The rules that govern construction on the beach

By CAROLYN R. BOLTIN

Guest columnist

Recent articles have highlighted the incredible development pressures that continue to challenge our coast and beach communities. The question on everyone’s mind is, “What is our coast going to look like in future generations?”

South Carolina’s coast welcomes more than 15 million visitors each year and is now home to more than one million residents. Coastal planning requires a disciplined, collaborative approach among state and local governments, developers and planners. Each plays a critical, interdependent role in the physical, social and economic future of the coast through planning, zoning, regulation and permitting.

At the state level, we at the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control’s Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management are responsible for enforcing the Coastal Zone and Beachfront Management Act. With the passage of the 1990 Beachfront Management Act, our state adopted a policy of retreat from shorelines to encourage development to move back from the immediate beachfront.

The Beachfront Management Act provides us with regulatory and permitting authority along the immediate beachfront area, which is limited to two scientifically determined jurisdictional lines. The baseline is set atop the primary sand dune on the beach and is the more seaward of the two lines. The setback line is set landward of the baseline and is determined by calculating long-term erosion rates on each stretch of beach.

Our authority prohibits habitable development seaward of the baseline and limits other structures such as decks and dune walkovers. Landward of the baseline to the setback line, habitable development is limited to no more than 5,000 square feet of heated space. Pools in this setback area must be located behind an approved erosion-control device, and no construction along the beach can alter the primary sand dune or active beach.

These jurisdictional lines are not permanent. State law requires the baseline and setback lines to be re-evaluated every eight to 10 years to account for natural or human-made alterations to the beach. The next evaluation will take place between 2008 and 2010.

On beaches that experience high levels of erosion without renourishment, DHEC may move the lines landward, thus placing greater restrictions on development near the beach. On the other hand, if a beach is growing either naturally or from a renourishment program, we may move the lines seaward. The law allows property owners to petition the state to move beachfront jurisdictional lines seaward if beach survey data demonstrates a stabilized accretional or renourished beach. That is what happened in a recent state Administrative Law Court decision instructing DHEC to redraw the baseline in a seaward direction in a limited area in North Myrtle Beach.

Development along the coast, including the proliferation of large-scale high-rise developments in the Grand Strand area landward of the setback-line, is outside of our direct permitting authority. These projects are reviewed and approved by local governments based on local planning and zoning decisions. Through our planning work with local governments, DHEC plays an important role as a conduit for information from federal partners such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Geological Survey and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide sound scientific and technical information to help these local beach communities create a healthy and resilient environment for the citizens of South Carolina and its many guests.

As with all permitting and regulatory decisions, we do not endorse or support petitions or permit applications. As a regulatory agency, we are obligated to apply coastal regulations uniformly and objectively. At the same time, we continue to involve the academic and research community to provide analysis and tools to coastal decision makers to make sound coastal planning decisions.

The annual threat of hurricanes and the emerging challenge of sea level rise must also be taken into account when deciding how and where development takes place along our shoreline and beaches. With the best available science as a guide, we must continue to encourage coastal communities and managers to take a reasoned and forward-thinking approach to planning, zoning and regulation.

As development pressures along the coast continue and may increase, we must all work together at every level of our communities and government to meet today’s needs while planning responsibly for future generations. By working together, we can provide a positive answer to the question of what will be our beachfront legacy.

Ms. Boltin is DHEC’s deputy commissioner for the Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management.