Judge approves referendum sought by slave descendants to challenge rezoning of island community

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — A judge on Tuesday approved a referendum sought by residents of one of the South’s last remaining Gullah-Geechee communities of slave descendants, ordering an Oct. 1 special election on whether to overturn zoning changes that Black residents see as a threat to an island enclave founded by enslaved ancestors.

McIntosh County Probate Court Judge Harold Webster said in his written order that local election officials have verified that referendum organizers had collected more than 1,800 petition signatures from the registered county voters, exceeding the 20% threshold required to put the issue on the ballot.

Residents and supporters of tiny Hogg Hummock on Sapelo Island spent months collecting petition signatures in their fight to undo zoning changes that McIntosh County commissioners approved in September. Those revisions rolled back protections that for decades limited development in the community of about 30 to 50 Black residents descended from formerly enslaved plantation workers.

The Probate Court judge approved the referendum just two weeks after residents and their supporters on July 9 filed their petition to put the zoning changes before county voters.

“It’s a big deal,” said Jazz Watts, a Hogg Hummock descendant and homeowner who helped organize the referendum effort. “I’m glad that we’re moving forward, but I’m still disappointed that we have to do this. We have a local goverment that is not listening to its constituents, so we have no choice.”

Commissioners are asking a higher court to block the referendum. In a legal filing Monday, an attorney representing the county government asked a Superior Court judge to declare the referendum invalid. While Georgia’s constitution empowers citizens to repeal some county government actions by referendum, the county’s lawyer argues that power doesn’t apply to zoning.

“The referendum election requested ... would be illegal, and the results would be a nullity,” said the filing by Ken Jarrard, an attorney representing McIntosh County.

Jarrard asked a judge to expedite a hearing before the proposed referendum can proceed. The law gives Probate Court Judge Harold Webster 60 days to verify the petition’s signatures and decide whether to call a special election. Petition organizers hope for a vote this fall.

Black residents and landowners of Hogg Hummock, also known as Hog Hammock, are among the descendants of enslaved island populations in the South that became known as Gullah, or Geechee in Georgia.

Scattered along the Southeast coast from North Carolina to Florida, Gullah-Geechee communities have endured since the Civil War. Scholars say their separation from the mainland caused these slave descendants to retain much of their African heritage, from their unique dialect to skills and crafts such as cast-net fishing and weaving baskets.

Those remaining on Sapelo Island, about 60 miles (95 kilometers) south of Savannah, say they could be forced to sell land their families have held for generations if zoning changes that doubled the size of houses allowed in Hogg Hummock are left standing and lead to an increase in property taxes.

In addition to pursuing the referendum, Hogg Hummock residents are also challenging the new zoning ordinance in a lawsuit.

The Georgia Supreme Court last year upheld a 2022 referendum in nearby Camden County that opponents used to veto commissioners’ plans to build a launchpad for commercial rockets.

But attorneys for McIntosh County say Georgia’s referendum provision doesn’t apply to zoning.

They say that’s because Georgia’s constitution states that referendum results are invalid if they clash with other constitutional provisions or with state law. Georgia gives counties and cities sole authority over zoning, they say, and state law specifies the process for adopting and repealing zoning ordinances.

Jarrard made the same arguments in a letter last week to the probate judge considering the referendum petition. But the state Supreme Court’s ruling last year found that Georgia’s constitution doesn’t authorize a county government or anyone else to challenge a referendum in Probate Court.

Dana Braun, an attorney for the referendum organizers, said McIntosh County’s lawyers have based their argument on a misreading of the state constitution.

“We strongly believe that the ordinance passed by the County Commission is subject to repeal through the Georgia Constitution’s provision for a referendum,” Braun said by email Tuesday.