April was certainly a busy month in Sea Pines.  We saw a high number of guests/renters/property owners during the weeks prior to and following Easter Sunday, all of who enjoyed the first wave of our wonderful Spring-like temperatures on our leisure trails and beaches. We enjoyed a most interesting, and certainly different, Heritage Week, with a strong field of golfers who were watched by a smaller, but certainly knowledgeable crowd of patrons, including many Sea Pines property owners. Last weekend, many of us enjoyed a terrific (albeit rain-impacted) Spring Dinner which benefited the Sea Pines Forest Preserve Foundation, with the food and services donated by The Salty Dog. We thank Bob Gossett and his team for their generous support.

This coming Monday, May 3, starting at 10 a.m. EST, we will hold the 2020 Annual Meeting. Given COVID-19 restrictions, the meeting will again be held by Zoom/Webinar. At the adjournment of this year’s meeting, we will provide property owners the opportunity to speak directly to Sam Bennett, David Borghesi and me with any comments, concerns or questions they may have. This is your meeting, and as in past years (at the Sea Pines Country Club), any property owner may “take the mic” (instructions to be provided) and comment or ask a question. I encourage all property owners to register for this webinar to hear not only what we’ve accomplished over the past 15 months, but also what Sam and I are hoping to achieve in continuing to maintain and improve the Sea Pines experience.

Over the past several months, I have received a number of inquiries from different property owners discussing particular “concerns” that each property owner has with the current environment in Sea Pines.  I also regularly review a number of social media sites to see what concerns our property owners may be voicing through that medium. What virtually all of those concerns reflect is the reality that the Sea Pines of 2021 is not the same as the Sea Pines of 2011, certainly not the same as twenty or thirty years ago.  We have more homes occupied more regularly – whether by the owner, family members or renters – than ever before. Certainly, the high level of occupancy has changed the level of traffic on our roads entering and leaving the community and along our “major” thoroughfares. With more folks inhabiting Sea Pines, our leisure trails are regularly more crowded, parking at and near the beach, Harbour Town, South Beach Marina and even at Tower Beach is more difficult, and various beach walks and beach areas previously relatively underutilized are becoming more popular and more crowded.

I can assure you that CSA is working to address each of these concerns, for example with more signage at the Greenwood gate and additional guards at both Gates during “peak” periods (when they can be identified) and with a full-time guard at Tower Beach. But there is only so much CSA can do; simply stated, we must all learn to adjust to a new “reality” of a more popular – and often more crowded – community. Any real estate agent will tell you that Sea Pines properties are selling at significantly increased prices, in near record time on the market, a reflection of the ideal environment we each chose for our own property investment, whether as a full-time resident, a part-timer, or an investor/renter. And while the adjustment may be uncomfortable for a while, in the end, I am confident that there are very few communities that will provide you with the mix of climate, natural beauty, beaches, leisure trails, outdoor activities and commercial shops anywhere close to what we have in our unique, wonderful Sea Pines.

I look forward to speaking further with you at our Annual Membership Meeting on Monday, May 3 at 10 AM.