Sapelo Island rezoning sparks outcry from Gullah Geechee community

by Stephanie Adkisson

MCINTOSH COUNTY, Ga. (WTOC) - McIntosh County commissioners voted 3-1 to extend the maximum house size limit on Sapelo Island from 1,400 square feet to 1,550 square feet, drawing sharp criticism from members of one of the last remaining Gullah Geechee communities in the country.

Community members and advocates gathered Friday in response to Thursday night’s vote, calling the decision an attack and warning it could eventually displace residents who have lived on the island for generations.

Sharon Kitchen, a McIntosh County resident, said the zoning change would have lasting consequences for the island’s indigenous population.

“You will then force the population of the indigenous people off of this island through taxation,” Kitchen said.

Kitchen also questioned the county’s commitment to preserving the Gullah Geechee community.

“More houses, more material, more destruction. Do they really want to keep the Gullah Geechee and save the Gullah Geechee, or do they want to tax them out and they have to go someplace else to find a house, and now they have all the beachfront property they could ever want,” Kitchen said.

One advocate noted that Sapelo Island is not only home to the Gullah Geechee community but also serves as a Native American burial ground. The advocate said the island was registered as a historical district in 1993, at which time the square footage limit was set at 1,400 square feet.

Reginald Hall, a 12th-generation Sapelo Island resident and Gullah Geechee descendant, said he fears larger homes will bring higher taxes, ultimately pushing descendants off the island.

“You don’t come into a neighborhood of a culture of people that have been on the island for 237 years and dismantle that neighborhood through taxation, dismantle that neighborhood through socialization,” Hall said.

Hall said more than a decade’s worth of generations of his family have lived on Sapelo Island, and he said he will not stop fighting to protect his home and his family’s future there.