How to Conserve Property - by Carl Voelker
Conserved Property: How does it happen?
Have you noticed the small green and gold “Conserved property” signs now posted all around Seabrook Island? The signs tell you that these lots are “green spaces” protected from development, but they don’t tell you how this protection came about.
Lot Selection: The Seabrook Island Green Space Conservancy (SIGSC) evaluates each undeveloped lot for its desirability as green space. The most desirable lots for conservation possess excellent opportunities for wildlife habitat and usually have plenty of trees and pollinator plants. However, with the ever-diminishing undeveloped lots on the Island and SIGSC’s limited financial resources, other factors, e.g., cost and availability, take precedence in determining which lots to pursue for conservation.
SIGSC acts as an intermediary, purchasing a property and placing a restrictive covenant ensuring conservation on it and then transferring ownership to the Seabrook Island Property Owners Association for oversight and maintenance.
Acquisition Process:
SIGSC acquires properties several different ways. The least complicated way is a straightforward purchase, using funds donated from generous donors or from funds raised at charitable events such as the Green Space Oyster Roast held last March. Given lot prices today, it typically takes several years of fund-raising to amass enough money to buy a lot at full market value.
A second way to conserve a lot is through an outright donation of a lot by the lot’s owner. As you might expect, this approach offers advantages to both SIGSC and the lot’s owner. The donor becomes eligible for an income tax deduction based upon the lot’s appraised value and is released from the payment of property taxes and homeowner contributions to SIPOA.
In recent years, a third way to acquire properties for conservation has become popular. When property owners want to conserve a specific property near their home, they might pledge a certain dollar amount towards the acquisition of that property. SIGSC could provide additional funds towards the purchase and assist in negotiating the purchase. A good example is when neighbors pool their donations to conserve a wooded lot near their homes. Since SIGSC is a 501( c )3 non-profit corporation, the donated funds are considered charitable donations.
Financial Factors:
Real estate transaction costs are generally covered by SIGSC funds and through the donated time of a realtor who takes no commission and an attorney who works pro bono. These cost saving measures, plus the charitable donation opportunity, means that buying/selling a property through the Green Space Conservancy maximizes the donor’s charitable deduction.
Why Green Space:
SIGSC acquired its first property more than twenty years ago. There are now 44 lots which have been conserved! More than 30 acres! These conserved lots are owned in perpetuity by the Seabrook Island community. This land contributes not only to the beauty and charm of the Island, but also assists with flood control, noise abatement, air quality, climate regulation, groundwater recharge, carbon sequestration and wildlife habitat.
If you may be interested in working with the Seabrook Island Green Space Conservancy on conserving a specific lot, please contact us at www.sigsc.net. The creative and generous support of the Seabrook Island community will make continued conservation possible!
Contributed by Carl Voelker, Board Member, Seabrook Island Green Space Conservancy
The Importance of Green Space
by Barry Shedrow
What is green space? An image of land that is covered with vegetation (trees, shrubs, and/or grass) immediately springs to mind. Representative examples include community parks and gardens, woodland, cemeteries, farmland and residential lawns. Ecosystems such as wetlands (marshes and swamps), shallow lakes and ponds, estuaries and beaches also qualify as green space. This is because of the presence of large plant communities (e.g., cord grass and/or algae) within these habitats. On Seabrook Island, the dominant forms of green space are undeveloped tracts of maritime forest, fairways, and residential lawns.
Green space provides significant benefits to both the human and natural environments. The following describes a partial listing of these benefits.
Environmental Benefits
• Air Quality – green space improves air quality by removing gaseous pollutants (e.g., volatile organic carbons) and airborne particles (e.g., dust) from the atmosphere. Gaseous pollutants are absorbed by leaves and biodegraded by microbes (bacteria) living within the plant. Airborne particles are filtered from the surrounding air by deposition on plant leaf and stem surfaces.
• Water Quality – green space improves water quality by removing precipitation borne contaminants, reducing the potential for their transport to surface and ground waters. As rainwater passes through the tree canopy and infiltrates the soil column, dissolved pollutants are absorbed by plant leaves and root systems and immobilized by clay and organic matter within the soil matrix.
• Flood Control - green space functions as a sustainable storm water management system. Vegetation and soil intercept and temporarily store rain water, reducing the potential for surface runoff, soil erosion and downstream flooding.
• Groundwater Recharge - rainwater infiltrating green space soils serves to recharge the water table aquifer.
• Wildlife Habitat – green space provides natural habitat for wildlife. Strategically located green space tracts can also serve as corridors for wildlife to move easily between multiple habitat areas, improving the potential for biodiversity and self sustaining population growth.
• Carbon Sequestration – green space reduces atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations and serves as a carbon sink. Vegetation absorbs CO2 from the atmosphere and incorporates the carbon into organic compounds used for energy and plant growth. Decomposition of biomass within green space contributes to the formation of humus which results in the retention (sequestration) of carbon within the soil column.
• Climate Regulation – green space cools the surrounding environment through shading and evaporative cooling.
• Noise Abatement - green space reduces noise pollution. Trees and shrubs can diminish noise by five to ten decibels for every 30 meters width of vegetation.
Social Benefits
• Quality of Life – research indicates that green space has a restorative effect on humans. It reduces stress, helps to combat depression, and improves mental health.
• Recreation – green space can promote physical health by presenting opportunities for physical activity (e.g., walking, wildlife watching, bike riding, fishing). On SI, there are multiple walking trails that course through relatively undisturbed natural environments (see www.sinhg.org). The Lake House lawn and adjacent Lake Palmetto are available for sports-related activities, fishing or quiet contemplation.
Economic Benefits
• Increased Property Values – green space improves the aesthetic quality/appeal of a community and is attractive to prospective buyers.
• Tourism - green space encourages tourism by enhancing community attractiveness and providing recreational opportunities.
The acquisition and protection of selected green space tracts on Seabrook Island is the responsibility of two community-based organizations: the Seabrook Island Green Space Conservancy (the Conservancy) and the Seabrook Island Property Owners Association (SIPOA). The Conservancy was incorporated as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in 2000. It is governed by a Board of Directors composed of Seabrook Island (SI) property owners who volunteer to serve for a period of three years. The Conservancy’s objective is to preserve SI’s natural environment. This objective is accomplished by acquiring tracts of undeveloped green space, either through charitable donation by property owners or conventional purchase by the Conservancy. Money for conventional purchases is raised primarily by an annual fund raiser, the Conservancy Gala, which has enjoyed wide community support.
Seabrook Island is rapidly building out. Consequently, the acreage of undeveloped green space on the island is diminishing, as is the opportunity to acquire and protect the subject land. This scenario lends a sense of urgency to the Conservancy’s efforts. If you wish to participate in protecting SI’s natural environment for present and future generations, seriously consider joining the Conservancy Board. No particular expertise is required to qualify. Alternatively, you can donate land or contribute funds. Tax benefits may apply.