A Brief History

Charles Fraser, the founder of Sea Pines, deeded property in 1981 on Calibogue Sound to the Baynard Property Owners Association for use as a neighborhood park. The park is located on Baynard Park Road and we have enjoyed the use of the park and dock with access to Baynard Creek for over 35 years. It is our responsibility as a neighborhood, to maintain the park and dock to the same standards as other community recreation areas within Sea Pines. Membership in the association provides us with the funds to maintain and enhance the park for our residents enjoyment.

Membership in the Association is voluntary.  Currently we have a total of 216 homes that are eligible for membership in our association.

Unlike some other neighborhood associations, the BPOA bylaws do not provide the ability to assess its members for dues. Membership in the association is voluntary by paying annual dues. We strive for 100% participation to support the association’s maintenance cost for the park, the dock, kayak racks and other social amenities.

You have to be a current member to use the park. The park is a wonderful asset in the neighborhood for family and social use. Membership has increased in recent years as a result of our neighborhood volunteers all working together to serve the needs of our association.

The Association Park and Dock

The Park has been, and still is, a gathering place for neighborhood social events. This has always been a popular use of the Park and is essential in maintaining a sense of community in our association.  This aspect of the Baynard neighborhood sets it apart from many other Sea Pines and Hilton Head communities without such a neighborhood gathering place.

In the early years of ownership, the community dock was the focal point of recreational use of the Park. Over the years, numerous efforts to dredge Baynard Creek were unsuccessful and the dock became less navigable by anything but Kayaks.  Recent BPOA boards have enhanced the use of the dock for kayaking by funding dock repairs, adding kayak storage racks and installing an innovative kayak launch.  This usage has been enhanced by the growing popularity of kayaking in our community and throughout the country.

The Park is a gathering place for parties and other community social events.  This has always been a popular use of the Park, but in recent years it has made this function essential in maintaining a sense of community in our neighborhood. With the varying travel and personal schedules we all have, it is always fun to meet at the Park and say “Welcome” to our new residents and “Hi” to many of our neighborhood friends!

To learn more about the park facilities click here.

Neighborhood Property Values

The neighborhood park also plays a major role helping to increase overall property values for the residents of the Baynard community. The internet is full of market research and statistical studies concerning the relationship between neighborhood parks and residential property values.

• A survey of real estate brokers and homebuilders identify neighborhood parks as one of the top residential selling points for homebuyers.
• A study by the National Association of Realtors found that 57% of buyers would choose a home near parks and green space over one that was not.
• The same study found that 50% of buyers would be willing to pay 10% more for a home located near a park than a similar house that was not.
• The National Association of Homebuilders found that 65% of home shoppers surveyed felt that parks would seriously influence them to move to a specific community.

Recently, we have seen a resurgence of new home construction and renovations in our neighborhood.  The 216 homes in the Baynard community have an average market value in excess of $2 million creating an aggregate market value of residential properties near $500 million.  If the asset of our park were to result in a 1% uptick in property values, it would be worth $5 million to our residents.

Park Enhancements

Past Association Boards have made many suggestions to enhance the park for more social and family use. The previous Board began working on a plan in 2016 to update, enhance, and beautify the park.  It was past due for a much needed restoration.  After Hurricane Matthew, this plan became even more critical to make sure the park continues to be an asset to our neighborhood.

The plan had several important priorities, including a new pavilion, renovated dock, new sign, and improved landscaping.  A number of additional amenities were included such as adding marsh seating for those wonderful views of Calibogue Sound and the spectacular sunsets!

A Vision committee was established to create a plan for the future use of the park. The Vision was divided into Phases that would represent our ability to launch a Fundraising campaign to accomplish Phase 1 –Build a new Pavilion and enhance the landscaping. After two years of the fundraising campaign, we were blessed with contributions from 141 neighbors and a major single donation from an anonymous neighbor.  This allowed us to complete construction of the Pavilion in 2019 and accomplish Phase 1. With a beautiful new pavilion, additional kayak racks, a BBQ grill, and a new sign and entrance…we have renamed our neighborhood asset to the Baynard Park Club. This is a beautiful new benefit to our neighborhood to be enjoyed by BPOA Members!

Following several failed attempts in the past, we were finally able to complete a dredge of Baynard Creek in 2023, providing water access to our dock regardless of the tidal cycle. This effort was accomplished through the efforts of an independent dredge committee headed by John Crawshaw. The committee conducted a successful fundraising effort, and thanks to the generous donations from our neighborhood community, we were able raise funds for the dredging and to replace our aging dock. A separate dock committee was formed to design and select a builder to construct the new dock. The new dock, which includes an expanded pierhead with adequate seating for admiring the views of Calibogue Sound, was built following completion of the dredge. 

In the coming year we are planning to construct the marsh seating area utilizing pavers generously donated by one of our members. The area will have a paved patio area with comfortable seating for sitting and relaxing by the marsh.  

These improvements are only achievable from the generous contributions from our association neighbors of both their time and financial support,  along with their vision to make our neighborhood one of the premier residential locations in Sea Pines!