MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. (AP) - A South Carolina county has paid $7.1 million to protect a nearly 340-year-old plantation from development.
The Post and Courier reports Charleston County now owns development rights to Boone Hall Plantation, which covers about 600 acres in Mount Pleasant. The property is now under a conservation easement, limiting its use without changing its ownership. Co-owner Willie McRae says it’s a “perpetual agreement” to never develop the land and aligns with the wishes of the McRaes, who have owned it since the 1950s.
He says the Charleston County Greenbelt Fund and S.C. Conservation Bank money will go toward improving the land and creating a foundation to run it after the family is gone. The nonprofit Lowcounty Land Trust says the McRaes declined an estimated $21 million by not selling to developers.
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Information from: The Post and Courier, http://www.postandcourier.com
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