Bitty old Beaufort by the sea got a lot larger this month, looping a 4,200-acre plantation into its city limits amid residents’ cries that the move would send its military economy to hell and taint the town’s historic charm.

Growth battles have gripped many coastal Southern cities in recent years. But the battle over Beaufort snowballed into a seaside drama, mixing mundane planning issues with magnificent passions.

Even with the additional land, it hardly seems there’s enough room in Beaufort, population 13,000, for the big-city politics, big-time money and big-name writer that came together to fight an all-out annexation fracas.

On Dec. 6, Beaufort annexed and rezoned Clarendon Farms, a home and hunting retreat for the Cox family, owners of the media empire that includes the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The plantation was ushered in by Mayor Bill Rauch, who earned his political stripes in the 1980s at New York City Hall as press secretary for Mayor Ed Koch, before retiring to Beaufort.

At his throat were hundreds of protesters and brash Southern author Pat Conroy.

Conroy, who lives in Beaufort County, slammed Rauch in letters to the editor in The Beaufort Gazette. He compared the fervor of the protesters at City Council meetings to the heroism displayed by the passengers of United Flight 93, who tried to overtake terrorists on a hijacked plane on Sept. 11, 2001.

“I was stunned by the size of the crowd,” Conroy said. “There was a fury loose in that room.”

The outrage was inspired by the city’s decision to permit the construction of 7,000 homes on the property — roughly double the amount allowed under the county’s rural zoning.

Residents fear the rezoning could spark a growth boom similar to the experience of southern Beaufort County. There, Bluffton and Hilton Head Island residents live with crowded schools, congested roads and subdivisions that protesters say diminish the sense of community.

“We don’t want to live behind gates,” said Beth Grace, a former county councilwoman and opponent of the rezoning. “We love living mixed together.”

Rauch has defended the city’s decision, convinced that the Cox family intends to preserve the land “for the turkeys and eagles and foxes” and will not add a single house.

Cox Enterprises has said any potential development is years away and that it is considering donating a conservation easement for the property, which would trade away development rights in exchange for tax breaks.

By joining the city and being rezoned for the construction of more homes, the value of the land increased — whether it is developed or preserved.

“This is a very conservation-oriented family,” said Rauch, who said the owners would receive substantial tax benefits should the family decide to forgo development by preserving the land. “I wouldn’t have voted the way I voted if I hadn’t looked at the family’s record of making conservation easements.”

Cox Enterprises CEO Jim Kennedy serves on the board of conservation group Ducks Unlimited, which holds conservation easements donated by landowners, and is president of the Wetlands America Trust.

But this chance of conservation did little to calm the crowds of opponents, who say rezoning the plantation could speed up other development in the county and could be a stepping stone to urbanizing more land.

There is also concern that new homes built below the flight paths of fighter jets at Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort could threaten the base’s future, as noise complaints likely would increase and plane crashes could prove more deadly should a house be struck by a plane.

Rauch concedes the development talks and uncertainty spooked many residents.

“The fact that (conservation) cannot be promised ahead of the vote makes for a difficult political situation,” he said.

CONROY SPEAKS OUT

With southern Beaufort County as a backyard example, many residents are suspicious of the sprawl and new homes that can blanket a community.

“From I-95 to the ocean, Beaufort County is going to be overdeveloped,” Conroy said. “Before this is over, Beaufort, South Carolina, is going to be one of the worst places to live in the United States.”

The flamboyant writer has made his living writing tales from the Lowcountry, including “The Prince of Tides,” in which one character is killed defending an island as a guerrilla.

The author has infused a similar zeal into his fights with Mayor Rauch and the Cox family, about whom he wrote a critical screenplay in the late 1980s — a newspaper drama titled “Above the Fold,” which was never made into a movie.

With Rauch, his complaint is a book authored by the mayor titled “Politicking,” which details political strategies he considers below the belt.

“I have rarely read a more irritating book,” Conroy said of the guide, which details Rauch’s political victories in Beaufort and gives tips on how to influence the media, conduct negative campaigning and exact favors from other politicians.

“Though I am often sneaky and untrustworthy, I would not write a book bragging about it,” said Conroy, who lives on Fripp Island, a barrier island turned resort outside of Beaufort. Critics say Conroy lives within the type of development he despises.

Rauch, who is married to Sarah Rauch, the sister of Gov. Mark Sanford, said Conroy’s criticism doesn’t bother him.

In fact, Rauch said, it helps the book’s sales.

‘VERY SPECIAL PLACE’

With more retirees eyeing the Lowcountry’s beauty and relatively cheap land, Beaufort city manager Scott Dadson expects the growth battles to continue.

“People come from all over and have a picture in their mind of what they want (Beaufort) to be,” Dadson said.

Added City Councilwoman Donnie Beer, “The people that are here — the new people — they don’t want anybody else to come.”

Rauch said any conservation easement for Clarendon Farms will take about a year to prepare, requiring appraisals and negotiations with the Marine Corps.

In the meantime, Beaufort has retained Ken Driggers, head of the Palmetto Conservation Foundation, to investigate a purchase of development rights on McLeod Farm, a 1,000-acre piece of land that abuts the Clarendon property.

This land is expected to be annexed as well and would be the first part of the city visitors see.

Rauch said his goals are the same as concerned residents — to protect Beaufort, home to a National Historic Landmark District.

“This is a very, very special place ... because it’s so beautiful,” said Rauch, who lives in a downtown mansion called The Castle. “You still have a small town surrounded by fields. It’s very unusual in America today, especially along the coast.”

Rauch plans to stay at the helm in shaping Beaufort’s future. Conroy said count him out next time there’s a fight.

The City Council meetings are too long and boring, he said, and his track record isn’t that great when combating one of America’s richest families.

“This is my second fight with the Coxes — I have lost both,” Conroy said, referencing the screenplay and annexation. Both times, “I have been loud and they have gotten richer.”

Reach Ryan at (803) 771-8595.