Sapelo Island descendants collect enough signatures to trigger referendum

SAPELO ISLAND, Ga. (WTOC) - McIntosh County voters will soon get to make a decision on a controversial zoning ordinance on Sapelo Island, according to court filings.

Following a massive grassroots effort, activists and Sapelo Island descendants collected enough signatures to trigger a referendum, according to a scheduling order by a county probate judge.

It’s all in response to the McIntosh County Commission voting last September to allow larger buildings to be built on the island.

Our WTOC Investigates team has been following this issue.

McIntosh County Probate Judge Harold Webster has scheduled a special election for October first allowing voters to decide whether to repeal the zoning ordinance in the Hogg Hammock community – one of coastal Georgia’s last intact Gullah Geechee communities. Meanwhile, the county government is trying to stop the vote from happening.

“This was a full on, county-wide effort,” said Watts,

Jazz Watts is a Sapelo Island Descendant, and helped organize the petition challenging the rezoning ordinance. People who live on the island have feared that September’s zoning decision to allow larger homes in the Hogg Hammock community would eventually cause higher property taxes and threaten Sapelo Island’s Gullah Geechee history.

“What they have proposed and what the county has been trying to do is something that would result in the removal and the pushing out of an entire community of people,” said Watts.

On July 9th activists and Sapelo descendants dropped off more than 2,300 signatures, asking the probate judge for a referendum vote – much more than the required 1,765 to get a special election in the county.

Judge Webster validated more than 1800 signatures – verifying the petition and this week set the date for the special election on October 1st.

“It is about Sapelo Island, of course. I think it’s also about the ability for people in a community to choose their own destiny, and when a government isn’t representing them, people need a way to hold government representatives accountable,” said 100 Miles CEO, Megan Desrosiers.

McIntosh County has filed in Superior Court trying to stop the special election saying “Judge Webster lacks the authority and jurisdiction to take the actions requested in the Referendum Petition. The referendum election requested would be illegal.”

The attorney for the county also states the Georgia Constitution’s requirements for a referendum do not apply to zoning decisions.

However those who organized the petition disagree.

“It’s to be expected that McIntosh County challenged it. I wish they wouldn’t have, I wish they had listened to the voters who signed this petition. But, we definitely were prepared for this, and we’re prepared and confident that we are on strong legal standing,” said Desrosiers.

The special election will go on as scheduled this fall unless a Superior Court judge intervenes. WTOC reached out to the county for comment on the case but have not heard back. We’ll continue to keep you updated as we know more.