Mortgage Broker in Isle of Palms, SC

ISLE OF PALMS, S.C. (WCIV) — The Lowcountry saw its fourth highest tide on record Sunday after a Nor'easter hit the South Carolina coast.

Neighborhoods on the beach, like Isle of Palms (IOP), were hit hard by coastal flooding and beach erosion. Most spent Monday trying to recover.

IOP residents cleaning up after Sunday's storm hit harder than expected. Dec. 2023. (WCIV)

People living on IOP are in clean-up mode; they’re filling bags with debris and trash found all over their property. They say they weren't expecting Sunday's storm to hit them so hard, including those who remember dealing with much worse.

"We went through Hurricane Hugo here at the same location," said Mike Sottile, who has resided on the same IOP street for 46 years. "This was not as bad as Hurricane Hugo, obviously, but it was a lot of cleanup. It's probably the most cleanup we've had since Hurricane Hugo."

Read more: Nearly 100 residents in McClellanville trapped after road collapses during Nor'easter

The clean-up took an entire day. Sottile says he started cleaning at 5 a.m. and the pile of 10 of bags spilling over at the end of his driveway wasn't full until 3 p.m. And the debris scattered around his property wasn't all the storm left behind.

"I had water in my garage that was probably two feet deep," Sottile said. "My backyard was in knee deep water and it was just a combination of storm surge and seven inches of rain."

Those two feet of water filled his garage while destroying the family's washer and dryer. The family says they're now in a hurry to replace those appliances during the busy holiday season, with Christmas festivities quickly approaching for them.

Read more: Edisto Beach feels impact of Sunday Nor'easter

According to Sottile, people living on IOP are used to flooding every year, but the recovery from this storm is taking longer.

"We normally don't have this kind of cleanup," he said. "When I say we've had storms in the past, usually it's just what you see in the street and it drains off as soon as the tide goes back out."

Most of the flood waters have receded from the streets. Still, Sottile said his work is far from done. His cable television service is out, but the heat is working. He feels lucky the damage wasn't worse, like the kind he's experienced in the past.

Read more: Flooding continues after Nor'easter causes record rainfall, 4th-highest tide level in Charleston

Neighbors say they're now waiting for the city to come and collect the trash before they can get back to normal life.

"I put in a call to the public works, let them know it was here," Sottile said. "I'm sure they're inundated by a lot of people on the island, so hopefully it'll get picked up before Christmas."

ISLE OF PALMS, S.C. (WCSC) - Isle of Palms city crews are working diligently to restore the beach after it experienced heavy erosion during Tropical Storm Idalia.

The loss of tons of sand to erosion means the drop off between the access points and the beaches can reach several feet, making it dangerous for people to reach the beach from these points.

Until the restoration of the beach is completed, Public Beach Access 1B, 2A, and 3A will be closed until further notice.

“The cleanup will happen over the next couple of days and then next week we’ll start doing scrapping at low tide to bring some of the sand back up,” Isle of Palms Mayor Phillip Pounds said. “And build a dune in front of these people’s houses to protect them for the rest of the hurricane season.”

Not only is it hurricane season, but it’s also sea turtle nesting season. Inclement weather can leave turtles exposed, but Pounds said the city is doing all it can to keep the turtles protected.

“You’re not in the dunes and hopefully not disturbing the nest,” Pounds said. “Our turtle team does a great as far as marking the nest or moving them when they feel like they’re in harm’s way. So, it’s very coordinated with our local turtle team as well as the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources to make sure they’re aware of what’s going, you know?”

Despite the city not receiving federal funding, city leaders have managed to receive an emergency permit from the Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management to begin restoration work Tuesday.

Pounds stresses the importance of maintaining safety before heading into Labor Day weekend.

“So, we just ask folks to be respectful of the workers that’ll be coming in and out of here. There’s going to be trucks and bulldozers and all kind of stuff going on. So just watch out and be careful,” Pounds says. “Our guys will be out here next week with the bulldozers when most of our summer crowd is gone. So, the timing is decent from that standpoint, we just need to get protection on the beach for these folk’s home as soon as we can.”

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ISLE OF PALMS, S.C. (WCSC) - Isle of Palms County Park at the 14th Avenue beach access is expected to have a new emergency vehicle path by the summer of next year.

Isle of Palms City Council approved the designs and is now sending the plans for Charleston County Council approval. The city is paying for the construction and the county park is providing the land.

Fire Chief Craig Oliverius says there are a few already built in, but as more and more people are visiting the beaches each year, the safety needs to increase with the numbers. He explains that the location at 14th Street is an essential location.

“We have a very active dune system at our access on 9th Avenue,” Oliverius says. “That’s also an ADA-approved access, so we have a dune structure there that’s constantly moving and that access is not always reliable for emergency vehicles. And so the next closest access would be 25th Avenue or 5th and so this access at 14th is very important because most of our visitors tend to congregate between 10th and 28th and so this is right in the middle and a lot of people utilize Charleston County Parks.”

Isle of Palms County Park Manager, Bailey Pfeiffer, says now with city approval they are hoping to make quick work of this project. Ideally for her staff, it will be complete in the spring of 2024 ahead of the busiest beach season summer months.

“We hope this project will go out for bid in November and once that gets selected we are hoping to start the project in January and wrap up in April,” Pfeiffer says.

She says this will benefit everyone on the beaches by providing another clear path to the area, so responders can travel the smooth roads longer and pinpoint the location on the beach better by entering a little closer to any calls.

“This will provide quicker response times for the island. It will allow fire and out Isle of Palms county park lifeguards to respond quicker to medical emergencies so it’ll be a great benefit to the residents here,” Pfieffer says.

Oliverius thanked the collaboration so far between the county and city to agree to the use of the land at the 14th Avenue county park beach access. He says the design is simple, yet effective.

“We intend to have a sliding gate that our emergency responders can access from the intersection of 14th and Ocean,” Oliverius says. “We’ll be able to operate that via our radio through Charleston County dispatch with one click we’ll be able to enter the gate. It’ll open automatically and then we will travel down the distance from here to the beach access onto the beach through pavers, and have a nice clean easy pathway unobstructed to the beach where we can access the beach or anyone who needs assistance.”

The project will go to bid in the next few months and that will determine the construction costs. Isle of Palm leaders agree this is a needed addition to their beach safety standards.

Copyright 2023 WCSC. All rights reserved.

Like residents on Folly Beach just a few islands down the coast, Isle of Palms residents seem to want assurances that their coastal city will strike a balance between full-time residents and homes used as short-term rentals.

Earlier this year, many Folly residents believed their City Council wasn’t taking their concerns seriously and petitioned for a referendum to limit the number of short-term rentals. That effort was successful, and now Isle of Palms residents have succeeded in their own petition drive.

As a result, island voters will go to the polls Nov. 7 to decide not only four City Council races and a utility commission seat but also this question: “Shall the City of Isle of Palms limit the investment short term rental business licenses to a maximum of 1,600?” They should vote yes.

It’s important to understand what the ordinance will and won’t do. Those residents who currently live in their home (and qualify for the 4% property tax assessment rate on owner-occupied homes) still may rent out their home for up to 72 days a year, and they would not be subject to the new cap.

The cap would apply only to so-called investor-owned properties and second homes (which have 6% assessment rates). Currently, the island has about 1,600 of these types of properties with short-term rental licenses, so the cap was designed to maintain the status quo — and to ensure the number of short-term rentals doesn’t rise much more.

But no current property owner should face an immediate hardship if the referendum question is approved, and that’s important to note. All owners of rental properties who have a current license by Nov. 7 will be grandfathered in, and those who had one as of April 30, 2023 will have 60 days — through January 2024 — to apply for and receive a short-term rental license, even if the number of applications surpasses 1,600. Also, these licenses will be transferrable to family members. These responsible, equitable provisions should minimize hardships if the question were to pass.

“We have a growing number of short-term rental licenses in residential communities,” former City Councilman Randy Bell told reporter David Slade. Mr. Bell has worked with the pro-referendum group Preserve Isle of Palms Now. “We are trying to maintain the one-third, one-third, one-third split between full-time residents, second homes and rental properties.”

It might strike some as odd that the cap issue is emerging even as the island has seen a recent slowdown in short-term rentals. Visitors and residents always have made up a large part of the Isle of Palms’ identity, but the Nov. 7 referendum is yet another example of South Carolina communities, particularly those popular with tourists, seeking a better balance between the economic vitality of short-term rentals and the relative stability and quietude of neighborhoods with mostly full-time, year-round residents. State legislators should not pass any laws that would hinder the work of cities and counties on this issue.

As with Folly, even if voters approve the cap, we don’t expect the referendum to be the last word on the subject. City Council would have to implement it but could make modifications as it sees fit. As City Attorney Mac McQuillin explained, “If the ordinance is approved by voters ... council can amend or repeal following the election just like any other ordinance.” If the referendum is approved, City Council should amend it if there’s a consensus that it is not working as planned or officials find a better way to ensure the resident-visitor balance.

If voters say yes — as they should — it’s certainly fair for Isle of Palms council members to consider whether 1,600 really is the best number in the long run or whether that number should be changed to reflect the distinctly different areas of the island, such as the front beach and Wild Dunes. That’s a fair debate, but one that would take place with council members knowing full well that island residents — also known as city voters — remain concerned about the scale tipping too far away from them.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This editorial has been updated to clarify that only investor-owned properties that have a short-term rental license by Nov. 7 or ones that had such a license as of April 30, 2023 and reapply within a 60-day period after Nov. 7 would not be subject to the 1,600 cap.

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ISLE OF PALMS, S.C. (WCSC) - Public safety officials are addressing safety preparations for beachside communities ahead of Tropical Storm Idalia, which is set to hit the Lowcountry late Wednesday.

Representatives with the Isle of Palms and Folly Beach say high winds, heavy rainfall and high tides could mean bigger concerns for safety along local beaches.

“Being out here on the edge, we are very susceptible to flooding issues and storm surge,” Folly Beach Director of Public Safety Andrew Gilreath said. “We have to be extra cautious to make sure we communicate with our citizens and visitors.”

Live 5 News meteorologists are tracking the storm and say we can expect 4-8 inches of rain, along with eight-foot tides.

They say the abnormally high tide is due to a combination of the effects from Idalia and the potential for a King Tide.

King Tides happen during a full moon and can heavily influence the strength of tides, rip currents and waves.

“We’re approaching a full moon as we get to the end of August here,” National Weather Service Charleston Representative Steven Taylor said. “Influences on the tides are at its greatest. Unfortunately, even without wind, without heavy rain, our tides would have already been causing problems.”

Beach officials warn residents and visitors to avoid entering any flood waters during the storm.

“90% of the island is on septic so the water is not something you want to play in or be in just by the nature. That’s something we try to keep people up to speed on,” Gilreath said.

They also strongly urge people to avoid the ocean during this time due to strong rip currents and high tide.

“With rip currents projected and the marine environment looking extreme. Please stay out of the ocean,” Gilreath said. “In certain situations, I will not put my employees at risk just to save someone out there to have fun.”

Gilreath says Folly Beach is already in the early stages of prep, which includes sandbagging operations, securing beach access areas, and monitoring bridge spaces for high winds.

The Isle of Palms released the following statement earlier today:

City of Isle of Palms officials are closely monitoring Tropical Storm Idalia and its impact on the island. According to the National Weather Service, heavy rainfall and tropical storm-force winds are expected to reach the South Carolina coast on Wednesday, August 30, 2023. Other risks along the coast include rip currents, high surf and the potential for beach erosion. The city is resuming normal operations until further notice.

City leadership encourages its residents and visitors to prepare for the storm now. Residents should remove or secure any items around the home that could cause damage due to the potential for strong wind gusts. It is recommended that citizens assemble an emergency supply kit that includes at least a three-day supply of water, non-perishable food, a first aid kit, prescription medications, batteries and other essentials. More information on emergency kits and overall storm preparation is available on the city’s website: iop.net.

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