A voter referendum on this Georgia island is being contested in court and at the ballot box

of the referendum. The ballot initiative gives voters the opportunity to repeal a zoning ordinance passed by the McIntosh County Commission last September that allows for bigger homes — up to 3,000 square feet — on the oceanfront island.

Sapelo’s three dozen or so Gullah Geechee residents, who live in a 34-acre community known as Hog Hammock, make up the majority of the island’s full-time residents. They are descendants of enslaved West Africans who worked the island’s plantations prior to emancipation and the Civil War. Over the years, Hog Hammock properties have been bought by non-descendants, and many Gullah Geechee fear the zoning change will lead to unchecked development. Almost all of Sapelo beyond Hog Hammock is a protected wildlife refuge owned by the state.

Sapelo residents initiated the push for the referendum in late 2023, collecting more than 2,300 signatures on petitions circulated throughout the county. The support was enough to prompt McIntosh County Probate Judge Harold Webster to order the special election under a provision of the Georgia constitution that gives citizens a process to challenge legislation enacted by local governments.

The McIntosh commissioners filed a lawsuit over Webster’s ruling in July. The county argues the constitutional provision, known as the home rule, does not apply to zoning changes, noting that property standards are addressed in another part of the Georgia constitution.




https://www.ajc.com/news/georgia-news/a-voter-referendum-on-this-georgia-island-is-being-contested-in-court-and-at-the-ballot-box/7TNIBVJ52FEYDOVFBZJ5O7Q6SQ/