Plumbers in Isle of Palms, SC

ISLE OF PALMS, S.C. (WCIV) — Another Lowcountry Town is in the Spotlight!

The Film "Suncoast" starring Woody Harrelson is filming all over the area, from Mount Pleasant and James Island, to Moncks Corner.

RELATED: Hollywood movie crews begin filming in Moncks Corner

October on the Isle of Palms tends to be quiet. But on Thursday, Ocean Boulevard was bustling.

“We’re shooting a beach scene, and it’s actually a Super Bowl party, and two of our protagonists are at the bar," says Francesca Silvestri, a movie producer in Suncoast.

The crew for the movie says they chose Isle of Palms because of the small-town atmosphere and its beautiful beaches.

“We’ve been here since August and we’re in love with Charleston and the wonderful people that live in this wonderful city. We’re actually cheating it for Florida," continued Silvestri.

South Carolina sets aside almost $16 Million a year for film incentives, which allows in-state production.

READ MORE: Parts of Isle of Palms to be closed due to filming Thursday

Staff from the Film Commission Office look forward to putting small towns on the map.

“When you look at a crew base, when you look at how many people these productions apply, it gives our citizens a chance behind the camera -- or even in front of the camera," says Dan Rogers, the Senior Project Manager for the South Carolina Film Commission.

And Charleston is a favorite location for Blockbuster projects, like "Outer Banks," "The Righteous Gemstones," "The Notebook," and the "Halloween" movie series.

Besides the new movie bringing excitement to the Lowcountry, it also brings more money in for small businesses.

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“It’s exciting. The flower shops are busy, and the dry cleaners are busy, and the restaurants are all busy, and it’s good business," says Matt Storm, the Director of the Film Office.

Production for the movie stops in November, but they are still looking for extras, If interested, click here!

ISLE OF PALMS, S.C. (WCBD) – Wild Dunes Resort on Thursday filed a lawsuit against the Isle of Palms (IOP) for enacting ordinances which limit the resort’s development.

Five ordinances were passed in November which proponents said protected the city’s greenspaces. The ordinances amend stipulations of a Planned Residential Development (PRD) zoning district contract created in 1975 when the development of the resort began. It was previously amended in 2016 to reduce the number of units permitted.

The most recent changes were brought about amid fears that Wild Dunes was planning to build additional condos/hotels where current golf courses and recreation spaces exist. However, in a statement to News 2, a representative for the developer said “the developer did not propose to build on existing golf courses/green spaces.”

In a series of public meetings, residents expressed concern about the overpopulation that the additional development could bring as well as the damage it could cause to the environment.

Despite initial worries about how long the process could take, councilmembers acted quickly to pass the amendments, which Wild Dunes claims violated the city’s own protocol.

“The City failed to comply with the requisite procedure. As detailed above, the Planning Commission reviewed and recommended the Subject Ordinances on or around November 9, 2022, which was after the public hearings on the Subject Ordinances had already been held on October 18 and November 1, 2022. Thus, the City violated the procedural requirements of Section 5-4-39 of the City’s Code for amending PDD zoning districts.”

Likewise, Wild Dunes claims the city failed to meaningfully engage with stakeholders — despite a representative publicly appealing to council members at a November 15 meeting — and left them no option but to take legal action.

The lawsuit also argues that the city’s reasoning for passing the ordinances is misguided, stating that Wild Dunes has brought “measured and positive growth to the City for decades,” and would continue to do so with any new development.

It cites the many rehabilitation and renovation projects undertaken by Wild Dunes over the years — sometimes in partnership with the city — to improve the shoreline, golf courses, and other recreation facilities.

Regarding overpopulation, Wild Dunes noted that the existing PRD allowed for another 330 dwelling units and 53 inn units to be built, but Wild Dunes had no plans to build them all at once. Instead, developers said they would be “completed over time based upon real estate market conditions and other factors.” The lawsuit goes on to claim that individual rental properties bring far more traffic to the island, and that taking away property rights should not be used as a solution to regulate traffic.

Ultimately, the lawsuit claims that the ordinances prevent “economically viable and productive uses of [Wild Dunes’] property,” which effectively amounts to “the regulatory taking of [the] property.” Thus, according to the lawsuit, the city should compensate Wild Dunes for the land it took, or return the property rights to the owners.

News 2 has reached out to IOP for comment.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include a statement from the developer.

ISLE OF PALMS, S.C. (WCSC) - A volunteer organization is encouraging others to help with litter removal on Isle of Palms.

The Isle of Palms Cleanup Crew will be holding its first of six litter cleanups, the Spring Litter Sweep series, on Monday and they’re encouraging others in the community to participate.

Co-founder Susan Hill Smith said volunteers collected 60,000 pieces of litter during cleanups last year. That’s a 130% increase over 2021.

She says common litter items found on the beach and commercial areas are plastics such as bottle caps, food wrappers, lids, and straw wrappers.

Smith said one litter item remains at the top of the list even though it is prohibited and that is cigarettes.

Organizers say 44% of litter items collected on the beach, streets, sidewalks, and parking lots last year were smoking-related litter items.

“Cigarette litter is our number one both on the beach and on the streetscape even though on the beach the city council passed and adopted in 2020 a law against smoking on the beach,” Smith said. “We’ve seen a decrease in cigarette litter as far as our totals. But that’s still cigarette litter is still our number one and that has both toxic chemicals and plastic threads in it.”

The group has entered a partnership with the South Carolina Aquarium to document their litter data through the aquarium’s Citizen Science app. The app allows citizen scientists to document observations in the area. They said the aquarium reports at the turtle hospital showed a remarkable increase in the amount of plastic they’re seeing ingested by their patients.

Smith said the crew was founded in 2018 after concerns about litter and pollution problems on the beach and how that was affecting both the beach and ocean ecosystems as well as public health and really just wanted to help keep their islands beautiful and protect the area.

Smith encourages avoiding bringing disposable items to the beach and keeping track of beach ordinances prohibiting single-use items.

If you are interested in joining the clean-up crew the first meeting is 5:30 p.m. Monday at 1100 Ocean Boulevard.

More information on the group and future cleanup dates can be found on their Facebook page.

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ISLE OF PALMS, S.C. (WCBD) – Isle of Palms City Council heard from residents about Friday’s beach shooting and also discussed potential changes coming to the Isle of Palms (IOP) Connector.

The special meeting was scheduled prior to last Friday’s shooting that left five people wounded. Some neighbors attended to share their thoughts on the shooting.

“Awesome shoutout to our first responders who got in last Friday’s continuous,” Isle of Palms resident Al Klaus said, “contentious world of reality that we live in.”

For neighbors like Terry McGowan, who experienced the shooting first-hand while walking with his wife on the beach.

“This incident has left us both traumatized,” McGowan said.

He is asking for action to be taken to prevent something similar from happening in the future.

“We believe it’s imperative for council to address the root causes of these flash mobs and improve city services,” McGowan said.

After public comments, council began discussing results of a survey distributed by the South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) regarding possible lane configuration changes for the IOP Connector.

“The report that’s in our packet summarizes about 3300 survey responses after scrubbing through duplicates,” Isle of Palms Mayor Phillip Pounds said.

Of those 3300 responses, 48 percent were IOP residents. Their top two concerns are traffic congestion and the safety of bicyclists and pedestrians.

“Participants priority ranking item on the bridge primarily focused on reducing traffic congestion and improving safety,” Pounds said.

From the five potential changes SCDOT proposed last December, Concept Five was the most popular choice.

“Concept Five,” Pounds said, “which you may remember adds a lane capacity on the bridge by adding a second lane toward Mount Pleasant, received the highest rating with 50 percent of the respondents rating it four stars or higher.”

And many councilmembers appear to be in favor of that option as well.

“With the alternatives that have been proposed by DOT,” Isle of Palms Councilwoman Jan Anderson said, “there’s one that provides additional capacity on the road that will help relieve traffic congestion, and that’s option five.”

Mayor Pounds says any changes made to the IOP Connector will likely come after the summer.

ISLE OF PALMS — Islanders here may have to learn to live with the resident coyotes as shooting the species is illegal on the island, and trapping is the only other option.

Officials don’t know exactly how many coyotes live on Isle of Palms, but most of them linger near the Wild Dunes area.

Twelve sightings were documented so far this year. And 59 were counted in 2022, according to Ryan Warren, an animal control officer on the island.

But the invasive predators have a presence in each of the state’s counties. The species is extremely adaptable and detrimental to deer, turkey and other native animals.

Between 20,000-25,000 coyotes are taken annually in the state.

Summertime is when Isle of Palms animal control officers get the most calls about coyote sightings. Visitors often report the coyotes because they don’t realize the animals are residents on the island, Warren said Feb. 22 at a meeting on how to deal with the animals.

“We’re definitely pushing for people to call more,” Warren said. “So maybe that might be why we have more sightings or maybe there’s more out there.”

The city tries to alert residents and visitors of the animals through its website and occasionally on Facebook. And Warren said they will consider adding signs in the area, too.

Coyote dens might be spotted in a number of locations.

In flat areas like Isle of Palms, it is common to see a den dug up under roots of a fallen tree, in brush areas and on the sides of banks, according to Jay Butfiloski, the furbearer coordinator for the state Department of Natural Resources.

The animals are also known to wander in the dunes on the beach here.

In 2021, a 2-year-old Boykin Spaniel was attacked by four coyotes in the sand dunes on Isle of Palms.

Also in 2021, a Mount Pleasant man said coyotes were to blame for the death of two of his cats in the fenced Sandpiper Point II neighborhood.

Missing or deceased pets are good indicators that coyotes could be nearby.

Officials believe the coyotes on Isle of Palms could be coming from Mount Pleasant and other areas.

The Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway between Mount Pleasant and Isle of Palms is not a barrier for the animals, as they can easily cross it, Butfiloski said.

He recommends people do a number of things to protect themselves and their pets from coyotes.

First, people should keep pets on short leashes and don’t leave them unattended outside where coyotes are known to roam the area.

Habitat management can be considered as a control method, too, Butfiloski said.

Clearing out brush in areas that are highly traveled, like in parks and even yards, could prove beneficial. It will reduce the habitat for the small mammals that coyotes prey on and also prevent them from hiding.

The biggest issues with coyotes in developed areas is typically food and trash-related, though. People are encouraged not to leave food outdoors for feral cats, pets or other wild animals.

“That allows a free meal, it allows them (coyotes) to kind of get habituated to people, and that’s where things get to be a problem,” he said.

While more calls come in about coyote sightings on the Isle of Palms during tourist season, statewide coyote sightings are typically higher in the wintertime, partly due to vegetation, lost foliage and increased breeding activities and movements.

There tends to be a decrease in sightings in the summer when the animals are pup rearing.

“When the pups are young, they’re like kids. They don’t care if they’re very visible whenever a den is nearby,” Butfiloski said. “But it might not be an indicator (that) you’ve got a whole bunch more.”

No hunting license or permit is required in South Carolina for people to shoot coyotes on their property within 100 yards of the home. But local municipalities may have other regulations.

Night hunting is permitted on registered properties or with a depredation permit. Trapped coyotes may not be relocated.