Residents of McIntosh County, Georgia, have voted overwhelmingly to reject a zoning amendment that would have allowed larger homes in Hogg Hummock on Sapelo Island, home to the Gullah Geechee community. Unofficial results show nearly 85% of 1,869 voters opposed the change, marking only the second citizen referendum on a county plan in Georgia history.
The referendum, triggered by petitions from over 2,000 registered voters, challenged a proposal to increase the maximum residential square footage from 1,400 to 3,000 in Hogg Hummock. Opponents argued that larger homes would pave the way for developers, raising property taxes and forcing out the Gullah Geechee, descendants of enslaved West Africans who have lived there for generations.
Ire Gene Grovner, a 70-year-old resident whose family has lived on Sapelo for nine generations, expressed relief. 'All those people who want to build houses here ain’t gonna close me in,' he said, standing by his home with chicken pens and collard greens. The community, once numbering 500, has dwindled to between 30 and 40 residents as many moved to the mainland.
The legal battle to hold the referendum reached the Georgia Supreme Court, which ruled in September that zoning rules were subject to referendum under the state constitution. Kathleen Russell, editor of the Darien News, noted that the outcome could inspire similar challenges across Georgia. 'Every county in the state of Georgia is looking at these results,' she said.
Chris Melody Fields Figueredo of the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center highlighted the rarity of such referendums in the South, attributing it to historical efforts to limit the power of formerly enslaved people. 'This is a form of holding power accountable,' she said. The vote is seen as a victory for the Gullah Geechee community, which has fought to preserve its cultural heritage and land against development pressures.
