Reduced Density

Twenty-five years ago my wife's cousin, Ben Racusin, invited me to participate in his campaign to become Hilton Head Island's first mayor. It was through Ben's leadership and guidance that the Land Management Ordinance (LMO) was created and enacted. The LMO significantly reduced development and density on Hilton Head Island, which created a shortage of inventory for years to come. Today, Hilton Head Island is devoid of any major development, which is highly beneficial to all owners as island Realtors rely on individual owners for property to sell. Actions taken by our town highlighted below, helped create this supply and demand imbalance. The town spend $120,500,000 purchasing 102 parcels, totaling 1,149 acres resulting in:

• A reduction of 4.15 million sq. ft. of commercial development
• A reduction of 1,365 hotel and motel rooms
• A reduction of 26,246 peak-hour driving trips
• A reduction of housing unit projections by 35%
• A reduction on 19,942 projected housing units in the '04 Comprehensive Plan, compared to the '85 plan.

Maintaining tight building restrictions and superior land planning is a huge advantage over other world-class destination resort communities that do not do so.