The Community Speaks: Visioning Ideas and Voting on Priorities
Join us at the next community meeting July 13, 5:30 - 7pm. Location TBA.
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Join us at the next community meeting July 13, 5:30 - 7pm. Location TBA. 〰️
On June 15, the St. Helena community gathered again — this time to do some of the most important work of the entire study: sharing ideas for what the property at Polowana Road and Sea Island Parkway could become, and deciding together what matters most.
Residents, stakeholders, community leaders, and partners filled the St. Helena Branch Library on Monday evening, June 15, for the second public engagement meeting of the St. Helena Island Economic Feasibility Study. The evening was built around listening and learning — through presentations, small-group discussions, and hands-on community voting.
The evening began with context.
Michael Allen of MOA Architecture shared an update on the study's progress since the kickoff. Racquel Collier of Caliber Real Estate presented an overview of the demographics, market conditions, and economic opportunities that help frame what's realistic for this site. And Najmah Thomas, a longtime St. Helena resident and the study's strategic community engagement consultant, grounded the evening in something essential — the reminder that local voices must remain at the center of this process from start to finish.
Then the community took the floor.
In small groups, participants explored what they most want to see — and what they want to protect. They discussed community needs, cultural preservation, future programs, economic opportunity, and their concerns about development. Then, through community voting, residents ranked the opportunities that matter most.
What the community said it wants most:
The highest-ranked opportunities of the evening included:
Trade classes and teaching
Space for meeting and recreation
Youth tutoring and trade programs
Youth tutoring programs (elementary - middle school ages)
Entertainment center
Residents also contributed ideas around technical college opportunities, medical services, sports and recreation, remote learning, cultural promotion, a food truck court, green space and parks, space for business, entrepreneurs and vendors, businesses, intergenerational space, and a charging station for cars and devices.
What the community wants to weigh carefully:
Just as important were the concerns residents asked the study to consider. The highest ranked challenges were:
Traffic
Lack of employment
Environmental Impact
Crime
Securtiy
The community also expressed challenges around maintaining community values and character, avoiding an overly commercial or corporate outcome, affordability, long-term funding and sustainability, unknown impacts on neighboring property owners, and constraints with the parcel size and footprint.
What Happens Next
To everyone who came, shared, and voted: thank you. As the study team often says — a feasibility study is meant to help make informed decisions, not predetermined ones. The ideas and concerns you shared are what will make the final recommendations realistic, sustainable, and reflective of St. Helena Island's values and aspirations.
The input gathered on June 15 will be documented, analyzed, and carried directly into the study's work ahead — including stakeholder interviews, market and economic analysis, evaluation of potential development scenarios, and the development of recommendations for the final feasibility study. Nothing has been decided, and the community's voice will continue to shape every step.
Couldn’t make it, or want to stay informed?
Plan to join us for the next community meeting July 13, 2026, from 5:30 - 7pm (location TBA).
Sign up for updates and share your thoughts anytime at moaarc.com/sthelenastudy»