‘Little Myrtle Beach’: Hilton Head water slide leaves town officials shocked, neighbors upset
A large water slide constructed at a private residence on Capri Lane at North Forest Beach has sparked concern the structure might compromise the neighborhood’s character and invite “over-commercialization” to the area, especially through short-term rentals.
The notable dimensions of the slide — around 26 feet high — are part of what some residents and officials say makes it incompatible with the charm of the neighborhood. The town Planning Commission received a presentation from neighbors concerned about the structure on Oct. 19, where chair Michael Scanlon said it was reminiscent of “an amusement park” stuck in a residential area.
Elizabeth Mace, a year-round resident of the Oceanwood neighborhood, likened the slide area to a “Little Myrtle Beach.”
The property’s owner, David Maxwell, said the reaction from town officials and neighbors is unwarranted. He feels the structure is sufficiently removed from public view and, since it falls within the town’s regulations, it should be left as is.
“I think this is ridiculous and the town needs to get with the times,” Maxwell said. “My feeling is, if they keep fighting new things to better the area, they’re going to hurt the island. I can understand if this was right in the main street, but this is tucked back in the alley, it’s hidden behind the trees, who’s going to see it?”
Mace and other members of the Oceanwood Property Owners Association say the conversation about the water slide extends beyond the aesthetics and into land use and short-term rentals — two longtime issues Hilton Head has recently moved to address.
If this is allowed, residents wonder, what’s next?
Town officials shocked
Most members of the Planning Commission and Ward 3 Councilman David Ames, the area’s representative on the Town Council, couldn’t believe the structure was permitted.
Mayoral candidate and Planning Commission vice chair Alan Perry said town staff is researching the specific areas of Hilton Head’s land management ordinance that might have allowed the slide to make it through review. Part of their surprise stemmed from early documents submitted to the home owners association marking the structure as playground equipment.
“It was not what I was expecting to see, and of course the first question that comes around is, how could that have been built?” Perry said. “One of the things I think is being learned is that one, the (home owners association) covenants for that area don’t really address it, and two, the covenants in the [land management ordinance] may not address it either.”
The town is already conducting an analysis of its land-use codes, Town Manager Marc Orlando has said previously, and Perry affirmed part of that review will focus on preventing future structures similar to the slide.
Perry and Ames both said they’re not sure what specific changes can ensure that, though.
“There is, I think, a general attitude that this should not be allowed in the future because of scale, character, over-development and so on,” Ames said. “I’m not positive (what specific changes could be made to the LMO), but I use the word scale, it has something to do with dimension, with impact to the neighborhood.”
Despite the disbelief of Ames, Perry and the Planning Commission, Development Review Program Manager Nicole Dixon confirmed the slide falls within all Hilton Head zoning, design and construction requirements.
During the Oct. 19 meeting, Scanlon suggested the matter could also be brought to the Board of Zoning Appeals.
Neighbors fear precedent
Those who live nearby said they chose to speak up because they don’t want Hilton Head to lose part of what attracted them to the island.
“When you think of Hilton Head, one of the reasons so many of us were attracted to it was the effort to maintain the natural beauty, the focus on the environment,” said resident Cathy Mannion, “and in the last few years, things feel as if they’ve gotten a bit tilted in the wrong direction.”
The “industrial” appearance of the structure mars the appearance of the private residential area, Mannion said.
Beyond the neighborhood’s aesthetics, Oceanwood resident Jonathan Collard said he’s concerned if structures like the slide are allowed in the area, corporate investors in the short-term rental market could see an opportunity to buy conjoined properties and establish room-by-room, hotel-style rentals with their own amenities similar to the pool and slide appealing to large groups of vacationers.
Single-property hosts of short-term rentals have increasingly been replaced by larger corporate groups that manage multiple properties. Although Maxwell owns 6 Capri Lane and the nearby 7 Wanderer Lane, he said he doesn’t rent out his property.
“We do not rent, that’s our personal home. We never planned on renting it out,” Maxwell said.
His primary home is in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Maxwell said, but his wife is often on the island and he visits “every few weeks.” The water slide and pool area, he said, mostly serves his grandchildren when they visit.
“I’m doing everything the legal way right now, I submitted the plans to the North Forest Beach (association) and they approved it, I submitted it to the Building Department and got the permit,” Maxwell said. “So I just don’t understand some of these people. If they want to change (town codes) like this councilperson says, then change it.”
Short-term rentals have been a contentious topic on the island. While Maxwell doesn’t rent his own property, Collard’s concerns that the slide could be a precedent for corporate rents could linger.
“(The neighborhood’s) identity is large, single, residential properties which, yes, are occasionally rented out,” Collard said, “but they’re not hotels. There’s this general feeling that this overt commercialization is a step towards ‘hotel-ifying’ the area.”
Hilton Head has taken steps recently to address short-term rentals on the island, including an annual permit for each property that owners rent. The permit can be revoked if repeated complaints about visitors’ noise, trash or parking issues are lodged.
Those regulations will go into effect Jan. 1.
