"You can see the combination of strand-feeding bottlenose dolphins, you can see sea turtles nesting, you can see bobcats denning and you can see all these extraordinary migratory shorebirds," Kiawah Island Mayor Bradley Belt told Live 5 News in late September. "It may be the only place in the world where all of these things come together."
He was talking about Captain Sams Spit, the undeveloped sand at Kiawah's west end that you reach on foot from Kiawah Beachwalker Park. For nearly two decades, people fought over whether anything would ever be built there. That fight is in its last paperwork stage. The settlement sends the spit to the State of South Carolina and the Town of Kiawah Island, and it keeps today's route out to it in place: the same park and gate, the same walk down the beach.
Three parcels, two owners, one beach walk
The settlement was announced in March 2026 and is worth $37 million. South Carolina pays $32 million, the Town of Kiawah Island $3.7 million and the Conservancy of the Sea Islands $1.3 million. The Town's settlement summary lists the parties as Kiawah Partners affiliates, the State, the Town, the Kiawah Island Community Association and the Conservancy, along with the South Carolina Department of Environmental Services and the Department of Natural Resources. According to the South Carolina Environmental Law Project, the spit is currently owned by KDP II, LLC, an affiliate of Kiawah Partners.
By the October 6 Town Council meeting, the Town's Planning Commission had approved a plat that divides the whole spit into three parcels. Mayor Belt laid out who gets what at that meeting:
- The uplands, which the settlement calls the Highlands parcel, go to the State through the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources. DNR intends to seek Heritage Trust Preserve status for them, which Live 5 described as the state's highest form of protection.
- The lowlands west of the isthmus, the Oceanfront parcel, go to the State and are held essentially in public trust.
- The eastern parcel, which includes Beachwalker County Park, goes to the Town.
That third parcel is the one most people actually set foot on. Charleston County manages Beachwalker Park under a 99-year lease signed in 1976. The Town's settlement summary says that lease stays in effect and that public access at the park is preserved. The Town calls Beachwalker "the only public beach access on the island," so the deal changes who owns that ground but keeps the way in.
The ban on development comes from conservation easements. Before the parcels are conveyed, Kiawah Partners records an easement in favor of the Conservancy, and it bars structures and activities that conflict with its conservation purposes. KICA's settlement summary puts easements on the Highlands and Oceanfront parcels and says the Town and Conservancy intend to negotiate a separate easement for the Beachwalker Park parcel.
Where the paperwork stood heading into November
The State's share is approved, and the Conservancy is raising its own. The steps between the money and a recorded deed come in a set order, and the dates below are the milestones so far:
- March 2, 2026. ABC News 4 reports the settlement after years of litigation.
- August 13, 2026. ABC News 4 reports that the General Assembly approved the State's $32 million share.
- September 16, 2026. The Conservancy launches a $1.3 million campaign to cover its share, under the headline "Forever Starts Now for Captain Sams Spit."
- September 30, 2026. Live 5 reports that DNR's next step is a letter of support from Charleston County to make the land tax-exempt, on the agenda for that week's county finance meeting. After that, the easements are recorded and the money changes hands.
- October 6, 2026. Mayor Belt tells Town Council that Kiawah Partners still has to record the conservation easements before final conveyance and exchange of funds.
KICA's explainer lists the end of the sequence. Court approval in both lawsuits and the other closing conditions come before the property transfers and release of funds. After that, the lawsuits are dismissed with prejudice.
Why closing it took nearly two decades
The two lawsuits this settlement is meant to resolve go back years. One is a 2009 takings case the developer brought over erosion-control permits. The other was filed in May 2024 by the Town, KICA and what was then the Kiawah Conservancy to enforce a 2013 development agreement. That agreement's conveyance and conservation obligations were due before it expired in December 2023. The parties agreed in March 2025 to take both cases to mediation.
The court record runs through the South Carolina Supreme Court. SCELP's case history traces the fight back to a proposed 2,783-foot revetment and bulkhead system. In 2018 the court reversed permission for 2,513 feet of bulkhead, and on June 2, 2021, it reversed approval of a 2,380-foot steel wall. Those walls are why the spit still looks the way it does when you round the bend past the park.
The group named in the easement has a new name too. On January 22, 2026, the Kiawah Conservancy became the Conservancy of the Sea Islands. It said its work had grown into a watershed-based approach covering Johns, Kiawah and Seabrook Islands. The Conservancy says it has preserved 90 properties totaling 3,900 acres so far. It describes Captain Sams Spit as roughly 140 acres of living coastal landscape.
Getting out there in November
This is the easiest month of the year to reach the spit. Charleston County Parks lists November and December hours at Beachwalker as 10 a.m. to sunset. The gate closes to incoming traffic 30 minutes before closing. Standard vehicles pay $5, and walk-ins and bicyclists get in free. If you ride a bike from elsewhere on the island, the walk out costs nothing.
Dog rules change once you leave the park. Inside Beachwalker, the park rules require pets to be leashed, cleaned up after and under control at all times, and pets can't be left in vehicles. On the Town's designated beach areas, dogs may be off-leash in November, but the owner has to stay with the dog, carry a leash and leash the dog if another beachgoer or Beach Patrol asks. Ordinances get updated, so check the Town's current beach rules before you let a dog off the leash. This is general information, not legal advice.
The Town's beach guidance applies on the spit as much as anywhere. Its beach-rules explainer asks visitors to keep off the dunes, where sea turtles and shorebirds nest. It also warns that off-leash dogs can harm shorebirds and dolphins during strand feedings. It bans feeding or harassing wildlife of any kind and asks people to "keep your distance and give them plenty of space." Those are the same animals Mayor Belt named, on the same sand the settlement protects.
The rest of November runs on the same conservation thread
The island's calendar this month leans toward the groups and land this settlement involves:
- Thursday, November 12, 6 p.m. The 2026 Conservancy Gala at The Sanctuary is sold out. The Conservancy offers a waitlist contact.
- Thursday, November 19, 3 p.m. At Kiawah Conversations at Town Hall, KICA's Ryan Ellmers and Matt Hill explain how their team manages water through the island's 122 interconnected ponds, which carry it to the marsh and the Kiawah River. The program is free and open to the public, including Seabrook, Kiawah River Estates and lower Johns Island. Registration is required.
- Saturday, November 21, 9 to 11 a.m. The Conservancy and the South Carolina Aquarium hold the monthly Island Litter Sweep at Mingo Point, 876 Kiawah Island Parkway. Supplies are provided and no registration is needed, so bring a refillable water bottle.
- Monday, November 23, 1 to 5 p.m. Freshfields Village holds its Thanksgiving Farmers Market.
- Thursday, November 26, Thanksgiving Day. The resort's Turkey Trot starts at The Sanctuary Beach Access. Music begins at 10 a.m., the race at 10:30 and the pie raffle at 11:15. That afternoon, a Thanksgiving Festival runs at Night Heron Park from 1 to 4 p.m.
- November 27 to 29. Freshfields hosts Santa Visits the Village and holiday weekend entertainment, plus a Holiday Market on November 28 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The litter sweep also runs year-round on your own schedule. The Conservancy points volunteers to the South Carolina Aquarium's Litter Journal, where you can log what you collect on any walk, including one out to the tip of the spit.
If you'd like to talk through what the Captain Sams Spit settlement means for your part of Kiawah, or you want a clear read on your home's value this season, Lori Petersen is glad to help. Start with a Free Valuation.
