Architectural Review Boards

On Hilton Head Island, in Bluffton and in Okatie, almost no custom home gets built without clearing a private design review process first. Every established plantation and club community runs its own board, and each one has its own submission packet, its own deposit schedule, and its own rules about who can be on site and when. The Town of Hilton Head Island layers a separate design review process on top of that within its corridor overlay districts. None of this shows up on most builders’ websites, and buyers relocating from other markets are often surprised by how much of the schedule and the budget runs through a volunteer board before a permit is ever pulled. Ed Flynn and Hilton Head Builders have worked inside these processes since the company was founded in 1995, building across Sea Pines, Palmetto Dunes, Hilton Head Plantation, Wexford, and the Bluffton and Okatie club communities.

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What an Architectural Review Board Actually Does

An Architectural Review Board, Architectural Review Committee or Architectural Standards Committee is created by a community’s covenants to enforce its design standards. The board evaluates a proposed home for compliance with the community’s architectural guidelines, which typically cover exterior materials, roofline and pitch, siting within the building envelope, setbacks, exterior color, landscaping and tree protection, and exterior lighting. It has the authority to require revisions or reject a design outright, including on purely aesthetic grounds, if a proposal does not fit the character of the neighborhood. This review is separate from, and in addition to, municipal permitting. A home in Sea Pines, for example, generally needs both Sea Pines Architectural Review Board approval and a Town of Hilton Head Island building permit before construction can begin, and each agency reviews a different part of the project.

The Review Bodies You Will Work With

The name of the body, its meeting schedule and its exact requirements differ by community. A few examples, based on published guidelines:

The name of the body, its meeting schedule and its exact requirements differ by community. A few examples, based on published guidelines:
Palmetto Dunes: the Palmetto Dunes Resort Covenants established an Architectural Review Board of three to seven members, and most exterior work requires an ARB permit, in some cases along with a refundable compliance deposit.
Hilton Head Plantation: the Hilton Head Plantation Property Owners' Association Architectural Review Board oversees design review under its own written Architectural Guidelines and Review Procedures.
Wexford Plantation: the Wexford Architectural Standards Committee typically meets twice a month to review new construction, exterior renovations, additions, landscaping and tree removal requests, and requires both its own approval and a Town of Hilton Head Island permit.
Belfair: the Belfair Architectural Review Board charges a non-refundable review fee at submission and a road use fee once plans are approved, and returns refundable compliance and damage deposits after a final inspection.
Colleton River: the Colleton River Architectural Review Board reviews plans, materials, setbacks and landscaping against its own submittal checklist and deposit schedule.
Berkeley Hall and other Bluffton and Okatie club communities: each runs its own architectural review process for new construction and exterior changes, generally structured around the same conceptual and final review steps described below.

Outside the private communities, the Town of Hilton Head Island’s Design Review Board handles a separate process for new buildings and exterior changes within the Town’s corridor overlay districts, working through a Conceptual Review followed by a Final Review. Whether a given homesite falls inside one of these overlay districts is worth confirming with the Town early, since it can add a review step on top of a community’s own board.

What Typically Gets Submitted

Requirements vary by community, but most submission packages draw from the same list:

A site plan showing the building envelope, setbacks and drainage
Exterior elevations with material callouts
Roof pitch and roofing material samples
Window and door specifications
Exterior color and material samples
A lighting plan
A tree survey or tree protection plan, given how many Lowcountry communities protect grand live oaks and other specimen trees

Some communities require a formal survey before any submission is accepted, and some require an as-built survey once framing or the footprint is complete. A few, including Wexford, require documentation that changes made during construction match what was approved, not just what was originally submitted.

The Typical Sequence

Most communities separate design review into two stages. A conceptual or preliminary submission comes first, covering siting, massing and general design direction, so a homeowner and their architect are not investing in full construction documents before the board has weighed in on the basic approach. A final submission follows, with complete construction drawings, material and color samples, and landscaping and lighting plans. Once the design is approved, many communities also require the contractor to register and agree to the community’s work rules before a gate credential or road use approval is issued, which is a separate administrative step from the design approval itself. A Town or county building permit is pulled once ARB approval is in hand, and in several communities a final ARB inspection at the end of construction is required before compliance deposits are released.

Deposits, Fees and Access Rules

Nearly every community charges a fee at submission and additional fees or deposits before work begins. Belfair’s structure is a useful example of how this is often organized: a non-refundable review fee due with the plans, a non-refundable road use fee due once the design is approved and before a permit is issued, and separate refundable compliance and damage deposits returned after a passing final inspection. Other communities on the island and in Bluffton use a similar shape, though the amounts and the number of separate fees differ. Because these communities are gated and privately managed, construction access is arranged through the property owners’ association, not just the Town, and most boards also set rules on construction hours, dumpster and portable toilet placement, silt fencing, and tree protection that have to be in place before the board will sign off on groundbreaking.

How Long Approval Takes

Review timelines depend on the community, the season, and how complete the submission is. A straightforward, fully documented plan can clear conceptual and final review in a matter of weeks in some communities. A plan that needs a variance, a missing survey, or a second round of board comments can take considerably longer. In our experience, the single biggest factor a homeowner and builder actually control is the completeness of the submission itself. An incomplete package is the most common reason a project sits with a board longer than it needs to.

How Hilton Head Builders Handles This

Ed Flynn manages architectural review submissions directly for every project, drawing on decades of work inside these specific boards rather than treating each community’s process as new. We prepare the submission package, communicate with board and property owners association staff, and keep you informed of where the design stands at each stage rather than leaving it as a black box between contract signing and groundbreaking.

This is also where our flat builder fee model shows up in practice. Review fees, road use fees and compliance deposits are community expenses, not builder markup, and because our fee is a flat amount rather than a percentage of project cost, you see every one of those bills pass through the project’s dedicated account at cost. That structure is about visibility into where the money goes, not about being the cheapest bid.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need architectural review board approval before I can get a building permit?

In nearly every gated community on Hilton Head Island and in the private clubs around Bluffton and Okatie, yes. The community board approves the design first, and the Town of Hilton Head Island, Beaufort County, or in some Okatie parcels Jasper County, then issues the building permit for construction itself.

Are architectural review deposits refundable?

Compliance and damage deposits are typically refundable once a project passes final inspection. Review fees and road use fees are generally non-refundable regardless of outcome. Terms differ by community, so it is worth requesting the current fee schedule before you budget a project.

Can I choose any contractor, or does the community have to approve the builder too?

Many communities require a contractor to register with the architectural review board and agree to the community’s work rules, covering hours, access, dumpster placement and tree protection, before a gate credential or road use approval is issued. This is separate from the design approval itself.

How early should architectural review start relative to closing on a lot?

Ideally before you are under contract to build. Reviewing a specific community’s guidelines and any known site constraints, such as setbacks, tree protection, or elevation requirements, while you are still evaluating a homesite can prevent a redesign after you already own it.

Does Hilton Head Builders handle the architectural review submission for me?

Yes. We prepare and manage the submission package for each community we build in, communicate directly with board and property owners association staff, and keep you updated on where the design stands at each stage of review.