Plumbers in Isle of Palms, SC

ISLE OF PALMS, S.C. (WCBD) – Some parking tickets on the Isle of Palms have reached $100 for minor infractions.

Now people say they’re concerned the island is price gouging.

From January 2020 to December 2022, records show that 14,000 parking tickets were issued on the Isle of Palms.

The majority were for $100 dollars, but none were issued for less than $50 dollars; prices members of the Charleston Beach Foundation say are way too high.

“I did an analysis, and found that the average ticket statewide is $30, not $100,” Founder of the Charleston Beach Foundation, Myra Jones said.

Jones filed a lawsuit against the Isle of Palms in 2020 over the ticket prices.

A judge eventually ruled that the city had the right to set the price at what they think is necessary.

“The judge noted that the state law, the South Carolina state law allows $100 fines,” IOP City Councilmember, Blair Hahn said.

However, Jones is fighting prices again, calling them excessive and unnecessary.

Jones said, “For comparison, tickets on Sullivans Island are $50 and on Folly Beach they’re $60.”

Jones is also concerned the high ticket prices could backfire and damage the island’s economy.

“We’ve hear from thousands of people who will not go to the Isle of Palms because of the $100 tickets,” Jones said.

Councilmembers aren’t concerned about the ticket prices driving people away.

Hahn said, “If you come out here on any weekend, the island is full. So, if our goal is to keep people, stop people from coming to the island, we’re doing a terrible job.”

Leaders say the ticket prices are a minor price to pay to keep the roads and citizens safe.

“We were not strictly enforcing parking, not as strict as we were this year. People were double parking, parking close to the road. Fire trucks couldn’t get through in a safe manner, police couldn’t get through in a safe manner,” Hahn said.

The Charleston Beach Foundation says they plan to take the issue to the Statehouse and introduce legislation that would not allow municipalities to write unreasonable tickets for minor parking infractions.

A total of 1,173 people on the Isle of Palms signed a grassroots petition to cap the number of investment short-term rentals on the island at 1,600.

ISLE OF PALMS, S.C. (WCSC) - A total of 1,173 people on the Isle of Palms signed a grassroots petition to cap the number of investment short-term rentals on the island at 1,600.

Petition creators, Catherine Malloy and Brian Duffy say it all started as a way to preserve the balance of people enjoying the town.

“We are absolutely in favor of short-term rentals. But we want to balance to maintain the equilibrium that we’ve had through the years. So it seemed like a good time to get involved with this,” Malloy says.

For former council member Duffy, it’s about being proactive, and he fears it’s already getting close to waiting too long to take action and be reactive.

“We’re just really asking the city to manage short-term rental licenses because you don’t know. Currently, there is no management of short-term rental licenses, there are no limits. So we could turn from the 1600 that we proposed in this ordinance to 3000 and no controls,” Duffy explains. “So that’s all that we were ever asking for. It is a little bit of management, a little bit of foresight, a little bit of planning.”

Under South Carolina Law, a petition signed by 15% of the voting population and verified by the county has to be considered by city council. The signatures on Preserve IOP’s petition represent about 27% of the island population, according to 2020 census numbers. City Council can approve the ordinance in the petition, or make amendments and put it to a city-wide citizen vote.

“The next steps really are in the hands of counsel. We as the group, Preserve IOP, have submitted this we are pretty much standing down, it’s their choice,” Duffy says.

Over the course of their work to gather signatures, Malloy and Duffy say they and the many volunteers who went door to door learned a lot about their island and their neighbors.

“They were so interesting the stories they told way before Hurricane Hugo before the connector bridge, and before even Wild Dunes when it was feature racquet club and that was all developed,” Malloy says. “So we’ve kind of really enjoyed it if you want to know the truth. Usually it’s not, it’s kind of labor. But it was a labor of love because these people were so fun, and so interesting.”

On July 11 at the Isle of Palms Recreation Center, the city council will hold a special meeting to address the petition.

On the agenda there will be public comment followed by discussion of the petition, consideration of sending petition to the Charleston County Board of Voter Registration & Elections for certification of signatures and consideration of first reading of the ordinance in the petition.

“It’s up or down vote, really it’s simple. It’s up or down. This is our wonderful gift to them because this is what residents want. And they all say when they got when they ran for office, we are for the residents. Well, the residents want this overwhelmingly so,” Malloy says.

Once the signatures are verified, council must accept the ordinance or put it to a island-wide vote. They have between 30 days and one year to schedule a public vote from the date city council takes any action on the verified ordinance.

You can read more about the roots of the petition and prior city council members’ reactions to the start of the campaign here.

Copyright 2023 WCSC. All rights reserved.

ISLE OF PALMS, S.C. (WCIV) — It's known as the dirtiest day of the year on the beaches.

Wednesday, a group of volunteers with buckets and shovels spent the morning cleaning up after others. They say it takes all of us to keep the Lowcountry's beaches beautiful.

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One volunteer on the Isle of Palms says she picked up at least three buckets of trash the morning following Independence Day celebrations.

"It’s a general problem, but this morning, the day after the Fourth- it's just much more so than usual," she explains.

For veteran volunteers like Howard Hogue, the day after July 4th is always busy. He says thanks to the pop-up storms on July 4th, larger items like grills and beach bags were left behind.

"It's pretty sad that there’re trash cans, yellow trash cans on the beach and people don’t seem to want to use them," Hogue says.

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In addition to keeping the beaches clean, the goal is to stop the wrappers and cigarette butts from getting into the ocean.

"It's important to keep the environment clean. It's important for the wildlife," says Hogue. "Those plastic items get into the water system and the ocean and sea turtles can’t distinguish between a plastic sippy straw wrapper and a jellyfish."

Organizers say 1,744 litter items were picked up during 1.5-hour event today. Most of this litter was cans and drink bottles, food wrappers, towels/blankets, and fireworks remnants.

Hogue says this should serve as a reminder that it takes everyone picking up after themselves to keep the beaches beautiful.

"There’s only one thing you should leave on the beach: footprints," he says.

The litter sweeps happen twice a week during the summer: from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Mondays and 7 a.m. to 8 a.m. on Wednesdays along IOP. For more information on the beach clean-ups, you can follow the Isle of Palms Cleanup Crew Facebook page.

ISLE OF PALMS, S.C. (WCBD) – Two women visiting the Isle of Palms recounted the frightening moment when they witnessed a child at the bottom of the pool at a local resort.

Tiffany Ross and Abby Ham have spent the last few days vacationing with their families at the Wild Dunes Resort.

The ladies said they were at the Sweetgrass Inn pool on Wednesday when they noticed a panicked mother looking for her child. The family jumped into action immediately and called the child’s name.

“A dad spotted him at the bottom of the pool and jumped in and picked him up and put him on the side of the pool,” Ham told News 2.

Ham said her husband and another bystander began performing CPR on the child. According to officials with the Isle of Palms Fire Department, they responded just before 5:30 pm. They provided treatment before the child was taken to MUSC Shawn Jenkins Children’s Hospital for further evaluation.

The families said the situation was unlike anything they had seen before.

“I think that was the most shocking thing. There’s not a lot of chaos, there’s not a lot of commotion. He was just down there,” Ross said.

Signs around the pool indicate there is no lifeguard on duty, but Ham said she was left wondering if the resort has a medically trained staff member ready for incidents like that – and if they do, where were they?

“I feel like when you have that many children in one location there should be some kind of medical personnel. If it’s not lifeguards, it should be a medic on staff that could be at the ready if something were to happen,” Ham suggested.

The situation served as a reminder about the realities of drowning.

“This can happen to any family. And I think it’s terrifying to even envision, but it can happen, and it can happen fast,” Ham said.

News 2 went inside the Sweetgrass Inn to talk to management. A staff member said they were not able to provide information.

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ISLE OF PALMS, S.C. (WCIV) — Currently, Isle of Palms has no limits on the amount of short-term rental licenses on the Island, which is something neighbors have been concerned about for years.

“We’re the only community in South Carolina coastal communities without limitations, and that includes all of the surrounding communities," Randy Bell, a former IOP councilmember, said. "You have 40 short-term rentals on Sullivan's island, 400 in mount pleasant, and maybe 100 in Charleston, but you have 1,800 here."

Isle of Palms residents rally for cap on short-term rentals: Referendum to hit upcoming ballot (WCIV)

Earlier in the month, Isle of Palms neighbors formed a grassroots petition to cap the number of short rentals at 1,600. The petition was signed by more than 1,100 residents. This led to the county verifying the petition forcing the city council to put a referendum on the ballot.

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"The residents put forth a petition, and that’s how democracy works, and we'll put that on the ballot," Mayor Phillip Pounds of Isle of Palms said. "So it’s to cap what they call investment short-term rentals. So non-full-time rental properties to cap that at 1,600, and that will be the simple question on the ballot: a simple yes or no."

With the decision now up to voters, former Councilman Randy Bell hopes the council learns to listen to their constituents moving forward.

“We’re the dry sponge in the middle of a puddle, and we don’t want to be the dry sponge anymore. We would like to have reasonable limitations well thought out by council. It should have avoided a referendum, but here we are," Bell continued. “I was on council, and I don’t care what every councilperson’s opinion is, but you’re there to represent the people that put you in office."

For the next upcoming election, there are four council seats open.

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