A recent Post & Courier article about Charleston County Parks and Recreation plans to purchase a large track of land Two Pines Road came to a big surprise to myself and everyone Ive talked to the past few days, so Ive done a little more research to fill people in on the facts. Two Pines is a small community of a dozen or so homeowners along the Intracoastal Waterway just south of McClellanville and north of Tibwin. The proposed 812 acre tract begins at Highway 17 and continues on both sides of Two Pines Road until it reaches the waterfront residences.

This property was bought from an International Paper affiliate in 2005 by The Nature Conservancy for the sum of $4,469,025. Charleston County Parks has now proposed purchasing the entire tract of land for $3 million from The Nature Conservancy. The purchase would be paid for from the CCPs $36 million share of the counties proceeds from the 1/2 percent sales tax increase to fund transportation and green space needs.
I spoke to Senior Design Manager for Charleston County Parks, Julie Hensley, this afternoon to ask her about the development. She couldnt discuss all the details because the deal is still far from complete, but was able to advise that, if purchased, the land would convey with protective convenances restricting land use and limiting the amount of impermeable surface and structures. She stated that it may not be utilized for five to ten years, but development would probably include hiking trails, boardwalks over wetland areas, picnic tables and shelters and some sort of park center facility for educational purposes.
Hensley also assured me that a buffer would remain between the park and the residents of Two Pines Road and that there would be a public input forum when the time comes to develop the park so that the community can voice their opinion. I spoke to several home and property owners on Two Pines Road and all of them indicated that they were happy with the Countys efforts to preserve the area from further development and provide a natural area for the community to take pride in.
I also spoke with Mike Prevost with The Nature Conservancy who confirmed that Charleston County Parks intentions were for the creation of a more passive park that would be fitting with McClellanvilles rural nature. He emphasized the fact that it would be the only park in a rural area east of the Cooper.
McClellanvilles distance from Charleston and the various county decision makers means that we are often the overlooked and underfunded tip of Charleston County. Our incorporation as a Town often gives us a stronger, unified voice, but we still make up a very small portion of the population and county taxes. Im glad to see that Charleston County Parks recognizes the need to provide services to this region and hope that their future plans will be a benefit to the entire community.
You can see from the map that this tract is almost the size of the incorporated Town of McClellanville. Acreage like this in the hands of a developer could changed the face of McClellanville. If nothing else, the citizens of McClellanville should be happy that yet another large track of protected land will continue to act as a buffer against development in the area.
Related Article: More McClellanville Land is Protected by the Nature Conservancy