Hilton Head Island Packet Logo

Shoreline panel scores on major policy vote | Hilton Head Island Packet

×
  • E-edition
  • Home
    • Customer Service
    • Mobile & Apps
    • Archives
    • Contact Us
    • eEdition
    • Newsletters
    • Subscribe
    • Contests
    • About Us
    • Sponsorships
    • News
    • Beaufort Gazette
    • Bluffton Packet
    • Special Reports
    • Databases
    • Local
    • South Carolina
    • Traffic
    • Crime & Public Safety
    • Business
    • Politics & Elections
    • Military
    • Nation & World
    • Professional Opinion
    • Lottery Results
    • Blog: Untamed Lowcountry
    • Sports
    • College
    • Golf
    • RBC Heritage
    • Recreation
    • High School
    • MLB
    • NFL
    • NBA
    • Outdoors
    • Columnists
    • Jeff Shain
    • Cast & Blast
    • Politics
    • Elections
    • Business
    • Real Estate
    • Technology
    • Full Stock Listings
    • Market Summaries
    • Mutual Funds
    • Treasury Rates
    • New Employee/Promotion Form
    • New Business Owner Form
    • Living
    • Celebrations
    • Religion
    • Food & Drink
    • Family
    • Outdoors
    • Holidays
    • Columnists
    • Lowcountry Gardening
    • Made With Love
    • Faith in Action
    • Entertainment
    • Arts & Culture
    • Local Events
    • Holidays & Seasonal
    • Horoscopes
    • Comics
    • Puzzles & Games
    • Columnists
    • Mindy Lucas
    • Opinion
    • Editorials
    • Other Views
    • Readers Opinion
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Submit a Letter
    • National Voices
    • Editorial Cartoons
    • Columnists
    • David Lauderdale
    • Liz Farrell
  • Obituaries

    • Classifieds
    • Legal Notices
  • Special Sections
  • Jobs
  • Moonlighting
  • Cars
  • Homes
  • Place An Ad
  • Mobile & Apps

Editorials

Shoreline panel scores on major policy vote

    ORDER REPRINT →

June 23, 2011 12:01 AM

A committee reviewing South Carolina's shoreline policies is off to a strong start with a call to stop property owners from building closer to the ocean as a result of taxpayer-supported renourishment.

The Blue Ribbon Committee on Shoreline Management's recommendation came on a nearly unanimous vote, another good sign.

It follows the lead of Hilton Head Island, which in 2008 drew a line in the sand on moving building restriction lines seaward after sand is pumped onto the beach. That was a defensive move against the state's doing so after the town paid for beach renourishment.

The 16-member panel -- made up of House, Senate and municipal elected officials and representatives of business and environmental interests -- is reviewing the state's Beachfront Management Act and other policies affecting its beachfront and estuarine areas.

SIGN UP

Sign Up and Save

Get six months of free digital access to The Island Packet

SUBSCRIBE WITH GOOGLE

#ReadLocal

The 1988 law set out the state's policy of gradual retreat from an eroding shoreline. It banned new seawalls and rebuilding of any that are substantially damaged. It also limited the size of new construction near the beach and stopped most new construction seaward of a line based on erosion rates.

The goal is to protect the public's dry sand beach and reduce losses from major storms.

A three-year study by the Shoreline Change Advisory Committee, which issued its report in April 2010, came to the same conclusion reached two decades ago: The state should seek a gradual retreat from an ever-changing shoreline and work to eliminate hard erosion-control solutions that can make problems worse.

We don't expect all votes by the new panel to be so unified. And it only makes recommendations. Those recommendations will be sent to the state Department of Health and Environmental Control's board and any changes to the law will have to make it through the legislature.

And there were indications at the recent meeting that we'll see some dissent on the future of the policy of retreating from the beach.

Undoing that would be a mistake. A gradual retreat, as buildings are destroyed, substantially damaged or replaced, is sound policy.

It will become even more important as the cost to renourish our beaches escalates. Those beaches are the lifeblood of the state's$18 billion tourism industry.

The time is coming -- and it may already be here -- when we won't be able afford to repeatedly pump sand on to our beaches, at least not on the scale that we have been doing it.

Hilton Head has learned that with its project to rebuild the rapidly eroding beach at the island's heel. The costs have jumped dramatically while the project has been under consideration. The town will pay for the estimated $12.5 million project by borrowing against expected revenue from its local tax on short-term lodging and by using a $1 million state grant, only the second time the town has turned to the state to help pay for one of its renourishment projects.

Given these escalating costs and the limits of its primary funding source, the town recognizes that renourishment will have to be more strategic in the future.

Protecting the state's beaches is not an either-or situation, but an all-of-the-above scenario.

We need a retreat policy that moves new construction away from a dynamic shoreline. We need rules against hard structures on the beach that exacerbate erosion. We need rules that prevent private development from taking advantage of taxpayer-supported projects.

Moving away from the beach makes long-term financial sense. It preserves a valuable natural resource. It reduces the likelihood and amount of storm damage, and it reduces the cost of federally subsidized insurance and disaster aid programs.

Tough debates lie ahead for the committee, the DHEC board and lawmakers, as policy suggestions work their way into law.

But on this first major policy point, the committee came through with flying colors.

  Comments  

Videos

Drone video shows dolphin and calf chasing school of fish in Hilton Head Island creek

Clemson coach Brad Brownell recaps loss to FSU

View More Video

Trending Stories

Buying or selling a home in Beaufort Co.? Here are the most popular neighborhoods

February 19, 2019 09:16 AM

Victim killed in Beaufort crash involving tractor-trailer identified as Savannah teen

February 19, 2019 10:56 AM

Child, dogs removed from Beaufort County home filled with animal feces and urine, police say

February 19, 2019 05:05 PM

After ‘a bad, bad reaction,’ Hilton Head stops drainage talks with gated communities

February 20, 2019 09:08 AM

Body of missing 33-year-old man recovered off Tybee Island, reports say

February 19, 2019 09:43 AM

Read Next

Principal sex-in-school case demands Beaufort County School District to come clean, now

Editorials

Principal sex-in-school case demands Beaufort County School District to come clean, now

The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette Editorial Board

    ORDER REPRINT →

February 06, 2019 01:40 PM

Public trust in Beaufort County School District and the school board is the key issue in the case of Hilton Head high school principal accused of having sex in the building with on-duty sheriff’s officer. The school district needs to come clean.

KEEP READING

Sign Up and Save

#ReadLocal

Get six months of free digital access to The Island Packet

SUBSCRIBE WITH GOOGLE

MORE EDITORIALS

Hilton Head principal sex-in-the-school case demands clarity from superintendent

Editorials

Hilton Head principal sex-in-the-school case demands clarity from superintendent

January 13, 2019 08:06 AM
Reopen investigation of Hilton Head Island High principal on sex in the school

Editorials

Reopen investigation of Hilton Head Island High principal on sex in the school

January 07, 2019 05:43 PM
Keep saying no: Beaufort County school board right to deny money for Moss in FBI probe

Editorials

Keep saying no: Beaufort County school board right to deny money for Moss in FBI probe

December 11, 2018 07:39 AM
Beaufort County Sheriff vs. Town of Hilton Head Island: A fight we should not be having

Editorials

Beaufort County Sheriff vs. Town of Hilton Head Island: A fight we should not be having

November 10, 2018 07:22 AM
5 things we learned from Tuesday election results in Beaufort County

Elections

5 things we learned from Tuesday election results in Beaufort County

November 07, 2018 10:01 AM
Hilton Head Island mayoral race: Style, substance and the peoples’ right to know

Editorials

Hilton Head Island mayoral race: Style, substance and the peoples’ right to know

November 02, 2018 09:22 AM
Take Us With You

Real-time updates and all local stories you want right in the palm of your hand.

Icon for mobile apps

Hilton Head Island Packet App

View Newsletters

Subscriptions
  • Start a Subscription
  • Customer Service
  • eEdition
  • Vacation Hold
  • Pay Your Bill
  • Rewards
Learn More
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletters
  • News in Education
  • Photo Store
  • Archives
Advertising
  • Information
  • Place a Classified
  • Local Deals
  • Special Sections
  • Place an Obituary
  • Today's Circulars
Copyright
Privacy Policy
Terms of Service


Back to Story