Slave descendants take a fight to protect their Georgia island homes to voters

By RUSS BYNUM

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — Voters in a coastal Georgia county will decide Tuesday whether large homes should be allowed on remote Sapelo Island, where Black landowners fear the change could saddle them with unaffordable property taxes in one of the South’s few remaining Gullah-Geechee communities founded by freed slaves.

The referendum organized by island residents seeks to override McIntosh County commissioners’ 2023 decision to double the size of homes allowed in the tiny Hogg Hummock community. Their vote weakened building limits that for decades helped keep property taxes low for one of America’s most culturally unique Black populations.

Tensions between Hogg Hummock’s Black landowners and county officials have been high for more than a decade, fueled by outsiders buying land in the community and building vacation homes. Island natives worry their taxes will balloon as wealthy buyers build larges homes, increasing property values. Commissioners have blamed the changing landscape on native owners who sold their land.

Black residents and their supporters brought the fight to voters after gathering more than 2,300 petition signatures and challenging commissioners before the Read Entire Article