Please ask our state legislators to vote NO to Kiawah developers amendment

Katie Zimmerman of the Coastal Conservation League sent out the following email on March 24, 2015. We are appalled that after years of fighting to protect Captain Sam’s Spit from unwise development that this issue has not been settled! It is sad that these developers are trying to change the law to fill their pockets. Please don’t let coercive politics prevail in South Carolina.

Friends —

After their permit was rejected by the South Carolina Supreme Court, out-of-state developers have resorted to lobbying the state legislature to change the law so that they can build fifty beach houses on the fragile piece of land called Captain Sams Spit near Kiawah Island.

This proposed legislation wouldn’t just affect Captain Sams Spit, though. It would impact the coastline of the entire state. These developers want to move the beachfront baseline seaward and to “set” the beachfront baseline at a later date than originally proposed.

Please contact your state legislators and ask them to pass the bills S.139, proposed by Senator Ray Cleary (R-Georgetown), and H. 3378, introduced by Representative Herbkersman (R-Beaufort), with NO amendment from the Kiawah developers.

What does all of this mean?

Currently the beachfront baseline is reset every 8-10 years by the state Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management (OCRM). This line identifies the point beyond which no buildings can be built on the beach. Delaying the set date could allow sand to accrete and the line to move seaward, opening the door for development even closer to the ocean on the active beach.

In 2013 the Blue Ribbon Committee on Shoreline Management — comprised of scientists, developers, and elected officials all appointed by the board of the state Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) — recognized that after five years of research and discussion, allowing houses and associated infrastructure to be built when the line moves seaward is not only detrimental to the environment, but it ultimately results in less beach for all of us. When the beach erodes, there are houses where the public would otherwise be able to enjoy our beautiful coastline. The Blue Ribbon Committee recommends keeping the baseline set at its position designated in 2011. Looking out for their own interests, the Kiawah developers want to delay that date until 2017 or later, as they hope enough sand will accrete on the active beach to get their permits.

This is not a simple date change.

The Kiawah developers are gunning to stop S.139 and H. 3378 from passing without a special amendment to help them obtain permits to move forward with their plans to building on Captain Sams Spit, essentially undermining the very intent of the legislation.

The South Carolina Supreme Court has heard these developers’ pleas to build on Captain Sams Spit three times already. This latest effort by the Kiawah developers is a flagrant attempt to circumvent the decision of the State Supreme Court.

Write your legislators today and ask them to OPPOSE “the Kiawah Amendment.”

We will be in touch soon with updates.

Thank you so much for your support,

Katie Zimmerman
Coastal Conservation League

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