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They also question Beaufort County's requirement that such paperwork be processed by Ocean and Coastal Resources Management before sales can close.
Starting Friday, the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control's OCRM will only accept paperwork at its Charleston office for projects near or within a critical wetland, tidal or beach area.
OCRM's Beaufort staff will continue to tend to field assessments, permitting compliance and enforcement, site visits, and technical reviews, said Dan Burger, OCRM's director of program administration and communication.
"This change is our best attempt to streamline our own administrative process," he said. "It takes the administrative burden off of the staff in Beaufort."
Although Burger said he doesn't expect the change to create delays, some local real estate interests worry closings on property along marshes, beaches and other wetland areas might take longer because the paperwork will have to be mailed to Charleston rather than going through the local office.
When such property in Beaufort County changes owners, is subdivided or newly platted, the county requires that the boundary outlining where tidelands, coastal waters or sand dune systems begins -- also known as the critical line -- be verified by OCRM.
No other counties in South Carolina have this requirement, Burger said.
"It's not a state requirement," Burger said. "We have been doing it as a courtesy for some time. ... We get a large number of critical area line-setting requests that are not associated with permitting, and it takes up a lot of our staff's time."
State Sen. Tom Davis, also a Beaufort real estate attorney, said it's time to look at Beaufort County's policy and whether it's "absolutely vital to have OCRM verify the plats."
"I want to make sure there aren't unnecessary requirements at the county level that would give rise to delays in closings," Davis said. "The bottom line for me, as a state legislator, is I want to make sure the closing process is as quick and efficient as possible."
County officials said the policy began in 1997 to protect wetlands, county planning director Tony Criscitiello said.
Other wetland-related permitting applications, certifications and other requests that must go through the Charleston office beginning Friday include critical-area permit applications, coastal-zone consistency certification requests, general permit applications, critical-area permit amendment requests, critical-area line requests, permit-transfer requests, permit-extension requests, and maintenance and repair notifications, according to OCRM's website.
