Man wants bridge to his island but state says no

FRIPP ISLAND -- The owner of a small coastal area off Fripp Island will not be permitted to build a bridge over the marsh to gain vehicle access, state regulators ruled, but an appeal is pending.

Jerry Risher purchased the 0.27-acre hummock in 1997, a year after the property's previous owner obtained a permit for a bridge to connect to Fripp's Tarpon Boulevard. A hummock is a tract of wooded land that is higher than a surrounding marshy area.

The permit, however, expired in 2001, and the state enacted regulations in 2006 that prohibit bridges to coastal islands smaller than 1 acre.

Risher nonetheless applied for a bridge permit in June 2006, citing soil analysis that indicated his property is a peninsula, not an island. He further argued that his property is part of Fripp Island, which is exempt from the new regulation along with

23 other islands that already had publicly accessible bridges or causeways.

The S.C. Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management rejected Risher's application March 31 in a letter from Curtis Joyner, manager of wetland permitting and certification. Joyner stated that Risher's property is an island smaller than 1 acre. Joyner added that Risher does not own land where the 12-foot-by-85-foot bridge would connect with Tarpon Boulevard and that Risher has not "fully pursued" the possibility of access by a nearby golf cart path.

"Authorizing the work would result in severe cumulative environmental impacts to the state's coastal resources, therefore, given these reasons, the permit was denied," Joyner wrote.

Risher, however, said he is being singled out unfairly and will appeal to the S.C. Board of Health and Environmental Control and the S.C. Administrative Law Court, if necessary.

"I don't understand why everybody's so up in arms over it, because I don't plan to mutilate the property or do anything ecologically damaging," he said Sunday. "There are many, many more cases of bending the rules down there and making developments where they shouldn't have been to start with."

Risher added that the bike path or golf cart path belongs to the community, and he could not use that as a driveway. He also said he plans to cut down three trees to make room for his house.

Pete Richards, who lives on Fripp Island, said Risher's hummock is a habitat for many rare plants as well as birds and other wildlife. More important, though, he said allowing Risher to build his bridge would undermine the 2006 regulations.

"(OCRM's) mandate was to protect the small coastal islands ... and it was a very important issue because South Carolina is just now starting to focus more time and study on the hummocks and their impact on wildlife and habitats for species of plants and animals," he said Sunday.

Risher's attorney, Mary Shahid of Charleston-based McNair Law Firm, said Risher's property is connected to the mainland of Fripp Island and OCRM should have acted faster on Risher's application.

"It took them a long time. In the long run, that hurt (Risher) a lot," Shahid said. "If he's got a legal battle ahead, they should have said so two years ago."