Senate bill would allow state dollars to go to gated beach enclaves

Once again, coastal legislators are trying to get taxpayer funding to support risky coastal development. Sen. Chip Campsen, R-Isle of Palms, and Sen. J. Yancey McGill, D-Kingstree, are co-sponsoring Senate Bill 904, a measure that they apparently hope will allow the use of public money to pay for future beach nourishment within private, gated coastal communities like Wilds Dunes at the north end of Isle of Palms. A parallel bill is expected in the House, but at this writing had not been filed.

According to U.S. Public Law and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Engineering Regulations, federal funds cannot be spent for shore protection along beaches such as Wild Dunes. The corps, in fact, requires a public beach access every half-mile, with adequate parking within a quarter-mile of each access, specifically to prevent private enclaves from using public funds to protect property where the public has no access. Even the S.C. Beachfront Management Act prohibits the expenditure of state funds along beaches that do not provide "full and complete access."

The reasoning behind all the rules, regulations and policies governing the expenditure of taxpayer money along such beaches is simple: If public funds are being spent, then the general public should benefit. Coastal communities around the nation have managed to comply with this mandate for decades. Senate Bill 904 is an attempt to circumvent these restrictions.

The proposed legislation would amend South Carolina law so that the entire beach in a municipality could be considered public if full and complete access is provided to at least half of the municipality's shoreline. Turn this around, and we have a bill that allows 50 percent of a municipality to provide no beach access and still receive taxpayer dollars for beach projects. In short, Senate Bill 904 is written to make communities like Wild Dunes eligible to receive public funding for renourishment (the rest of Isle of Palms will meet the 50 percent beach access threshold).

Senate Bill 904 clearly defeats the purpose and intent of the restrictions placed on beach nourishment funds, and violates the spirit of fairness. What it doesn't do, in our opinion, is improve Wild Dunes' chances of securing federal assistance for beach nourishment (despite some assertions to the contrary). This bill changes none of the federal restrictions on taxpayer funding of beach nourishment. It may, however, open the door to allow state taxpayer funding for beach nourishment in private communities.

Clearly, the buildings at the north end of Isle of Palms are in trouble. The beach has disappeared and some structures are being undermined. Sadly, this was inevitable. The buildings at the north end of Wild Dunes were built along a very dangerous inlet with dramatic fluctuations in shoreline position.

Shorelines move both seaward and landward through time in response to changes in climate and ocean volume. Today, almost all of the shorelines in the United States are in a state of long-term retreat because of rising sea levels. While a natural, undeveloped shoreline may move landward as sea levels rise, it never loses its beach. The beach simply moves landward along with the shoreline. In effect, shoreline retreat (or "beach erosion") is a natural process that does not cause the beach to disappear. What does cause the beach to disappear is the placement of a seawall or row of buildings behind that retreating shoreline. So, if your beach is disappearing, it is because that beach can no longer respond naturally to shoreline retreat. Mother Nature isn't destroying the beach, development is.

This is the predicament some condo owners in Wild Dunes find themselves in. These properties were built too close to the sea. Purchasing one of those condos was a bad investment decision. Americans make bad investments all the time without public bailout.

Fortunately, the town of Isle of Palms and the Wild Dunes community have recently decided that they can't wait for the legislative process to work through. They need a renourishment project now, and they will independently fund the sand pumping designed to temporarily replace the beach in front of those vulnerable properties. We applaud their decision to take financial responsibility for the project.

Which brings us back to Senate Bill 904. This legislation is an effort to get all South Carolinians, and maybe all Americans, to foot the bill for protecting private property without beach access. It may not impact the newly proposed project at Isle of Palms, but it could certainly change how the next one is funded. South Carolina taxpayers should be concerned.

The alternative is simple: If you want to nourish a gated beach, pay for it yourself. Certainly there is enough wealth in most coastal, resort communities to fund projects that benefit private enclaves.

Rob Young is professor of geosciences and natural resource management at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, N.C., where he directs the Program for the Study of Developed Shorelines. Andrew Coburn is associate director of the PSDS.