New rules on municipal incorporations approved by the General Assembly on Thursday include a provision written specifically for the New Hope and Sheep Island communities of Berkeley County.

The rural enclave has a number of residents who have actively opposed large, new developments in their area. Now they hope to form a town of their own with strict development rules.

"We want to manage the growth of our community," said New Hope/Sheep Island Community Club member David Vanosdoll. "Our desires and the county's desires may not be in concert, meaning the number of homes allowed per acre."

The community successfully squashed a developer's attempt last year to build a new subdivision on Jedburg Road because it viewed the proposed development as too dense.

The New Hope and Sheep Island area is close to thousands of acres of timberland being sold off by paper giant MeadWestvaco. Crescent Resources, the real estate arm of North Carolina-based utility giant Duke Energy, recently bought the property known as the Sheep Island tract near the northeast corner of Interstate 26 and U.S. Highway 17A. Cane Bay, a 5,000-home subdivision, is planned just north of the area.

"Basically, we want to keep it as rural as we can," said Ron Harvey, a New Hope resident who opposes the new developments.

"The South that I knew is practically gone," he said.

A provision in the new bill, written just for the New Hope area, allows certain incorporations of any area with 300 residents per square mile, while waiving a requirement that the new town be at least five miles from an existing municipality. To keep the provision from being widely used, it was tailored to New Hope's circumstances. It applies only when the proposed town is within five miles of two other municipalities, and when they are each in different counties from the one where the town is proposed.

"This bill gives them a life preserver," said Sen. Glenn McConnell, R-Charleston, who authored the legislation.

If the proposed town, for which the community has not chosen a name, is incorporated, it could eventually include the area from the Dorchester County line to U.S. 176 and from Cypress Swamp to Sheep Island Road, Vanosdoll said.

He said the town would be set up with a strong mayor, a town clerk and up to six council members.

Because cash flow initially could be a problem for the new town with so few residents, Vanosdoll said it could contract with the county for police coverage. Fire service would remain with the Berkeley County rural department in the area, and garbage disposal would remain as it is with residents taking their trash to disposal sites or continuing current pick-up service. Water and sewer would not be available, he said.

If the proposed rule changes are signed into law, Vanosdoll said the community immediately would proceed to incorporate, which would require an election.

John Frank of The Post and Courier staff contributed to this story.