On Tuesday, July 23, the Isle of Palms City Council discussed the imminent threat to structures and critical infrastructure on beachfront properties due to erosion events such as Hurricane Idalia, coastal flooding, storm surges, and king tides on the island’s southern end.
A resident of Ocean Boulevard called on the council to pass an emergency ordinance to allow property owners near Breach Inlet to install revetments or seawalls for urgent erosion control.
“It was recently communicated to the city that the Army Corps will start providing sand to Isle of Palms at the earliest in October, as opposed to June,” the resident said at the council meeting. “This change in circumstances puts the south end of the island in a dire position.”
Ultimately, the emergency ordinance did not pass, with the council voting 5-3 against it.
“We all know that a wall will, in fact, hurt neighboring properties in an erosional event,” said Councilman Blair Hahn. “So I can't support giving protection to one resident at the expense of the neighboring residents.”
The city has decided to instead rely on sandbags as an erosion control measure until sand arrives from the Army Corps. A full sandbag revetment along the 13 beachfront properties between 130 and 304 Ocean Blvd. is estimated to cost $400,000.
Steven Traynum with Coastal Science & Engineering recommended that the Isle of Palms pause beach scraping, which will save approximately $50,000 a month, and instead invest in sandbag revetment, assuming there might be another six-month delay from the Army Corps.
