need to protect natural resources.

A Lack of details in a tree-removal plan.

The Need for an analysis of the traffic impact on U.S. 278.

The need for Proof of legal access to the site via a 50-foot-wide right of way.

Contact reporter Lolita Huckaby at 815-0800 or bftbay@charter.net and reporter Richard Brooks at 815-0818 or Richard.Brooks@blufftontoday.com

To blog about this story, go to blufftontoday.com

This editorial was published in Bluffton Today on Tuesday, October 25, 2005

This editorial was published in Bluffton Today on Wednesday, September 28, 2005.  The Pinckney Colony Neighborhood Association feels that the development of Pinckney Point would threaten Pinckney Colony and Bluffton with the same problems that are addressed in this editorial regarding Port Royal's proposed annexation, and subsequent re-zoning for development, of the Mobley Tract.

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Okatie, SC 29909
marknholly@hargray.com
757-0001

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