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Will Hilton Head limit how close you can build to the beach?

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Two years ago, Hilton Head Island enacted new rules to block more development along Forest Beach, its most densely developed section of shoreline.

Now, the rest of the island could be in for the same treatment.

The town is looking to draw a line in the sand across the entire island to block further oceanfront construction, from Land's End in Sea Pines to Fish Haul Creek in Port Royal Plantation.

If approved, the move to change the baseline where development must stop would be like putting a giant stop sign on the beach and preserving the look of much of the shoreline as it is today.

The town has long had a policy of moving development away from the beach to preserve the aesthetics of the shoreline, protect endangered species and protect homes against storms. This new effort, which the town has been working on for two years, would formalize that policy and legally protect against the kind of crowded, Myrtle Beach-style look the town shuns.

"Our intention is topreserve what's out there existing and not have further encroachment on the beachfront," said Sarah Skigen, town natural resources associate.

But some homeowners could lose use of part of their property under the town's plan if the new line cuts through their backyard.

Property owners in Singleton Beach Place, for example, are expected to oppose the

effort since they've been fighting with the town and state for years over the location of the baseline.

The owners said they bought lots in the mid-island beachfront community thinking the baseline would be moved further toward the ocean, but the town blocked the move. That cut the useable size of the lots in half, and many of them have sat undeveloped for a decade.

WHO DECIDES?

The new protection zone would mean the town, not the state, would be responsible for how close to the beach anyone can build.

For the past two decades, that responsibility has belonged to the state's

Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management. The agency updates and moves its line about every eight years based on erosion rates and overall health of the beach.

The state is in the process of updating that line and has proposed moving it closer to the ocean in some places.

But the town strongly opposes that move, saying it's based on bad logic and will be potentially hazardous to homeowners.

"We have no choice. We are forced to do what the state won't do and that is to protect our environment," said Councilman John Safay, whose ward includes much of the island's beaches. "The OCRM was set up supposedly to be environmental watchdogs, and it appears that they're not doing that."

OCRM was expected to rule on moving the baseline at the end of the summer, but the decision has been delayed as the agency reviews engineering data submitted by the town, spokesman Dan Burger said. Regardless of what the state does, the town is within its right to pass any development rules it wants, he said.

THE BACKGROUND

The idea to block further beachfront construction sprang up in response to the proposed redevelopment of the Adventure Inn, a South Forest Beach resort.

The inn's owners wanted to tear down the building, construct new ones and add a pool and other amenities right up to the OCRM baseline. The plan would have made the inn the farthest protrusion onto the beach in that area of the island.

The town created the new protection zone, officially called the Critical Storm Protection and Dune Accretion Area through South and Central Forest Beach, to keep the Adventure Inn and other development off the dunes.

The town eventually compromised and worked some flexibility into the new

guidelines: Commercial properties such as hotels and timeshares are allowed to build walkways, swimming pools, decks and other non-vertical construction in parts of the protected area.

The zone the town is looking to expand to the entire island would work the same way, town officials said.

Homes or other structures that fall within the zone would be allowed to stay, and owners could rebuild them exactly as they were if the structures were damaged in a storm.

The Town Council's Planning and Development Standards Committee will review the proposal Wednesday and decide whether to move forward.

If council members like the idea, town staff would draft the ordinances and the issue could be finalized by the first of the year, said Charles Cousins, director of the Community Development department.

Despite the concerns of some property owners, Councilman Safay said allowing development to creep closer to the beach would be "bad, bad, bad policy."

"We're going to do whatever it takes to prevent this," he said. "We are just going to do anything we can to keep that line drawn in the sand."

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