SAPELO ISLAND, Ga. (WSAV) – A historic Gullah Geechee community known as Hogg Hummock is threatening to be rezoned.

“This is what supremacy at its best. We’re living in 2023 with the reign of the plantation,” says lifelong Hogg Hummock resident Reginald Hall.

McIntosh County is proposing zoning changes that would allow developers to buy parts of the land, something Hall says is disruptive to the community’s culture that has been preserved for centuries.

“You see what’s being done right now, don’t think that your backyard is impervious from the same onslaught as we’re suffering,” says Hall, “No matter where you are, who you are, what color you are, if they want it and means money for them, they will take it.”

Hall also says if the district gets rezoned, that would drive up taxes, something he says would push island natives off their land that has been inhabited by their descendants for centuries.

“They said if you cannot Eminent Domain the black people off the island, our last resort is to change the zoning that will tax them off,” he adds.

Another thing the rezoning proposal would do is allow for larger houses to be built and set a minimum size that’s larger than some of the historic homes.

Hall says to preserve the culture of the district, it’s important that the architecture is true to its original form.

“I want the island to stay as it is, the houses to stay the same size, and everything like that,” he adds.

The rezoning proposal will be put to a vote Tuesday evening by the McIntosh County Commission at the McIntosh County Courthouse.