A zoning battle on Sapelo Island off the coast in McIntosh County is heading to the state’s highest court this week. While the state owns 97% of the island, members of the Gullah Geechee community of Hog Hammock are fighting back against a zoning change approved by the McIntosh Commission that would have allowed much larger homes to be built on the island as well as a marina. Hog Hammock residents mounted a challenge by collecting signatures to trigger a voter referendum, and upon doing so had their own efforts sued with the ensuing case working its way up through the courts. So now oral arguments begin to decide the fate of the island, the home of the Gullah Geechee community descended from West African slaves who worked Sapelo’s plantations up to the Civil War.
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