ISLE OF PALMS, S.C. (WCSC) – The Charleston Beach Foundation is asking the city of Isle of Palms and South Carolina Department of Transportation to revoke current parking plans along beach access points.
The group disclosed its concerns in a letter on November 27, claiming the “general public is being denied their constitutional guaranty of equality and privilege.”
Isle of Palms City Council put the regulations into place in 2015 with the goal of making the beaches functional and safe.
The 2015 parking plan, amended in 2017, cost $250,000 in taxpayer dollars and is modeled off similar plans in both Charleston and Columbia.
The city claims the plan was made to manage “unbridled growth” in the region, both nearby in Charleston and further out in the Lowcountry.
Activists say it does not match up with the increase in commercial use of the island or overall population growth.
“Revoke the 2015 parking plan on Isle of Palms, return all residential-only parking spaces on both Sullivans Island and Isle of Palms back to the general public,” Michael Barnett says.
Barnett says the plan eliminated a number of free spots and instead gave them to short-term rentals in nearby neighborhoods.
The Charleston Beach Foundation also claims the area has since become a hot spot for commercial use, with the city voting in a referendum on Nov. 7 to not limit short-term rental licenses.
“They were really the first to do it. They started to do it piece by piece, which really got my attention because I was a surfer,” Barnett says. “Businesses are operating in these areas. Not basically, they are. They’re not residential neighborhoods anymore.”
City officials weighed in on the matter.
“We are very much a residential community. Certainly, in season, we have a lot more visitors than we do residents. But we provide eight times the among of parking required by the state,” Isle of Palms Mayor Phillip Pounds says.
Pounds says the island offers an abundance of free parking with the current plan, scattered around 56 beach access points.
“It’s not about increasing revenues, being punitive. It’s about making sure every spaces available can be used properly.”
The foundation mentioned encroachment and “excessive fines” as to why the plan should be reworked.
“Why would a parking ticket for parking in a residential area, or having your tires on the road, be 3x the state average on Isle of Palms?” Barnett says.
Pounds says the plan is set in place for now.
“We can’t do anything without approval and oversight, and we have a really good relationship with SCDOT. If there were any changes we were looking to make, we’d certainly have to work in conjunction with them,” Pounds says.
The SCDOT and Isle of Palms City Council both say they are starting the initial review process for the Charleston Beach Foundation’s request.
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