CITY OF FOLLY BEACH 2015 LOCAL COMPREHENSIVE BEACH MANAGEMENT PLAN In accordance with the State Beachfront Management Act, the City of Folly Beach has prepared this updated Local Comprehensive Beachfront Management Plan in coordination with the SC DHEC OCRM. 7/14/2015 FOLLY BEACH LOCAL COMPREHENSIVE BEACH MANAGEMENT PLAN CONTENTS List of Figures ........................................................................................................................................................... iii List of Tables ............................................................................................................................................................. iv 1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Purpose ............................................................................................................................................................ 1 1.2 History of the 1992 Beach Management Plan .................................................................................. 1 1.2.1 City of Folly Beach Exemption, Beach Management Act ...................................................... 2 1.3 Overview of Municipality/History of Beach Management Approaches ................................ 3 1.3.1 Overview of Municipality .................................................................................................................. 3 1.3.2 History of Beach Management Approaches .............................................................................. 4 1.3.3 Development of Super-Beachfront Lots ..................................................................................... 5 1.4 Current Beach Management Issues ...................................................................................................... 6 1.4.1 Folly Beach Federal Shore Protection Project ......................................................................... 6 1.4.2 Other Beach Management Issues .................................................................................................. 6 1.4.3 Other Erosion Management Options ........................................................................................... 7 1.4.4 Hazard Mitigation and Resilience ................................................................................................. 7 1.4.5 Environmental Protection ................................................................................................................ 8 2. Inventory of Existing Conditions .................................................................................................................. 8 2.1 General Characteristics of the Beach ................................................................................................... 8 2.1.1 General Land Use Patterns ............................................................................................................... 8 2.1.2 Beachfront Land Use Patterns ........................................................................................................ 9 2.1.3 Population ............................................................................................................................................ 14 2.2 Beach Uses ................................................................................................................................................... 15 2.2.1 Economic Benefits and Values of the Beach .......................................................................... 15 2.3. Beachfront Developments and Zoning ............................................................................................ 17 2.3.1 Beachfront Structural Inventory ................................................................................................ 17 2.4. Natural Resource and Ecological Habitats..................................................................................... 17 2.4.1 Threatened and Endangered Species ....................................................................................... 18 2.4.2 Turtle Nesting ..................................................................................................................................... 18 2.5. Existing Public Access ............................................................................................................................ 23 3. Beachfront Drainage Plan............................................................................................................................ 27 4. Beach Management and Authorities ....................................................................................................... 27 4.1 State Authorities ........................................................................................................................................ 27 4.1.2 Beachfront Setback Area ................................................................................................................ 28 i FOLLY BEACH LOCAL COMPREHENSIVE BEACH MANAGEMENT PLAN 4.2. Local Government and Authorities ................................................................................................... 28 4.2.1 Municipality’s Comprehensive Plan .......................................................................................... 28 4.2.2 Municipality’s Hazard Mitigation Plan ..................................................................................... 30 4.2.3 Municipality’s Disaster Preparedness and Evacuation Plan ........................................... 30 4.2.4 Beachfront Development Regulations...................................................................................... 31 4.2.5 Regulations on Beach and Shoreline Protection .................................................................. 32 4.2.6 Other Regulations on Beach Management ............................................................................. 32 5. Erosion Control Management .................................................................................................................... 33 5.1. Shoreline Change Analysis ................................................................................................................... 33 5.1.1 Beach Profiles ..................................................................................................................................... 33 5.1.2 Long-Term Shoreline Change Rates .......................................................................................... 44 5.2. Beach Alteration Inventory .................................................................................................................. 49 5.2.1 Beach Renourishment ..................................................................................................................... 50 5.2.2 Emergency Orders and Sandbags............................................................................................... 53 5.2.3 Previous Hurricane or Storm Events ........................................................................................ 53 5.3. Discussion of Erosion Control Alternatives .................................................................................. 56 5.3.1 Beach Renourishment ..................................................................................................................... 56 5.3.2 Other Measures .................................................................................................................................. 57 5.3.3 Public Workshop ............................................................................................................................... 57 6. Needs, Goals and Implementation Strategies...................................................................................... 58 6.1. Retreat Strategy ........................................................................................................................................ 58 6.1.1 Federal Shore Protection Project strategy ............................................................................. 59 6.1.2 Other Beach Management Strategies ........................................................................................ 59 6.2. Strategy for preserving and enhancing public beach access ................................................. 60 7. Appendices ........................................................................................................................................................ 61 7.1. Structural and beach alteration Inventory .................................................................................... 61 7.2. Copies of Local Laws and Ordinances ............................................................................................. 91 7.3. Beach Management and Authorities ............................................................................................. 120 Federal Agencies ....................................................................................................................................... 120 7.3.1 State Authorities and Agencies................................................................................................. 122 7.4. Prior Studies/References .................................................................................................................. 125 ii FOLLY BEACH LOCAL COMPREHENSIVE BEACH MANAGEMENT PLAN LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Map of the City of Folly