On the western side of Ocean Boulevard on Isle of Palms, the presence of an erosion control structure on the beach is shaping up into a long legal battle. The structure sits on private property, but its construction was unauthorized by any state regulating authority and is believed to be a violation of local and state laws. The question remains as to whether the structure will be allowed to stay.
Long before the matter could end up in the state courts, officials with the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management (OCRM) are trying to determine how to keep the matter from progressing further.
“OCRM has claimed jurisdiction over the wall,” said IOP Mayor Phillip Pounds. “So it is their call as to any enforcement.”
Since first becoming aware of the structure’s presence on Oct. 4, 2023, attempts by OCRM to halt any further construction or to have the structure removed have been unsuccessful to the point of open resistance by the property owners, Rom and Renee Reddy.
To this end, DHEC has noted the following timeline since January 2024:
- Jan. 7: OCRM staff was made aware that unauthorized rip-rap (rock or stone) was installed at the base of the structure.
- Jan. 11: OCRM staff conducted a site inspection and observed that the structure was collapsing seaward.
- Jan. 25: After a site inspection, DHEC officials issued a cease and desist directive.
- Jan. 30: Legal counsel for the Reddys replied in an email, stating in part: “We disagree that the Reddy’s retention wall was erected within the critical area.”
- Jan. 31: OCRM received information that work was continuing at the site.
- Feb. 2: DHEC issued a second cease and desist directive.
- Feb. 5: Legal counsel for the Reddys reiterated their position that the work at issue is landward of the erosion control structure and that “the retention wall lies landward of the critical area and outside of (OCRM’s) jurisdiction.”
- Feb. 9: DHEC moved for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction prohibiting the Reddys from continuing to install a hard erosion control structure adjacent to their home.
“No matter how many times the Department directs them to stop their unauthorized work, they continue to perform work in the beach’s critical area without a permit,” said DHEC attorney Brad Churdar in the motion’s document. “Their recalcitrance will cause the public irreparable injury and… has encouraged other beachfront property owners to take similar unauthorized action.”
Part of DHEC’s reasoning for the injunction is that the public will suffer immediate and irreparable harm by the blockade in a critical area and the “threat of harm due to the unsafe, dangerous conditions.” Officials with OCRM, the Coastal Conservation League and the City of Isle of Palms have all deemed the structure illegal.
Through a recently approved emergency erosion control ordinance by the city council, owners of beachfront properties located between 100 and 914 Ocean Blvd. have until April 19 to build permanent seawall structures on their properties to protect their foundations – within the guidelines and approval of OCRM. The city also plans to have the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers place 550,000 cubic yards of sand in critical areas to help in solving the island’s erosion control issues.
Under the emergency ordinance, the Reddys have the option of tearing down the current structure and building another one on their property, “as long as it doesn’t violate the city’s guidelines and OCRM’s guidelines,” noted City Councilman Blair Hahn.
“Mr. Reddy has made it very clear that he intends to argue that his seawall is in fact a legal seawall and he intends to keep it there,” Hahn added. “And if we pull back from our position that it is either illegal under OCRM’s jurisdiction or it’s illegal under our jurisdiction and he’s successful, we will end up with a seawalled island. Everybody on the oceanfront will build a seawall.”
Hahn noted that the city has been served with six other lawsuits from people in the area citing similar property disputes as the Reddys.
“I am going to fight it for myself. I have a constitutional right to protect my property – I’m going to exercise those rights,” said Rom Reddy in an interview in January posted to YouTube by MyLo News labeled “Property Protection: A Founding Pillar of Freedom.”
A hearing has been scheduled for April 18 before the SC Administrative Law Court.
This is a developing story that will be updated as more information becomes available.
By L. C. Leach III
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