The resulting plan for Kiawah Island has guided the choices that community planners like Mark Permar have helped to implement , like the philosophy of designing with nature and always being open to learning what nature and communities can teach . From the era beginning with its purchase in 1974 and lasting until the island was sold again in 1988 , far more development and residential sales took place than in any of the following eras of island ownership , but unlike many other developed communities , planners helped to make sure that some of the most attractive and most valuable sites were left undeveloped for the future . One such site was where we had met to chat : the Marsh House , a club with a pool and restaurant with incredible views out over the surrounding marshlands . According to Permar , the decision was made to purposely underdevelop the part of the island that ’ s home to the Marsh House , to aim for a lower density of homes , and to be able to create parklands for the benefit of the community . Over and over , Permar referenced the idea of balance : while change is inevitable , design should always seek balance .
In the natural world , change is constant . Considerable changes to nature are influenced by humans , whether on a large scale , like industrialization ’ s warming of the planet , or in a more localized example , like the introduction of invasive plant species , nature evolves and adapts and shows its resiliency in surprising ways . One example of human-influenced change of ecological and aesthetic relevance to Kiawah Island is the introduction of Lagerstroemia indica , commonly known as the crape myrtle . This summer-blooming tree is an explosion of pinks and purples and has become a part of the Southern landscape that ’ s as ubiquitous as the palmetto tree is to the Lowcountry , but it hasn ’ t always been here . Native to eastern Asia , the crape myrtle was introduced to the continent by way of the port of Charleston by famed French botanist André Michaux in the late 18th century ; from his 111-acre garden ten miles north of Charleston , Michaux was also responsible for introducing the camellia , another plant closely intertwined in the horticultural history of the South . In gardening and land restoration circles , invasive plants have been a sticky subject for decades . Most people associate invasive plants with unkillable weeds or plants that can have detrimental effects on wildlife , like Nandina domestica or heavenly bamboo , a shrub with bright red berries that are poisonous to berry-loving birds like the cedar waxwing . The Chinese tallow tree , another invasive , spreads seeds prolifically , outcompeting native trees and
26 • KIAWAH CONSERVANCY