Black residents of Hogg Hummock on Sapelo Island refiled a legal challenge to zoning they fear will lead to higher taxes and push them off their ancestral Gullah Geechee community in McIntosh County.
The original complaint filed in October challenged zoning change passed by county commissioners to allow houses on the island to double in size to 3,000 square feet. Attorneys for several members of the last intact Gullah Geechee community on Georgia’s coast say the new ordinance is discriminatory.
That complaint was dismissed on a procedural error because it named not only the county but also individual commissioners as defendants. Plaintiffs were able to sue only the county, due to the waiver of sovereign immunity set forth in a Georgia constitutional amendment passed by voters in 2020. The new legal document names the county and drops the additional defendants, but retains the same legal arguments.
Read this story now for free
To continue reading, sign up for our newsletter and get unlimited access to WABE.org
You can select your preferences for news and local content. We will never share your email address. Learn how your newsletter sign-up will support WABE and Public Media
