Point Hope’s Conservation-Minded Plan
We talk about the conservation-minded plan for Point Hope, but what exactly does that mean? What is being done to make Point Hope a place that balances the need for schools, businesses and homes to serve the growing Charleston with respect for the special land on which it is located?
The “Cainhoy Planned Unit Development Master Plan” (PUD) was approved by the City of Charleston in 2014. It states that the primary goal for the plan is “to promote a sensible development pattern and to create a sustainable community that embraces the Lowcountry natural heritage by providing connectivity of habitat, minimizing impacts of development on natural resources and ecological processes, and employing strategies to enhance co-mingling of human habitat and wildlife habitat.” The PUD creates zoning mandates to implement these goals.
Following are highlights of the conservation-minded steps that have already been taken and are currently underway at Point Hope:
While the entire Cainhoy tract is 9,000 acres, 4,500 acres will remain undeveloped as protected wetlands, buffers and natural areas. That’s half of the property.
650 acres of the property, including wetlands and highland, will be maintained as a professionally-managed Nature Sanctuary. This is the largest conservation easement ever to be located within the City of Charleston.
The development team, with counsel from the United States Army Corps of Engineers, the conservation community and industry experts, developed an innovative on-site mitigation strategy for wetland impacts rather than buying off-site credits. This strategy allows for the preservation of a significant amount of the property’s unique assets in place, protecting and promoting habitat for a variety of important wildlife.
Thousands of acres of the protected wetlands, buffers and highland will maintain continuous links between the property and the Francis Marion National Forest and serve as wildlife corridors.
Of the 4,500 acres of highland that will be developed, approximately 1,000 acres will become parks, trails and open space that are open to the public.
Just 178.85 acres of freshwater wetlands and 2.65 acres of tidally-influenced wetlands on the property will be impacted, representing only approximately 4% of the property’s total wetlands. Compared to other development projects of this size, this is an exceptionally low percentage.
At the request of the South Carolina Coastal Conservation League, a buffer has been placed along Cainhoy Road across from the Francis Marion National Forest in order to preserve the rural appearance of Cainhoy Road in this area.
Conservation-minded planning is at the very heart of our developing community, and it is one of the reasons we believe Point Hope will maintain its unique and authentic character as the community grows.