Sapelo Island is the rare inhabited barrier island along the Georgia coast not dotted with beachfront homes, resorts and other familiar signs of oceanside development. Aside from a tiny gift shop next to the post office, a small convenience market, a primitive campground and a restaurant open by reservation only, Sapelo has no commercial amenities.
Part of the reason is the island is connected to the mainland by ferryboat, not a road or bridge. Another factor is a property zoning restriction that limits the size of residences. The ordinance has prevented the building of luxury homes and hotels such as those found elsewhere along the coast in places like Tybee Island and St. Simons Island.
Last September, local elected officials altered Sapelo’s zoning law, more than doubling the maximum size of homes from 1,400 square feet to 3,000 square feet. The change came despite protest from Sapelo residents and other locals who voiced fears that more square footage would spark a wave of development and turn the island’s lone residential neighborhood, the Gullah Geechee community of Hog Hammock, into just another beach vacation spot.
Several Gullah Geechee residents, who are descendants of enslaved West Africans who worked the island’s plantations before emancipation and the Civil War, mounted a voter referendum to repeal the ordinance.
A judge ruled that ballot item illegal on Sept. 25, halting a special election in which early voting was already underway.
The dispute has attracted national attention.
Here’s what you need to know about Sapelo, the Gullah Geechee, the referendum and what’s ahead.
Credit: Adam Van Brimmer/AJC
Credit: Adam Van Brimmer/AJC
Where is Sapelo Island?
One of Georgia’s 14 barrier islands, Sapelo is located near the halfway point of the state’s coastline, about an hour’s drive south of Savannah. The island is part of McIntosh County, a sparsely populated county renowned for its shrimping fleet.
Sapelo is not connected to the mainland by a road or bridge and is accessed only by private boat or a state-run ferry. The state of Georgia owns 97% of the 16,500-acre island and manages its land as an estuarine reserve and marine institute. Georgia also operates the Reynolds Mansion, a plantation manor house, as a state park.
Private land holders own 434 acres of Sapelo in and around the Gullah Geechee community of Hog Hammock. The neighborhood is centered on the interior of the island, but several privately owned properties have water views.
Sapelo is 3.1 miles wide at its widest point and 12 miles long.
Who are the Gullah Geechee?
Enslaved from West Africa were first brought to work Sapelo’s plantations in the early 1800s. The largest crop was sugar cane, and at the height approximately 385 laborers worked the fields.
Following emancipation and the Civil War’s end in 1865, many of the freed slaves remained on Sapelo and established a number of settlements. They became known as Gullah Geechee and survived through farming, timbering and oystering. Tobacco magnate R.J. Reynolds bought much of Sapelo in 1934 and consolidated the Gullah Geechee settlements into one community at Hog Hammock.
The Gullah Geechee population has slowly dwindled in the decades since as descendants moved off the island. Today, fewer than 40 live full time on Sapelo and less than half the property in Hog Hammock is owned by Gullah Geechee. Those who still live on Sapelo occupy modest dwellings, such as cottages and mobile homes. These residences were built to comply with Hog Hammock’s longtime property zoning ordinance that limited homes to 1,400 square feet of interior space.
That zoning law was changed on Sept. 12, 2023, and now allows residences measuring up to 3,000 square feet.
What happened with the zoning ordinance?
The McIntosh County manager introduced revisions to the zoning ordinance last September, just a week before the commission was to vote on the changes. In addition to the dwelling size change, the initial proposal included language that would have allowed a marina to be built on the island and removed references to historic preservation of the community.
According to Sapelo’s Gullah Geechee residents, none were consulted by the county during the ordinance revision process. Public meetings were held on the ordinance in 2021 and 2022. The ordinance change was made in September 2023.
The McIntosh Commission narrowed the ordinance to focus on home square footage before the vote. The revision passed 3-2, with Chairman David Stevens casting the deciding vote. In remarks during the meeting, Stevens blamed the Gullah Geechee for necessitating the zoning change by selling Hog Hammock properties to nondescendants and added that the current generation of Gullah Geechee lack the cultural appreciation shown by their ancestors.
How did the Gullah Geechee fight the ordinance change?
Sapelo residents filed a lawsuit challenging the validity of the ordinance in October 2023. They claimed race discrimination, saying the change would lead to property tax increases that would force them to sell their land. A judge dismissed that lawsuit in March, citing a technical error. Attorneys have vowed to refile the legal challenge in the coming weeks.
Just before the lawsuit’s filing, the Gullah Geechee hinted at mounting a voter referendum initiative. Under the home rule provision of the Georgia constitution, citizens can challenge local legislative decisions. Two years earlier, residents of Camden County, also located along the coast, used a referendum to repeal a County Commission resolution involving property to be used for a spaceport facility. The result withstood legal appeals that were ultimately resolved by the Georgia Supreme Court.
To trigger a referendum, the Gullah Geechee needed 1,800 county residents to sign petitions calling for the election. They submitted petitions containing 2,300 signatures in early July, and a probate court judge ordered the election on July 23.
Credit: Brian Brown/Vanishing Georgia
Credit: Brian Brown/Vanishing Georgia
That same day, McIntosh County filed a lawsuit challenging the legality of the election. The claim names the probate court judge and the McIntosh Board of Elections as defendants and cites, among other arguments, that the home rule provision does not apply to zoning decisions. The suit sought to halt the referendum election, which opened with early voting on Sept. 9.
A Superior Court judge heard arguments in the case on Sept. 20, including from lawyers for the organizers of the petition. Judge Gary McCorvey issued a ruling siding with the county and halting the election on Sept. 25.
What happens next?
The judge ordered the McIntosh County Board of Elections to halt the referendum election immediately, leaving the 3,000-square-foot ordinance in place.
But lawyers hinted during the Sept. 20 hearing they would appeal the judge’s ruling. Should an appeals court — perhaps eventually the Georgia Supreme Court — decide the home rule clause applies to zoning ordinances, the referendum could be put back on the ballot.
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