Cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low around 75F. Winds light and variable..

Cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low around 75F. Winds light and variable.

Captain Sam's Spit is pictured in September 2017. The town of Kiawah Island's Planning Commission approved an extension for a preliminary subdivision plat on July 6, 2022, for the 150-acre isthmus. File/Jerry McMahon/Provided

Captain Sam's Spit is pictured in September 2017. The town of Kiawah Island's Planning Commission approved an extension for a preliminary subdivision plat on July 6, 2022, for the 150-acre isthmus. File/Jerry McMahon/Provided

KIAWAH ISLAND — Officials on this barrier island said last week's approval of a preliminary subdivision plat extension does not give developers the OK to build homes or roads on fragile Captain Sam's Spit. 

The extension, approved by the town's Planning Commission, does not even grant permits to begin construction on the delicate body of land. 

Instead, it simply gives developers the right to hold on to the preliminary plat for another year, the town noted on its website. 

"It doesn't give any approvals as far as being able to build today," said John Taylor, the town of Kiawah Island's planning director. "It's a preliminary plat, essentially based on vested rights."

But the July 6 move by the commission is significant because development plans on the spit have been the center of recent debates that have made it all the way to the S.C. Supreme Court.

The court arguments stemmed from Kiawah Development Partners' plans to construct the infrastructure to support 50 homes on the 150-acre isthmus. Captain Sam's Spit is a teardrop-shaped piece of land on the southern tip of Kiawah and is situated between the Kiawah River and Atlantic Ocean. 

Last year, the court struck down four state-approved permits to build a steel wall to stabilize the thin neck between Captain Sam's and Kiawah Island to the north. This wall is needed to secure the connection enough to build a road to the spit. 

Developers have sought to build homes there, but environmentalists believe the land should mostly be left alone. Parts of the spit are rapidly eroding, and the neck has measured at narrower than 30 feet. 

There are questions of whether a wall would cause a nearby sandy bank on the Kiawah River side of the spit to wash out. The S.C. Supreme Court determined the state needed to factor in that outcome. 

Environmentalists are concerned that the plat, which dates to 2015 and includes a road design and lot layout, cannot be accomplished today. 

The spit has changed significantly since 2015, said Amy Armstrong, an attorney with the South Carolina Environmental Law Project. She said the road for the subdivision would impact the critical area, the very narrow neck of the spit, and be in water. 

The law center has represented the Coastal Conservation League in a faceoff over the future of Captain Sam's Spit.

"Why would the town extend approval for a plat that is not possible to accomplish because it's so dynamic," Armstrong said. "It's changed so much that where the road is (on the plat) can't be built anymore." 

The plans would need to be entirely redesigned, Armstrong said.

The town said the court's opinions do not address the planning commission's extension, but instead "present a hurdle created by state law that the developer would have to address before developing Captain Sam’s Spit."

Several state and town approvals would be required before any work can be done on the property. This includes approval of conditional and final plats, road plans, and infrastructure needs like water and sewer.

It is unclear how the developers plan to proceed now that the extension has been granted by the town. An attorney for the developer did not respond to requests for comments.

Follow Shamira McCray on Twitter @ShamiraTweets.

Shamira McCray covers climate change and the environment for the Post and Courier. Follow her on Twitter at @ShamiraTweets.

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