Daufuskie Island Real Estate Blog

Allow me to introduce myself.  My name is Tom Jackson and I am the Broker in Charge of Gateway Realty.   I have spent over 20 years specializing in Daufuskie properties.  I also like to spend some leisure time as well on the island.

My purpose of the Daufuskie blog is to keep you as informed as I can about beautiful Daufuskie Island.  A lot has changed over the years on the island.  There are currently 5 developed communities at this time: Haig Point, Melrose, Bloody Point, Oakridge and the Historic District. Each community has its own personality and selling points.

So you ask… what is the latest?   
Daufuskie Island Resort and Breathe Spa could possibly be expanded and could include houses that are up to 5 stories high along the beach- this comes from a recommendation made by the Beaufort County Planning Commission.

There is a stipulation with this recommendation- Daufuskie Island Properties, who is the owner of more than 1,200 acres on the island has to come up with more details on the plans if they want to build on 197 acres that are currently undeveloped; this area is known as the Eigelberger Tract.

This was an important victory, but a temporary one.  Some of the residents on the island have spent over 2 years working with the county planners to help come up with new zoning rules for certain parts of the island and that includes the Eigelberger Tract.

What does this mean? 

All of the land on the island is either zoned “planned unit development” or as a “community preservation district”.  This allows residents to decide how the land should be used. Island residents want to rezone the Eigelberger Tract and a small marina that is on the north side of the island so it can become part of the existing “planned unit development”.  If this does happen developers can add more commercial development than what is allowed in the preservation district. 

In the next few weeks the plans for the rezoning should be finalized.   Some of the residents want the developer to wait on the plans for the Eigelberger Tract and the marina until the new rules are in effect.  The residents are also concerned about the height of the planned houses on the beach.

Developers state that the island will benefit from plans for the Eigelberger Tract- because this will reduce the number of homes that can be built to compensate for the resort expansion.  They also state that they may add a grocery store to the marina. 

County Council Land Management Committee will discuss the issue in the coming weeks.  

I will follow up with the rezoning issues.

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Posted by Tom Jackson in Real Estate |