Hilton Head’s newest beach law bans big shovels and deep holes to protect sea turtles
Shovels longer than 30 inches and holes deeper than a foot are illegal on Hilton Head Island’s beaches after town leaders voted unanimously Tuesday night for the ban.
A plethora of large shovels and deep holes this summer prompted town officials to recommend banning them. Wildlife advocates showed up at town meetings en masse to stress that shovels and holes are dangerous for sea turtles because they can trap tiny hatchlings on their way from the dunes to the sea.
Large shovels and deep holes will be added to the list of prohibitions on the beach. The ordinance will require that all holes be filled in with sand by 30 minutes prior to sunset.
Town leaders said those caught using large shovels or digging deep holes and failing to fill them would receive a warning or citation from the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office or town code enforcement officers.
The ordinance was passed with no discussion Tuesday night from town council members or members of the audience, which included many Hilton Head Island Turtle Trackers — members of a volunteer group that sweeps the beach each night to pick up trash and fill in holes.
New additions to the town’s beach rules also ban items left on the beach from sunset to sunrise. According to the new ordinance, town staff or other authorized personnel can dispose of tents, chairs, toys or other items left overnight.
How do you get people to follow the rules?
The summer’s discussion about beach laws came with recurring challenges. The ordinance originally banned shovels longer than 14 inches, but council members revised it, allowing shovels twice as long. The new law prohibits only shovels larger than 2.5 feet.
Town leaders also wondered how to enforce new beach laws.
The town’s code two enforcement officers and sheriff’s deputies can give tickets for breaking beach laws, but with the island’s 12 miles of beach, turtle trackers say enforcement can be scarce.
Town staff pulled information from Kiawah Island and Folly Beach to draft the ordinance, town senior planner Anne Cyran said in August. Cyran said naturalists enforce the rules on Kiawah, and the fire department enforces rules on Myrtle Beach.
But on Hilton Head, some leaders worry that people don’t notice the town’s rules signs on the beach.
“Forty lines of text on the town signs? I don’t think people are going to read it in that format,” Ward 6 representative Glenn Stanford said at a July 25 public planning committee meeting.
Patsy Brison, a South Forest Beach resident, suggested redesigning beach signs and employing summer interns in an ecotourism program to educate beachgoers on the local rules.
This story was originally published November 20, 2019 at 11:04 AM.
