The first property protected in the green space program won’t be in Beaufort County

Sebastian Lee
·3 min read

After nearly a year of collecting funds at a penny a piece, the Beaufort County Council voted to protect the first parcel of land in a newly developed green space program. The council recommended protecting 4,409 acres known as Gregorie Neck at the Coosawhatchie and Tulifiny Rivers headwaters in Jasper County.

With Gregorie Neck being outside of Beaufort County, questions were raised about how local tax dollars could be applied to a neighboring county. According to State Senator Tom Davis (R-Beaufort) who introduced the bill allowing the tax to be levied - it’s all part of the plan. The ability to use green space funds for purchases outside of Beaufort County was an intentional inclusion when the green space tax program was drafted. “It was a recognition that if your objective is to preserve the estuary or to make sure that there isn’t an increased runoff and degradation of water quality, it’s gonna require, in some instances, acquiring open space, even if it’s outside the county line,” Davis said. “Even though the land is outside the county lines, the development of that land would impact waters that affect Beaufort County.”

The property has deep-water access to both rivers covering eight miles of waterfront and marsh front land. The Nature Conservancy purchased the property for $35 million last month.

Beaufort County will contribute funds from the green space penny sale tax’s revenue to place a conservation easement on the property, which will give Beaufort County development rights and permanently limit the use of the land.

“Your water quality will be better for the land protection that occurs here. No amount of zoning or regulation can do what land protection does on a property like this,” said Kate Schaefer Director of Land Protection with the Open Land Trust, speaking to the council.

Preserving the property will also benefit local Marines as it rests under training flight routes, according to Colonel Mark Bortnem Marine Corp Air Station Beaufort’s Commanding Officer.

The easement won’t have any impact on county lines and the land will still be part of Jasper County.

The conservation easement on the property will cost a total of $13,500,000. Beaufort County will contribute $1 million from the green space account with the rest of the funding coming from other sources as follows:

  • $6 million from the Department of Defense

  • $4.5 million from the Nature Conservancy

  • $2 million from the SC Conservation Bank

Beaufort County was the first county to adopt the green space tax since Davis’ bill came into law.

“A lot of counties are looking to see how it’s implemented and see how we do with it,” Davis said about the penny tax. “We’re not the only county that is seeing development outstrip our ability to build roads to build schools.”

The tax started collecting in May of last year and will end in May of next year or sooner if $100 million is collected. As of February, the tax had collected $39 million.