Shipyard Property Owners Association (SPOA)

Shipyard is a gated community of about 800 acres on the south end of Hilton Head Island, and the association, known as SPOA, is the nonprofit that owns and looks after its shared parts. Every owner of a home, a villa or a timeshare unit is a member, with one vote per unit, and so are the owners of the commercial parcels, among them the golf course, the racquet club, the hotel and the health institute. An elected board runs it.

What the Shipyard POA Does

The association maintains the common areas: the roads, the bike paths, the lagoons and drainage, the landscaping and the street lighting. Its security team, licensed by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, staffs the two gates around the clock and keeps two patrol cars on the roads day and night, answering calls from alarms and accidents to wellness checks. It also enforces the community’s covenants and rules, and it can fine an owner, or the owner’s guest or renter, who breaks them.

Road paving follows a life-cycle study by an outside consultant, last updated in 2024, and a contractor treats and monitors the lagoons. Testing showed that a large dredging project is not needed, so the plan is smaller cleanups, and the association says no special assessment is planned for it.

Assessments and Reserves

Every unit pays an annual assessment, billed monthly, quarterly, twice a year or once a year as the board decides. The covenants cap how fast it can grow: no more than 3 percent a year plus the previous year’s rise in the Consumer Price Index. A special assessment needs two-thirds of the board and then 51 percent of the total association vote. A payment more than 10 days late carries a 10 percent late charge and 18 percent interest. The association does not publish the current amount, so ask the office or your agent.

The board is building a catastrophic reserve fund with a goal of $1 million, putting a quarter of each year’s enhancement income into it. It is about three quarters of the way there, even after the costs of Hurricane Helene.

Building or Renovating: the Architectural Review Board

Nothing on the outside of a Shipyard property changes without the written approval of the Architectural Review Board, which the board appoints each year with three, five or seven members. It has 60 days to decide on submitted plans, and if it does not, the owner can appeal to the board. The association posts separate applications for minor and major work, re-roofing, tree removal and changes to villa complexes, along with its current ARB guidelines.

Decals, Guest Passes and Contractors

Owners do not use guest passes. Each owner gets vehicle decals, the first two free: up to four if their main home is in Beaufort County, two if it is elsewhere, plus courtesy decals for relatives who live in the county. Decals run for the calendar year, and staff put them on the car at the association’s Welcome Center. Timeshare owners get a temporary pass for the weeks they own instead, and a tenant with a lease of six months or more can get a renter decal.

Guests need a pass. Owners order them through the association’s online guest pass portal or by phone, and a temporary pass for a stay of a day to 30 days can also come from a renter or a rental or timeshare company. Guests collect it at either gate, both pinned on the Shipyard map. Contractors, cleaners and delivery vans are different: every vendor buys a daily or annual commercial pass, and calling in a guest pass for one can get the owner fined. Commercial work runs on weekdays, with limited Saturday hours.

Golf Carts, E-Bikes and Low-Speed Vehicles

Golf carts are not allowed on Shipyard’s roads or paths. Street-legal low-speed vehicles are, if they are registered with the state and with the association, and they may only be driven to and from the owner’s home and kept in its garage. E-bikes must belong to an owner (or a tenant on a lease of six months or more) and be registered with the association, and they are ridden in pedal mode on the paths only. Rented e-bikes and short-term renters’ own e-bikes cannot be used, and electric scooters and skateboards are banned. Fines start at $100.

Renting Out or Buying a Shipyard Home

Leasing counts as residential use under the covenants, so owners can rent their homes out. The owner or the rental company authorizes each guest’s temporary pass, so whoever manages the place deals with the gate as well as the guests. For stays under 30 days the Town of Hilton Head Island also requires its own short-term rental permit and business license.

Buyers should ask for the current assessment and the rules for their complex before making an offer. See Shipyard homes for sale for the kinds of property here and what owning one involves.