For the extended clan of Gov. Mark Sanford, it's no different. Although the family doesn't own any of the more than 5,000 acres outside of Beaufort being primed for development, there is a dispute within the family over who should control the property -- county or city.
Beaufort Mayor Bill Rauch, married to the governor's sister, Sarah Sanford Rauch, is leading the charge to grow the city by about 33 percent by annexing the massive Clarendon and McLeod farms to the north of Beaufort and permitting as many as 16,000 homes on the rural, marshside land.
A flood of critics -- including residents, conservationists, county planners and the leader of Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort -- has assailed the magnitude of the plans, fearful of a torrent of new residents and the impact on roads, rivers, schools and flight operations.
Pat Conroy, Lowcountry author of "The Prince of Tides" and "The Great Santini," wrote a blistering letter this week to The Beaufort Gazette deriding the city's plans.
Also among the chorus of critics are two of Rauch's brothers-in-law, the governor and John Sanford, who lives a block away from the mayor in the historic and affluent Point neighborhood in downtown Beaufort.
Rauch was reluctant to speak about conversations within the family but said that he has not called the governor at the Statehouse to discuss the matter officially.
But the governor's office has made an official dispatch as it issued a press release in March regarding Port Royal's annexation of the Mobley tract near the Chechessee River. In that statement, the governor proposed an annexation moratorium for the northern half of the county until laws regarding local government cooperation and infrastructure planning are improved.
"Theses annexations are at odds with preserving tax efficient services in Beaufort County," the governor said in February after comments at the Beaufort County Republican Convention in Sun City Hilton Head. "We need to be a bit more reticent until those comprehensive plans are done."
In Beaufort, John Sanford has helped organize the grass-roots group "Support Smart Growth," which assembled more than 100 protesters in front of City Hall on Thursday to demonstrate against the proposed annexations.
Rauch, who has argued that the intense growth of Beaufort County ought to be handled by its municipal governments and not the county, wasn't shaken by his in-laws' dissent.
"I think our goals are identical," Rauch said of planning for the rush of residents to Beaufort County. "We may disagree on methods."
The governor and John Sanford were tight-lipped last week over family discussions regarding the proposed annexations, which would push Beaufort's city limits to the Whale Branch River, right across from the banks of the Sanford family plantation.
John Sanford declined to comment without speaking with his brother, and the governor's spokesman Joel Sawyer said "out of fairness to all involved" the governor would like his prior statements to stand.
The City Council, which gave initial approval to the annexation petitions and development agreements in January, is expected to give final consideration to the annexation of Clarendon and McLeod farms in the coming weeks, likely to amended plans with fewer houses and about 1,400 acres to be conserved.
Until then, the brotherly debate could continue.
"Needless to say the family conversations around the dinner table can be very interesting," Sawyer said. "Some members of the family have very strong feelings on issues and not necessarily in the same directions."