Gullah-Geechee descendants seek a referendum to veto zoning changes they say threaten their Georgia island

Two weeks after local officials weakened restrictions that for decades protected a tiny Georgia island community populated by descendants of enslaved people, its Black residents hope to force a referendum that would give them the chance to override the zoning changes.

Hogg Hummock, a group of modest homes along dirt roads on largely unspoiled Sapelo Island, is one of the South’s few surviving Gullah-Geechee communities. Residents vowed to fight after McIntosh County commissioners Sept. 12 doubled the size of homes allowed in the community, stoking fears that wealthy buyers would build large houses that would cause taxes to rise and force Black landowners to sell.

Hogg Hummock residents and their supporters launched a petition drive Tuesday aimed at forcing a referendum on the zoning changes. They need to collect an estimated 2,200 signatures from registered voters in the county to put the issue on a future ballot.