Two environmental groups are challenging stormwater and regulatory permits for a proposed housing development in this small Charleston County town. It's the latest move in a yearslong saga to prevent development on Awendaw's White Tract, which abuts the borders of Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge.

The project, spearheaded by Atlanta-based Pulte Homes, includes a plan to fill in roughly 2 acres of the tract and alter more than 17 acres of land in order to build 27 new homes — the first steps in a buildout that eventually will include more than 200 homes across 182 acres, according to the South Carolina Environmental Law Project.

SCELP is representing the Awendaw-based Friends of Coastal South Carolina in the challenge.