Rom Reddy's home on Breach Inlet
The Post and Courier editorial on February 19 accusing a private citizen of breaking state laws is alarming and does nothing to increase the confidence of the public in mainstream media. It seems like the editorial staff, instead of doing their homework, chose to reflect the views of those who have no appreciation of private property rights as enshrined in the United States Constitution. The article starts off saying “State law prohibited owners from building seawalls on the beaches of barrier islands”. A simple Google search will show that State law only prohibits such structures seaward of the State setback lines. The structure under discussion is well landward of the setback line and outside state jurisdiction. The editorial staff go on to cynically state “don’t worry about what state law says about protecting your property at the expense of the public beach”. They do not, however say what law they reference as such law does not exist. Every homeowner on ocean front gives up jurisdiction on private land seaward of the setback line. Landward of that line is private property. That is the law.
The United States is a constitutional republic which means all local laws and regulations must comply with the Constitution. The Constitution frowns on Government taking private property either physically or through regulation without just compensation. Specifically, the 5th amendment to the US constitution says that without just compensation, Government regulations cannot limit the use of private property to such a degree that the landowner is deprived of all reasonable use or value.
The Post and Courier editorial staff goes on to malign me by saying I “installed an unauthorized wall and covered it with 30 feet of sand”. I installed a retaining structure about 20 feet inside my yard and there was landscaping, dirt and a fence seaward of that structure and the City had a sand escarpment on the other side of the fence. I did not ever attempt to make this a covert operation as it was inside my yard and completely outside of State jurisdictional lines. What was illegal was after the storm washed away the sand, OCRM, who has no jurisdiction, refused to allow the City to restore the sand dune with new sand in front of the structure and refused to allow me to do so at my own expense. We are fully supportive of a sand dune system and not having exposed protective structures. As a result of this illegal ban on sand, my structure became ocean facing and had to be reinforced to stand up to routine wave action which it was not designed to do. And oh yes, as a result of banning me and the City from restoring the washed away sand, a portion of my back yard was turned into a public beach. The editorial staff says I have a “misunderstanding of the law”. I beg to differ. They go on to malign the ethics of Senator Goldfinch, a veteran who serves his community honorably.
Finally, to show that they are schills for the environmental lobbyists, the Post and Courier claims we would try and avoid a judicial proceeding and appeal to a DHEC board that is rigged. Wrong again. The same folks who defended David Lucas will prove in a court of law that we have a government apparatus that is running rough shod over the property rights of private citizens, and it is time for us all to stand up and say no more.