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Charlie Fraser

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Good stewardship of islanders land

01-12-09
Charlie Fraser
I for one am happy to see the Barnwell Family come up with a creative way to keep there family property, and to make the property work for them in a way that meets the demands of today's
enviroment.
They have come up with a very responsible plan for developing their property. The mix use of commercial, open space, and cottages is on the cutting edge of urban design and "green design". Hopefully they will find the right resources to come up with a Eco friendly green planned neighborhood.
I also encourage the town council to support this project, and ask anyone else to make their voice heard for this project.
Below is an article from the Island Packet.
posted by Charlie Fraser 2009
Barnwells want to develop land so it stays in the family By DANIEL BROWNSTEINdbrownstein@islandpacket.com843-706-8125 Published Sunday, January 11, 2009
Photo: Thomas Barnwell Jr. visits the tabby ruins on his property on Hilton Head Island. Hilton Head Island's Planning Commission met Wednesday to discuss a north-island development near this historical ruin that was part of Cotton Hope Plantation. The Barnwell family wants to construct a development that would have retail space below apartments. The development would also include town homes and single-family homes with a "cottage" look. The tabby ruins will be the center of the development. Jonathan Dyer /The Island Packet
For seven generations, the Barnwell family has held on to the heart of their land on the north end of Hilton Head Island. They'd like to make sure it stays that way for the next seven and beyond.
Like other native islanders, the family has sold bits and pieces to capitalize on the wave of development that first hit the barrier island about 50 years ago. Led by family patriarch Thomas C. Barnwell Jr., the family has developed a string of well-kept, affordable neighborhoods. Now they have a concept for holding on to the rest of their property -- an idea that could become a model for other Gullah-Geechee families facing the dilemma of keeping evermore expensive land that's been handed down, one generation to another, since slavery ended. The family plans to develop the land, about 18 acres on the south side of Squire Pope Road that straddles Gumtree Road, into mixed-use buildings with retail on the lower floors and living space above, nine town homes and a cluster of 35 cottages. They would lease the buildings and homes to themselves and others, retaining ownership of the property. An overarching theme of the development is to respect the environment and the character of Hilton Head natives while creating a close-knit community. Conceptual plans currently weaving through town planning boards up to the Town Council include an organic vegetable patch and a park.
At a meeting last week, Planning Commission members unanimously recommended granting a zoning change from residential to planned development.
Neighbors are generally supportive of the project, but do have some concerns about nearby roads not being equipped to handle more traffic.
The plan is for the family to build two mixed-use buildings around the ruins of an early 1800s tabby home that was once part of Cotton Hope Plantation. The ruins -- which might someday be listed on the National Register of Historic Places -- would be restored to their original condition in hopes they'll become the focal point for the public portion of Tabby Village.
Because the family wants some retail businesses in some buildings, it is asking the town to transfer those commercial rights from three other acres it owns along Skull Creek. That waterfront property would then remain vacant, preserved in its natural state. "We're trying to do some advance planning," said Barnwell. "Before the bridge (connecting the island to the mainland), native people used to own and control over 2,500 acres of land on the island. That's not the case today."
Today, native islanders own fewer than 1,000 acres, according to Barnwell. There's no firm timeline for when the development will occur, only that the mixed-use buildings and town homes would be built first in order to generate money for the rest of the project. The proposed development has roots much deeper than most projects that make it to Town Hall. It touches on age-old issues of land use, land ownership and quality of life for the descendants of slaves left behind on Hilton Head, where the Civil War ended early. The island was the first place captured by Union troops who were searching for a strategic deep water port. Barnwell has been outspoken on those issues, even testifying before Congress and serving on a civil rights committee during the Kennedy presidency.
He was born in 1935 to a midwife on the island, 21 years before the first swing-bridge over Skull Creek was built. He was educated in a two-room school house before attending classes at Penn School on St. Helena Island -- the first school built in 1862 for freed slaves -- and went on to university work.
As a young man, Barnwell drove Martin Luther King Jr. from the airport to Penn Center for a gathering of civil rights leaders. King called him "Brother Tom." In the early 1970s, he and other native islanders helped win the fight against a $100 million chemical plant that politicians wanted to build near the bridge to Hilton Head. Islanders felt it would have precluded the island from ever becoming a tourist destination or a desirable place to live.
Barnwell was a leader in a native-islander commercial fishing cooperative on the island at the time, and was adamant about protecting the environment. Barnwell has spent decades pushing for ways to improve the lives of the area's poorest residents. With coolers full of shrimp and oysters, he went to Washington seeking federal money when he founded the public-health service now known as Beaufort-Jasper-Hampton Comprehensive Health Services.
Friends call him a man of humility beneath his sometimes gruff and standoffish behavior. He used to drive an old pickup truck until his family finally persuaded him to buy a new truck. Barnwell is a lifelong entrepreneur and activist who has developed and maintained several successful housing tracts on the island. But he also drives a tractor and raises marsh tackies and goats, and grows collards and gourds on his land, all in the native island tradition.
"This project is not about my father or myself," said his son, Thomas Curtis Barnwell III. "It's about this young lady sitting here -- my daughter -- my niece and future generations. To let people know we're retaining our land. It has always been in our family and it will always be in our family.
"We're not just handing our property over to a developer," he continued. "We're retaining it."
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Santa was nice, plus he brought beautiful weather !!

12-31-08
Charlie Fraser

hilton head local seafoodIt sure has been nice this past week.  My son and I went for a boat ride this past Saturday, and it was more like a early fall day than the end of December.  The temperature was in the high 70's and the water was calm.  We pretended we were fishing, but what we really wanted was to just get out on a beautiful day. hilton head local seafood

Hudson's Seafood Restaurant is a great place for local seafood in fall and winter months.  Hudson's buys fresh local seafood from the docks, shrimp, fish, oysters.  I only believe in buying fresh local seafood.  Unfortunately, the many tourist that come to the island probably think that we have Salmon, Alaskan King Crabs, Talapia, and other imported or farm raised seafood.  The local "fisherman" is a dying breed, so that is why I support restaurants that buy local seafood. [http://www.hudsonsonthedocks.com/]

Hilton Head obviously has "tourist" and I will be the 1st one to assist them (even to the embarrassment of family & friends).  Elliott and I had been trying to fish (HaHa) and decided to go have lunch at another of our favorite restaurants Captain Woody's. [http://www.captainwoodys.com/] After we left we came across a rental boat with some tourist stranded on a sandbar with no clew about boating, and they did not speak English very well.  So, we decided to see what we could do for them.  We finally got a line to their boat and were able to get them off the sandbar (the tide was coming in and they would have gotten off sooner or later), but we felt good for what we had done.  kayaking in broad creek

 hilton head broad creekPrior to going to lunch, when we were fishing we came across some other tourist enjoying the day on the water kayaking, unfortunately we also came across a recently abandon sailboat stuck up in the marsh.  The taxpayers will have to pay to remove this boat, because it had obviously been stripped of anything of value.

If you want to enjoy the "Island Lifestyle" and in particular the water sports visit my friends at Outside Hilton Head. [http://www.outsidehiltonhead.com/]

hilton head windmill harbour

This is a picture I took from the water of Windmill Harbour.  It is a great place to live and is convenient to the island and Bluffton.  Visit my Blog about Windmill Harbour.  ( see Link Below Picture)

Call me if you would like to know more about our "Island Lifestyle"

Charlie B Fraser  2008

 

 

 

 

http://activerain.com/blogsview/849996/Windmill-Harbour-Community-Highlight

 

 

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Windmill Harbour Community Highlight

12-23-08
Charlie Fraser

Windmill Harbour Hilton Head Windmill Harbour was created in 1981 and is located on a 172-acre peninsula on the Intracoastal Waterway immediately after crossing the bridge from the mainland to Hilton Head Island. It is now the home of the South Carolina Yacht Club. The primary focal point is its 15-acre inland harbour (twice the size of Harbour Town) with an innovative, but simple, user-operated navigational lock that transports sailboats and powerboats from the tidal fluctuations of the adjacent Waterway into the stable waters of the yacht basin. A deep-water pier outside the harbour accommodates boaters picking up passengers and supplies, or those who wish merely to tie up for a short period of time. Up to 270 boat slips are also available. There is also a Sports Center serving both the pool and tennis court areas with dressing areas, saunas, an outdoor Jacuzzi pool, a large community pool and wading area for children, shower facilities and ample deck space for lounging or community gatherings. Windmill Harbour was designed solely for the use of property owners, residents and their guests.

The unique design of Windmill Harbour is the use of individually designed townhomes, patio homes and a few full size home sites.  Views for homes include harbour, the Intracoastal Waterway with dramatic sunsets, marshes and wooded landscaped areas.  The South Carolina Yacht Club is open for outside membership and has become one of the premiere social clubs on the island.

Community Highlights

  • Lock Harbour with 15 acre harbour
  • South Carolina Yacht Club, tennis courts and swimming pool
  • Private gated community
  • Located on Jenkins Island with easy access off island and convenient to the island.

 View a Video of Windmill Harbour

http://www.fraserrealty.net/windmill-harbour.asp

 

Information provided by Charlie B Fraser & PDC

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Wexford Plantation ... Community Highlight

12-04-08
Charlie Fraser

Wexford Plantation Hilton Head When the Marathon Oil Company, previously Hilton Head Company, constructed Wexford Plantation in 1982, it intended to create the most exquisite residential community on the East Coast. It was designed for residents only and no villas or condominiums with the exception of townhomes. The community offers owners a welcoming clubhouse with swimming pool, tennis courts, on a picturesque setting at the community Mariana. The unique feature of the communWexford Club House Hilton Head ity is the lock harbour with access to Broad Creek, providing access to the Intracoastal Waterway and Atlantic Ocean. The lock harbour is one of only four lock systems on the U.S. Atlantic Coast. The lock system provides shelter for boat owners but also allows for a larger number of home sites to have docks. The canals meander throughout the community, and it not unusual to see a beautiful 50 foot yacht in one's back yard. The homes are all a variety of architecture and the landscaping well maintained throughout the community.

Community Highlights

  • William Byrd designed golf course
  • Community club house, swimming pool, tennis courts
  • Lock harbour with access to Broad Creek and Atlantic Ocean
  • Community marina
  • Private gated community with private security
  • Convenient mid island location and all island amenities

Copyright Performance Development Corporation

Photos courtesy of Weford Plantation POA

Wexford is truly a special place to call home. It has a viable and active club with activities ranging from kids tennis camps to the more serious club championships in both golf & tennis. The under utilized and by far the best feature is the unique locked harbor. For a boating enthusiast this is an ideal way to have a boat moored in a safe harbor. There is less wear and tear on a boat due to the very minimal flow of water, and the absence of fowl weather and boat traffic wave action protect boats from damage.

Real estate prices run the gammet and depending on your desires properties can be found to fit most budgets over $800,000. So, if I can help call me 843-290-0807 thanks Charlie B Fraser

FOR A VIDEO TOUR OF WEXFORD USE LINK BELOW

http://www.fraserrealty.net/wexford-plantation.asp

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Long Cove Plantation ... Community Highlight

12-03-08
Charlie Fraser

Heron Pointe Sea Pines Hilton HeadSeveral top executives of Sea Pines Company, Wes Wilhelm, Joe Webster, and David Aimes, went out and purchased what is currently Long Cove. The exclusive single family residential community concept, with no villas or condos, was a huge success. The development of Long Cove was a timely and tremendous success story for single family residential development. The Pete Dye golf course immediately got rave reviews among the golfing community and has since been a highly ranked golf course. The home sites have a range of settings from golf and lagoon, wooded, marsh or gorgeous views of Broad Creek. The resident's only golfing community was a new concept for residential developments at the time. In 1987 and the common properties, including all amenities, were deeded to the Long Cove Association. Membership is available only through property ownership, and rights are transferred through the transfer of property. Fees are based on whether the lot is improved or unimproved and includes Long Cove Country Club membership. Long Cove Club was designed around a unique "club" concept rather than the traditional structure of other residential plantations on Hilton Head. Membership in the club is automatic with purchase of a property. All members must pay the same assessment covering use of all of the amenities regardless of property values or residency status.

Long Cove paved the way for Colleton River, Belfaire and Berkley Hall all based on the concept of an exclusive golf club community.

Community Highlights

  • Pete Dye designed Golf Course .. One of SC top rated courses
  • Club House, locker rooms, pro shop, restaurant, bar/lounge
  • Har-Tru tennis courts
  • junior olympic swimming pool
  • Community farm and garden, plus open space.
  • 71 slip deep water dock and kayak storage
  • Gated Community.

Copyright Performance Development Corporation

CLICK ON LINK BELOW FOR VIDEO TOUR OF LONG COVE

http://www.fraserrealty.net/long-cove.asp

LONG COVE POA WEBSITE

http://www.longcoveclub.org/Club/Scripts/Home/home.asp

(Photo of 18th Heron Pointe Sea Pines by Charlie Fraser)

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