Brown's bill
won't affect
local beaches
By Clayton Stairs
cstairs@gtowntimes.com
Congressman Henry Brown has introduced a bill, H.R. 6389, to the U.S. Congress which would modify the Coastal Barrier Resource Act line on a section of Kiawah Island known as Capt. Sam's Inlet.
This bill would remove 84 acres of Captain Sam's Inlet from its current designation by the Federal government as particularly fragile coastal habitat unfit for federal flood insurance. It would add 25 acres of high ground farther inland, including a spot where the Kiawah Island Parkway cuts through, and 153 acres of marsh.
Although this bill does not directly affect Georgetown County, conservationists say that any legislation that allows developers to build on protected and unstable areas of barrier islands could open the doors to other similar legislation in the future.
"I think it is always a concern that when this type of legislation is passed there will be other attempts by developers or other interests to influence further legislation," said Nancy Cave, director of the Georgetown office of the Coastal Conservation League.
"The most important thing is that this is special interest legislation that has not considered the impact to the environment or to waters that are basically in the public domain."
During the 1970s and '80s the public grew concerned that government spending on roads and federal flood insurance had encouraged too many people to live on barrier islands, which are geologically unstable. There was also concern that taxpayers would have to pay for hurricane damage and beach renourishment projects.
In 1982 Congress created the John H. Chafee Coastal Barrier Resources System to discourage development in particularly fragile coastal areas. Land inside this system -- about three million acres from Maine to Texas, is ineligible for federal money or subsidies, though privately owned tracts still may be developed.
The bill which Brown has introduced states that developers could build as many as 504 dwelling units on the spit by Capt. Sam's Inlet, but the developers "have indicated a willingness on a voluntary basis to reduce substantially these entitlements and, as a result, reduce allowable density."
Kiawah Development Partners (KDP), the company which made the request for the bill, states that it plans to build fewer than 50 homes on 20 acres of the 120-acre spit. The rest of the land will be protected by an easement given to the Kiawah Nature Conservancy.
The bill also states that this development approach will "increase the ecological health and habitat value" of the inlet area.
In addition to the 50 home sites, the KDP also plans to build a 2,783-foot (half-mile) concrete revetment on the Kiawah River to prevent the water from turning the spit into an island. This too is opposed by conservationist groups because they believe over time the revetment won't work and homeowners will want to put in sandbags and sea walls like on the Isle of Palms.
Brown has been quoted as saying that he introduced the bill last month at the request of the town of Kiawah Island, and he "had no idea there was a developer" connected with the legislation.
Linda Ketner, who is running against Brown for his seat in the First District of South Carolina, says this is disingenuous at best because in the last cycle alone he has received more than $60,000 from real estate interests and more than $20,000 from developers for his campaign.
"This is an abuse of power by my opponent for special interests," Ketner said. "It's just one example of why I decided to run against him. This old style of politics with favors for a small group of the wealthy at the expense of the rest of us needs to end."
Cave agrees, saying that this legislation is obviously in support of developers.
"It is being supported by Mr. Brown to help a developer," she said. "The fact that one of our congressmen would introduce this type of special interest legislation, I think, should be a concern for everyone."
Jimmy Chandler, director of the South Carolina Environmental Law Project (SCELP), points out that the whole intent of the Coastal Barrier Resource Act was to remove federal subsidies or federal breaks where development was taking place on sensitive barrier island areas.
"To go back and piecemeal take areas out because developers want to develop that area, I think, is a terrible practice," Chandler said. "That is something that needs to be very carefully thought out, and there should be lot better reasons for changing it than somebody wants to develop."
He adds that there is only one area in Georgetown County that could be affected by similar legislation, which is the south end of Litchfield Beach. That is because when the last 33 lots on the south end were developed, they had to have private water and sewer service, as well as privately funded flood insurance.
"Other land that is included in the Coastal Barrier Resource Act has conservation easements," Chandler said. "Those 33 lots and the land south of them could be effected."
Pawleys Island Mayor Bill Otis says that the only other area that some might think could be effected is the south end of the island. However, he states, the land south of the first groin is all outside the Department of Health and Environmental Control's (DHEC's) Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management (OCRM) setback line.
"This bill is very special purpose," Otis said. "It is not applicable to anything particular on Pawleys Island."
OCRM, under the Beach front Management Act, is required to set a line -- typically places atop the most eastward part of the dune system -- east of which is considered erosional. Nothing can be constructed in these areas other than walkovers.
An owner of a beach home inside the zone with $900,000 in coverage and a $50,000 deductible would have to shell out about $40,000 a year, said Allison Dean Love, executive director of the South Carolina Insurance News Service.
Outside the zone, an owner who qualifies for federally subsidized flood insurance might pay $1,600 a year, or 25 times less.
A public hearing on the legislation is scheduled for September 10 in Washington, D.C.
Tony Bartelme contributed to this story.