Refrigerated Trailer for Rent in Isle of Palms, SC

ISLE OF PALMS — A bumper crop of yard signs has sprouted across this barrier island as voters prepare for a referendum Nov. 7 that could limit short-term rental licenses.

It's the latest skirmish in a much broader fight over the future of these sorts of vacation usages that's been playing out across South Carolina.

“If nothing else, we are keeping the sign business afloat," said Mayor Phillip Pounds.

Isle of Palms is among the communities on the frontlines — all places where high demand from vacationers fuels the short-term rental business. Charleston, Mount Pleasant, Folly Beach and Beaufort limit such rentals; Sullivan's Island prohibits them; Myrtle Beach doesn't allow new ones in residential neighborhoods.

The Isle of Palms referendum calls for imposing a 1,600 cap on short-term rental licenses for investors and second-home owners. There would continue to be no cap for homes that are the owners' primary residence.

It's about preserving the island's quality of life, say supporters. More than 30 percent of the city's registered voters signed a petition to get the referendum on the ballot.

“We have a growing number of short-term rental licenses in residential communities," said Randy Bell, a former councilman working with pro-referendum group Preserve Isle of Palms Now. "We are trying to maintain the one-third, one-third, one-third split between full-time residents, second homes and rental properties."

Opponents say it's really about property rights and property values. An investment property or second home could be harder to sell, and worth less, if there's no certainty it could be used for short-term rentals.

“What are we trying to solve?" said Hugh Swingle, an island resident whose family business is Palm Blvd Vacation Rentals. "We just don’t see that there’s an actual problem.”

The city had issued 1,625 licenses to property owners who are not full-time residents as of early October, and if the referendum were to pass, no new ones would be available until the number drops below 1,600.

"Obviously, we don't think it's good," said Ryan Buckhannon, president of the Isle of Palms Chamber of Commerce. He's a former councilman who owns an investment property licensed for short-term rentals.

Supporters and detractors of the referendum have set up websites, put out yard signs and sent mailings.

Isle of Palms United opposes the cap and claims on its website, iopunited.com, that taxes "have to" go up and property values will go down if the referendum were to pass. That group and others claim property values plunged 25 to 30 percent on Folly Beach after a February voter referendum capped short-term licenses there at 800.

Charleston Trident Association of Realtors data gives reason to question such claims. According to CTAR data, the median price of a house sold on Folly Beach in 2023 through September was down 14.9 percent, but the median price of a condo or townhouse sold there was up 28.2 percent.

“There’s no basis for the claim that property values will plummet by 40 percent," said Bell.

Swingle, who is affiliated with Isle of Palms United, said a cap could be a big problem for people who want to sell a property in the years ahead.

“If there were a cap in place, and you own one of those tiny condos and you went to sell it, you could have a really hard time without a (short-term rental) license," he said.

Swingle expects the vote to be close.

Preserve Isle of Palms Now supports the referendum, which the group says on preserveiop.org is about keeping the island a great place to live and preserving its residential nature by not allowing unlimited short-term rentals.

"IOP residents are either already experiencing or can foresee future problems with water and sewer capacity, traffic & parking congestion, environmental impacts, and the availability of long-term rental housing," the group's website says.

The Palm Republic, an organization created by former Isle of Palms Mayor Jimmy Carroll and current Councilman Blair Hahn, has also created programming opposing the referendum. Hahn even alleged in a YouTube video that referendum supporters have talked about driving down property values in order to get deals on real estate.

News

The island has long been known as a place to rent a house or condo at the beach, or to have a second home that could be rented out for much of the year.

Full-time residents own about a third of the homes, and they can rent out those homes for up to 72 days each year if they have a short-term rental license. As of early October, 184 owner-occupied homes on Isle of Palms had short-term rental licenses.

“It’s a vacation spot, and has always been a rental community, to some extent," said Pounds, the mayor, who declined to say how he will vote. "We have 1,400 condos, give or take."

That's a lot on an island with about 4,400 residents. Most of those condos are in Wild Dunes or former hotels in the commercial area along the beachfront, and most are for rent. Many single-family homes across the island are also licensed for short-term renters.

While full-time residents are the minority of property owners on the island, they are the only people who can vote.

The referendum is on the ballot because of a petition signed by 1,173 of the city's 3,740 registered voters. That petition put a short-term rental ordinance before City Council, and after the council declined to pass that ordinance in July, it became a ballot referendum.

If the referendum were to pass, the ordinance would take effect.

The Isle of Palms yes/no referendum question is: "Shall the City of Isle of Palms limit the investment short term rental business licenses to a maximum of 1,600?"

Across the marsh in neighboring Mount Pleasant, which has more than 94,000 residents, just 400 short-term rental permits are allowed.

Supporters of short-term rentals hope state lawmakers will act to prohibit and invalidate any local restrictions in 2024. A measure aimed at limiting local governments' ability to restrain short-term rentals failed earlier this year.

Palmetto Politics

Folly Beach earlier this year imposed a short-term rental cap following a referendum. Folly Beach has fewer than half as many residences as Isle of Palms, and the town now has an 800-license limit on short-term rentals.

Isle of Palms would have 1,600, plus as many licenses as full-time residents want for their homes, if the referendum were to pass. Residents will also choose four City Council members in the election, from eight candidates.

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Reach David Slade at 843-937-5552. Follow him on Twitter @DSladeNews.

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) - 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.

Not so long ago, it would have been inconceivable for anyone to build a sea wall along South Carolina's coast, bury it in the sand and then set about rebuilding it when a winter storm washed away the sand and exposed it to public view. Unimaginable that the property owner would brazenly continue the construction project even after state regulators told him to stop.

After all, for more than three decades, our state law has prohibited property owners from building new sea walls on the beaches of our barrier islands. The S.C. Beachfront Management Act even prohibits the use of sandbags except on a temporary basis to protect against approaching hurricanes and similar emergencies.

The law is part of a well-known and well-litigated strategy to protect and preserve our sandy beaches, which belong to the public and fuel our tourism economy. Although sea walls protect the buildings and property immediately behind them, they also speed erosion in front of and alongside them — thus quite literally stealing the beach from all South Carolinians.

But the part-time, political board of the state Department of Health and Environmental Control started dismantling that law two years ago, when it ignored the advice of its expert staff, gave an extraordinarily liberal reading to a loophole and allowed seven property owners on DeBordieu Beach to essentially build a sea wall by burying an illegally constructed wall of sandbags in the sand. Even if the board's reading of the law was correct, it was under no legal obligation to allow the work.

Editorials

The homeowners’ attorney — state Sen. Steven Goldfinch — said the board wasn’t authorizing a sea wall but simply allowing Coastal Carolina University professor Paul Gayes to conduct an experiment to see what happens when sandbags are buried under more sand.

It’s true that we don’t know precisely how long or how well those sandbags will protect the property behind them, but we know what they will do to the beach in front of them, a beach that belongs to the public and that the DHEC board is supposed to protect. These bags have been transformed from temporary emergency protective devices into a sea wall, which will speed erosion of the beach in front of them and any property beside them that isn’t similarly hardened.

Commentary

Before that 2022 vote, we warned about the message allowing the so-called experiment would send to every beachfront property owner in South Carolina: Don’t worry about what state law says about protecting your property at the expense of the public beach. Don’t worry about DHEC regulations. Do whatever you think you need to do. We won't simply forgive you for violating the law and the regulations. If you can find a professor to call what you’re doing an “experiment,” we’ll let you do even more harm to our beaches.

This is where we are once again forced to remind state officials that we told them so.

Editorials

And it turns out we underestimated how brazen some beachfront property owners can be.

As The Post and Courier’s Anna Sharpe reports, Isle of Palms property owner Rom Reddy installed an unauthorized wall in front of his house last year after Hurricane Idalia and covered it with 30 feet of sand. When the December nor'easter washed away the sand, he set about rebuilding it. And when DHEC became aware of the structure, it appropriately issued a cease-and-desist order.

Mr. Reddy claims it’s not a sea wall because he never meant the structure itself to be exposed to the ocean — an explanation that makes the DeBordieu Beach property owners look like paragons of lawfulness. He also claims he has a right to protect his property, which displays a stunning misunderstanding of state law — and of who owns South Carolina’s beaches.

ISLE OF PALMS, S.C. (WCIV) — There’s a controversial fight raging over an unauthorized structure's future. The dispute is between an Isle of Palms homeowner and city and state leaders over a retaining wall he's installing on what he claims is his property.

“What was happening, is the waters were coming in so severely that my soils in my yard were unstable,” said homeowner Rom Reddy. “We put in a retaining wall. It is not erosion control.”

Reddy said he's just trying to protect his land from heavy weather conditions.

“We wanted to put sand back in front of it, at our expense if need be. They say we can't. Why would you not want to put sand back on a beach? Now, we are faced with having to reinforce this structure because it's ocean-facing,” Reddy said.

City and state officials said this is an unauthorized project happening within city lines. The Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) issued a cease and desist to Reddy on Feb. 1- instructing him to stop work immediately.

City leaders said they're in the process of possibly changing a city ordinance.

“There's one ordinance on the city books that doesn't allow any type of structure within 250 feet of an OCRM line,” Isle of Palms Mayor Phillip Pounds said. “Right now that's all the way up to Ocean Boulevard given the change of the shoreline. We're just kind of in the middle of an erosion cycle that's painful to be involved with.”

According to DHEC, erosion control structures have been banned on beachfronts in the state since the 1980s, and only the agency's Ocean and Coastal Resource Management (OCRM) is authorized to alter beaches.

“That's why the OCRM has rules, and that's why the state has rules around what you can and can't do on an active beach,” Pounds said. The mayor added that the OCRM has claimed jurisdiction on this specific wall.

However, homeowner Rom Reddy stands strong in his argument he's doing no wrong.

“The state claims that whatever we are doing to reinforce what we have inside my yard, now it is inside my property. It's not on the active beach. How is it active beach inside my yard? An active beach is not a term used in the law. The beach critical areas are very clearly defined in the law.” Rom Reddy said, “I want to keep re-emphasizing that it is in my property outside of the state jurisdictional lines passed by the law.”

Since receiving the cease and desist, Reddy said his crews have continued to build.

According to DHEC regulations, if a person refuses to follow department directions, the department may file a lawsuit.

The Army Corp of Engineers is preparing to begin their erosion project in the area next month.