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ISLE OF PALMS, S.C. (WCSC) - The Isle of Palms City Council in 2020 voted to make additions to the marina area of the island and that project is officially slated to be completed this year.

The project included the addition of a public dock, a boardwalk and a waterfront park and greenspace. The boardwalk and public dock have been completed, and, as of Jan. 11, the construction contract for the waterfront park and greenspace was officially confirmed.

The waterfront park will cover the 300 by 25 foot wide area along the marina facing the Intracoastal Waterway. There will be a 6-foot wide concrete walkway. The park will include a large lawn area with lush planting.

They plan to include a series of benches along the waterfront walkway so residents can enjoy views of the water and boating activities. There are plans for a circular seat wall near the public dock that would create an entrance to the dock area.

They plan to include a kayak storage area and a kayak launch area. There will be golf cart parking available as well as bicycle parking areas.

All of these plans did require collaboration and participation from the marina manager and restaurant tenants. Scott Toole, the general manager of the Outpost, a nearby restaurant, says he is very excited for this addition to the area.

“I think that it’s an added benefit to the island, to the residents, everybody, to have a space and to use the dock. Kayak launching is a big thing that I think people will take advantage of.” he says. “It’s really going to help make this area kind of a place of interest for people, sort of a destination so to speak, for people to be able to get some food, get some drink, watch the water and use the dock that’s right there.”

Toole says they very recently renovated the Outpost and he’s excited to see this new project bring more people to the area. He says he feels like this area of Isle of Palms is often overlooked as it is a little ways away from the main beach.

“We’ve kind of joked that it’s a small corner of the island and so, anything that’s bringing people down this direction is good for everybody. We’re excited to see this project take place,” he says.

The project is currently slated to be completed by May of this year. To provide City Council your input on this project you can click here.

Copyright 2024 WCSC. All rights reserved.

ISLE OF PALMS, S.C. (WCBD) — As sea levels rise and strong storms impact coastal areas across the country, a battle is brewing on the Isle of Palms over what homeowners can do to protect their properties.

One beachfront homeowner on the island, Rom Reddy, has taken matters into his own hands by building a wall that he says is protecting his property near Breach Inlet from beach erosion.

This comes after Tropical Storm Idalia hit the Lowcountry coast in August 2023 and a lot of the beach behind homes on the Isle of Palms disappeared.

For some homeowners, like Reddy, this meant part of their property is now regulated by the state because, under South Carolina law, the Dept. of Health and Environmental Control’s (DHEC) division of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management (OCRM) oversees critical areas, which includes beaches.

“If Idalia comes in and erodes the property line, they [OCRM] have jurisdiction,” Reddy explained. “Another storm comes in — Nor’easter erodes it further — they have jurisdiction.”

So to avoid losing control of any more of his property, Reddy took action and is building a structure in front of his home aimed at protecting him from further beach erosion. However, DHEC officials said they did not find out about it until a strong storm in December exposed it.

“DHEC investigated, and has since issued the property owner and contractor cease and desist directives related to this unauthorized structure,” the agency said in a statement.

A spokesperson also explained that anything built on critical areas of the coast, like beaches, needs a permit, and erosion control structures have been banned on South Carolina beaches since 1988.

Reddy is in the process of having the structure rebuilt after the storm in December exposed it. He maintains that he is within his constitutional right to protect his property, adding that the wall is landward of the state’s jurisdictional lines known as the setback and baselines that define the beach/dune system.

“So this is a landgrab by the state,” Reddy said. “Where they are saying your property — and it’s just not this — any waterfront property — they say ‘if a storm erodes it, I own it I have jurisdiction — no plants, no bushes, no fences, nothing — I can tell you what to do with it.'”

Rob Young, a geologist and professor at Western Carolina University, said DHEC and OCRM’s regulations are ensuring that everyone’s right to use the beaches is protected.

He explained that DHEC and OCRM have regulatory authorities over the beaches, coastal waters, and the beach/dune system, identified by the setback and baselines which are redrawn every 7-10 years.

“If you are buying an oceanfront property you need to understand what the limitations are and what you can and can’t do,” he explained. “For most beachfront lots in South Carolina that active beach is probably considered or a portion may be private property — but that doesn’t mean you can do whatever you want out there.”

Young said anything an oceanfront homeowner wants to do in the critical areas needs approval.

“This isn’t just a regulation from OCRM this is the Beachfront Management Act, it is the law of South Carolina,” he said.

Young also explained that structures like sea walls are banned from South Carolina beaches because state officials have found they can often do more harm than good.

“One of the reasons we do not permit seawalls is they have impacts on adjacent property owners,” he said. “Just imagine if everybody did whatever they wanted to one lot at a time — it would look terrible and you would have property owner suing property owner.”

Young said if homeowners are concerned about beach erosion, they need to come together and discuss long-term solutions like building dunes, beach nourishment projects, and developing a plan for regular beach nourishment projects.

There is currently a beach renourishment project ongoing near Reddy’s home following the storms in August and December 2023. However, Reddy believes Isle of Palms leaders dropped the ball before then.

“They are supposed to preserve, protect, enhance and renourish these beaches,” he said. “Prior to Idalia, there was not a lick of sand nothing done to this side of the beach since 2017.”

Isle of Palms leaders dispute these claims in a statement to News 2:

“Prior to 2023, the southwest end of the beach had been stable and accretional and only required periodic post-storm emergency berm repairs. The city has monitored this shoreline annually since 2009 and the area in question became highly erosional in 2023 due to numerous storm events and abnormally high tides. As soon as the shoreline eroded to the point that the conditions met the South Carolina regulatory standards to allow emergency work, the city began restoring dunes to provide better protection against structural damage.

The city has assisted with funding major renourishment projects and emergency protective measures. Last year, IOP City Council approved spending up to $1,890,000 to protect the public beach and property through a combination of emergency sand scraping, trucking in beach-compatible sand and placement of sandbags.

The current balance of the Beach Preservation Fund is $8.3M and it grows by approximately $1.8M annually. However, the city is forecasting a total need of almost $30M for beach projects in the next five to six years to be covered between public and private funding efforts.”

City leaders added there are also plans to work with the Army Corps of Engineers on a project that would place around 500,000 cubic yards of sand along the intertidal zone between Breach Inlet and 10th Avenue. They anticipate the project to start in March 2024 and be completed in four months.

However, Reddy is not waiting around for that work to be done.

“Every property owner has the right to protect their property — and no government no one can take it away from us because that’s the supreme law of the land,” he said.

ISLE OF PALMS, S.C. (WCSC) - Big changes could be coming to the noise ordinance on Isle of Palms as city leaders hope to make the rules more clear.

The city’s noise ordinance currently doesn’t list specific limits. A proposal would establish set decibel levels based on the time and day of the week as well as the area:

Isle of Palms business owners got the chance to see the numbers and ask questions on Friday.

“We want them to understand that they have a voice, we want to hear from them,” Police Chief Kevin Cornett said. “Anything that is going to impact businesses we want them to be able to come to us and say what they think about it.”

One area resident, who only identified himself as Paul, says the noise ordinance needs to have a balance.

“Obviously, late at night you don’t want people making a lot of noise walking up and down the streets while residents are trying to go to bed, but at the same time this is a vacation spot, so you have to have a little bit on leeway for people to enjoy themselves but also be respectful,” he said.

Cornett says they’re working to find a solution that will work for businesses and residents and increase livability for everyone.

Cornette says noise is a hot topic on the island and he values feedback on this from both residents and business owners.

“Everybody is very much invested in this conversation,” Cornett said. “The city council is taking it very seriously and they are going around and talking to people to get their input. So, I think they are doing a great job on making sure voices are heard so that when we get the final project it’s fair and something that will work for everybody.”

Officers use a calibrated decibel reader when called out to a noise complaint.

“That’s how we determine if it’s a violation and then we would take other factors into account like background noise to keep the realistic approach to is as well,” Cornett said.

The public safety committee has to create a final draft before it will head to the city council for two separate readings.

Copyright 2024 WCSC. All rights reserved.

ISLE OF PALMS, S.C. (WCBD)- Parking on the Isle of Palms continues to be a contentious topic.

Some saying that a parking plan approved by the South Carolina Department of Transportation in 2015 which established resident-only parking zones needs to be revoked.

The parking plan that was approved in 2015 eliminated a significant number of free parking.

The approval was unpopular among the Charleston Beach Foundation, a group that advocates for more public access to the beaches, when it was first approved.

Now, this plan is now receiving renewed pushback.

“For Isle of Palms to eliminate parking in those right of ways is wrong to begin with and probably unconstitutional,” Parking advocate, Michael Barnett said.

Barnett, who started a petition over beach restrictions in the Lowcountry, says this parking issue has come up again after Isle of Palms voted to deny the short-term rental cap.

Barnett said, “The Isle of Palms is allowing short term rentals throughout the island, essentially making the residential only districts, commercial districts.”

Monday morning, Myra Jones with the Charleston Beach Foundation sent the City of Isle of Palms a letter, asking for the plan to be revoked, arguing IOP no longer has legitimate “residential” areas since the resolution to cap short-term rentals on the island failed.

“So, the SCDOT needs to now go back, review the 2015 parking plan, request that the Isle of Palms redo the parking plan, and they need to give back all residential only parking, they need to give back all 3,000 parking spaces that they took in 2015,” Barnett said.

Isle of Palms city council members are fighting back.

Councilman Blair Hahn providing a statement reading, “In response to Myra Jones’ letter to City council dated November 27^th, 2023, full council has not had an opportunity to discuss. However, Ms. Jones’ continued attempts to characterize the Isle of Palms as not resident friendly, not tourism friendly, not visitor friendly is nonsensical. Isle of Palms provides 8 times more public beach parking than is required by the SC Beach Front Management Act and more public parking per mile of beach than any other community in South Carolina.

Ms. Jones has previously taken her grievances to the South Carolina Courts and has lost. In my opinion, this is nothing more than another attempt of Ms. Jones to ignore the laws of the State and attempt to force her will on Charleston beach communities.

IOP city council members say they plan to discuss this more in future council meetings.

ISLE OF PALMS, S.C. (WCSC) - The Charleston Beach Foundation is asking the city of Isle of Palms and South Carolina Department of Transportation to revoke current parking plans along beach access points.

The group disclosed its concerns in a letter on November 27, claiming the “general public is being denied their constitutional guaranty of equality and privilege.”

Isle of Palms City Council put the regulations into place in 2015 with the goal of making the beaches functional and safe.

The 2015 parking plan, amended in 2017, cost $250,000 in taxpayer dollars and is modeled off similar plans in both Charleston and Columbia.

The city claims the plan was made to manage “unbridled growth” in the region, both nearby in Charleston and further out in the Lowcountry.

Activists say it does not match up with the increase in commercial use of the island or overall population growth.

“Revoke the 2015 parking plan on Isle of Palms, return all residential-only parking spaces on both Sullivans Island and Isle of Palms back to the general public,” Michael Barnett says.

Barnett says the plan eliminated a number of free spots and instead gave them to short-term rentals in nearby neighborhoods.

The Charleston Beach Foundation also claims the area has since become a hot spot for commercial use, with the city voting in a referendum on Nov. 7 to not limit short-term rental licenses.

“They were really the first to do it. They started to do it piece by piece, which really got my attention because I was a surfer,” Barnett says. “Businesses are operating in these areas. Not basically, they are. They’re not residential neighborhoods anymore.”

City officials weighed in on the matter.

“We are very much a residential community. Certainly, in season, we have a lot more visitors than we do residents. But we provide eight times the among of parking required by the state,” Isle of Palms Mayor Phillip Pounds says.

Pounds says the island offers an abundance of free parking with the current plan, scattered around 56 beach access points.

“It’s not about increasing revenues, being punitive. It’s about making sure every spaces available can be used properly.”

The foundation mentioned encroachment and “excessive fines” as to why the plan should be reworked.

“Why would a parking ticket for parking in a residential area, or having your tires on the road, be 3x the state average on Isle of Palms?” Barnett says.

Pounds says the plan is set in place for now.

“We can’t do anything without approval and oversight, and we have a really good relationship with SCDOT. If there were any changes we were looking to make, we’d certainly have to work in conjunction with them,” Pounds says.

The SCDOT and Isle of Palms City Council both say they are starting the initial review process for the Charleston Beach Foundation’s request.

Copyright 2023 WCSC. All rights reserved.