Sapelo Island. Photo by Eden Landow/ALM Slave Descendants Sue to Fight Zoning Changes They Say Threaten Their Island Homes Off Georgia Coast
The civil lawsuit was filed in McIntosh County Superior Court a month after elected county commissioners voted to double the size of houses allowed in Hogg Hummock, where a few dozen people live in modest homes along dirt roads on largely unspoiled Sapelo Island. Black residents fear larger homes in the community will lead to property tax increases that they won't be able to afford.
October 16, 2023 at 05:02 PM
5 minute read
Black residents of a tiny island enclave founded by their enslaved ancestors off the Georgia coast have filed suit seeking to halt a new zoning law that they say will raise taxes and force them to sell their homes in one of the South's last surviving Gullah-Geechee communities.
The civil lawsuit was filed in McIntosh County Superior Court a month after elected county commissioners voted to double the size of houses allowed in Hogg Hummock, where a few dozen people live in modest homes along dirt roads on largely unspoiled Sapelo Island. Black residents fear larger homes in the community will lead to property tax increases that they won't be able to afford.
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