Rep. Joe Cunningham urged the Beaufort County Zoning Board of Appeals to reject plans to develop a luxury resort on Bay Point Island. In a letter sent to Vice Chairman Kevin Mack of the Beaufort Country Zoning Board of Appeals, Cunningham called on the Board to deny the special use permit as proposed by the developer, Bay Point Island, LLC, arguing the project does not meet true eco-tourism standards.

Cunningham called attention to the ecological and cultural significance of Bay Point Island, writing, “As one of only a handful of undeveloped barrier islands in South Carolina, it represents an increasingly rare and invaluable natural resource in our great state. As is, the island provides beneficial ecosystem services as a refuge for imperiled wildlife, a source of commercial and recreational fisheries, and a buffer from increasingly frequent and intense storms to the surrounding communities in Beaufort County (d)eveloping a large-scale resort, and introducing extensive permanent infrastructure where none currently exists, will compromise each of the valuable benefits the island naturally provides.”

Cunningham also pointed out the negative impacts this development could have on the Gullah/Geechee communities on neighboring St. Helena Island, who have relied on Bay Point and its surrounding marshes for sustenance and commercial fishing for generations.