Georgia's supreme court has ruled in favour of Gullah Geechee residents on Sapelo Island, reversing a lower court decision that had blocked a voter referendum on zoning changes. The ruling, delivered on 30 September, allows county voters to decide whether to reinstate stricter limits on home sizes in the historic Hogg Hummock community.
In 2023, McIntosh County commissioners voted to increase the maximum home size from 1,400 to 3,000 square feet, weakening protections established in the 1990s to preserve the enclave. Residents feared the changes would raise property taxes and force them out. A petition with over 2,300 signatures sought a referendum to repeal the ordinance, but a superior court halted the election in September 2024, ruling zoning changes were not subject to referendums.
The state supreme court disagreed, finding that nothing in the zoning provision restricts voters' authority to seek repeal. Justice John Ellington wrote that the lower court erred. Attorney Dana Braun said residents are happy, adding that county residents will now have “some real say” on home sizes.
Hogg Hummock is one of the last remaining Gullah Geechee communities, descendants of enslaved West Africans who preserved their creole language and culture after the Civil War. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1996, the community has long fought to protect its land and heritage. Resident Jazz Watts said he felt vindicated, while descendant Keara Skates expressed hope that “the Geechee people stay Geechee.”
