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s the temperatures climb in Charleston, it’stime to kick back, enjoy the ocean breeze andindulge in an icy treat or two. Fortunately,Sullivan’s favorite one-stop shop, the Heron Grocery,has reopened its doors just in time for the summerrush. Snowcones, ice cream, cold drinks, and theupcoming deli at the newly reopened Heron aredrawing crowds of locals and beach-going touristsalike. Missed terribly after its sudden closing inDecember 2008, the Heron now has a new look andfeel thanks to owner Heather Holbrook’s seamlessmelding of modern convenience and old-fashioneddecor. The Heron held a soft opening on May 1, butdespite the low key approach, lines of children andparents clamored in throughout the day for pennypopsicles and rainbow sno cones. The colorful icetreats have been a best seller for the shop, secondonly to “the best island hot dog around”. Need beer?birthday candles? Forgot to grab laundry detergentat the grocery store? This little shop’s proprietoraspires to meet all of your last minute and beachbound needs.A local resident, Heather says she could not behappier with her new business on the island. “I loveseeing the same faces two or three times every day.People keep coming in, telling me that its just so‘happy in here’. The community support has beenastonishing.”Possibly the only place around that still sells candyfor a dime, the old-fashioned general store feel of theHeron is inviting to a wide array of customers. Thecharacter of the store still resonates from the days
P RE  S  ORT  S T A  NDA RD U S P  O S T A  GE P A I  D C HA RL E  S T  O N , S  C P E RMI  T  N O 4 3 7 
May 29, 2009Volume 5 Issue 2
IOP welcomes Bergwerf 
page 5
Lifegurd chllenge
page 6
IOP Recretion
page 21
Inside Island Eye
see
Welcome
on page 4
Sullivan’s Middle Streetwelcomes its newest residents
by Megan McnaMara
Since May 2005
Sullivan’s Island
•
Isle of Palms
•
Goat Island
•
Dewees IslandStarting our 5th year serving our communities!
 
2May 29, 2009
www.islandeyenews.com
Civic
O
 wning a home on the frontbeach is a dream cometrue for some residents.Being able to see the sun riseover the ocean from your livingroom or hearing the waves lapon the beach as you fall asleepis a daily blessing for a selectfew. However, that blessing hasturned into a nightmare for somefront beach homeowners on ourbarrier islands.Last year, a conglomerationof residents, homeowners,Charleston County, the Stateof South Carolina and the Cityof Isle of Palms paid nearly$10 million to renourish theWild Dunes beach area wheresandbags were the only objectskeeping the ocean from washingunderneath homes at high tide.At the request of affected propertyowners inside Wild Dunes, theCity put themselves on the hookfor about 20 percent of the $10million price tag. Now, the Town
of Sullivan’s Island nds itself in
a similar situation.While some residents of Sullivan’s Island complainbecause their beach front homenow has a small forest in frontof it because of land accretion,others are upset over a beachthat has disappeared beforetheir eyes. According to CottonHarness, a lawyer speaking onbehalf of the affected propertyowners, 12 homes are in the line
of re of cyclical erosion. Harness
presented the plight to membersof the Sullivan’s Island TownCouncil on May 19.He stated that he was currentlyin litigation with the Stateregarding the Ocean and CoastalResource Management (OCRM)
ofce in an effort to get sandbags
on the beach. The sandbags,he says, would prevent furthererosion and protect the properties.However, permission has not been
granted. While Harness ghts the
legal battle to use sandbags, he wants the Town to help with aninterim plan.Harness presented the Town with two options. First wasa $6 million renourishmentproject whose cost would bespread around like the Isle of Palms project. The second idea,however, was the one which heconsidered to be the best option. The plan would enlarge the groinsthat currently exist in the erosionarea to create “T” groins which would strictly limit the egress of sand from the interior area. Sand would then be taken from another
part of the island and used to ll
in the eroding beach. The totalcost would be approximately $1million. Harness asked the Townto pay for the nourishment andto allow sand to be taken fromanother area of the island.It was admitted thatrenourishment would have to bedone over again on occasion asthe sand would continue to erode.Furthermore, he noted that thenew groins might actually impedea potential shoal that wouldattach itself and rescue the beachin the future, according to naturalcycles.Because of the proclaimedcritical nature of the erosion in thearea, Harness told the Council, “If  we’re going to do this, we need todo it this year.”Already the Town has struggledto deal with budget shortfalls inthis depressed economy and theCouncil only recently increasedbusiness license fees in a partialeffort to offset the shortfall. Being
a major nancial partner in a
$1 million project for 12 home-owners might translate to a bitethat is too large for the Town tochew. However, they may not evenhave the opportunity to decide.Harness, who actually workedfor the OCRM as a legal expert inthe past, argued that it is illegalto use sandbags and questionedhow the Isle of Palms was ableto do it in the past. However, theOCRM’s website is very clear thatit is not illegal to use sandbags,properties just have to be inimminent danger and emergencyorders have been given. If conditions are met, the OCRMcan permit the use of sandbags.Furthermore, the OCRM statesthat erosion control measureslike groins can actually accelerateerosion. As a result, their policyon these structures is very clear:“South Carolina applies a strictregulatory position where thesestructures [groins] are concerned.No new erosion control structuresare allowed seaward of the setbackline. Functional erosion controlstructures may not be enlarged,strengthened or rebuilt, but maybe maintained in their presentcondition.” The plan presented to theCouncil makes no attempt tohide the fact that erosion controlmeasures are being enlarged. BillEiser, who is most often involvedin these local projects on behalf of the OCRM, did not respond toquestions about the sandbagsor whether the plan would evenbe considered by our publicationdeadline. However, Harness didsuggest to the Council that Eiser was very eager to help protect theaffected properties. The OCRM would have toapprove of every aspect of theproposed plan before any workcould begin.
A sandy request
residents ask town for beach nourishMent funds
by ali akhyari
Sandbags being remoed from Wild Dnes in May of 2008.
    P    h    o    t    o    b    y    b    a    r    b    a    r    a    b    e    r    g    w    e    r    f
 
A friendly goodbye
Everett Presson, who will beabsent from the Town Council’snext meeting in June, took a mo-ment to say goodbye during hislast meeting as a member of theCouncil.“It’s been a quick four years,”Presson said. “I’ve never worked
 with a ner group of people than
this Council.”He went on to refer to his fellowCouncil members as good friendsand praised the various depart-ment leaders for their work.Mayor Carl Smith spoke onbehalf of Council and referencedPresson’s efforts to make Sulli-van’s Island better before comingonto the Council. He stated thatPresson raised money to get theaccreted land the designation itneeded when there wasn’t anyavailable and praised his effortsto make Sullivan’s Island the
rst municipality in South Caro
-lina to pass a smoking ban.“It’s been a pleasure serving with you,” Mayor Smith said.Presson said he looks forwardto spending more time with hisfamily now that he is no longerobligated to do the work of amember of Council. He seemed
satised, saying it had been his
goal to make Sullivan’s Islandstand out as the friendliest gov-ernment in America.“I think we did it,” he said.
Drunk with fear
One resident complained tothe Council about the drunk-enness and party atmospherethat seems to occur in the com-mercial district after hours.She referenced an instance of extreme drunkenness where a
police ofcer caught an individ
-ual who had fallen down severaltimes on the way to his vehicleand allowed the man to contacta friend who picked him up. Shealluded to Sullivan’s Island gar-nering a reputation of being softon public drunkenness, which isattracting a particular element tothe island. She was worried thatsomeone was going to be killed if drunken behavior was not pun-ished. However, there are only
two or three ofcers on duty at
a time and an arrest takes one
ofcer off the island for several
hours.Mayor Smith responded thatthe Town could not afford to hire
any more police ofcers at this
time. Furthermore, he admittedthat the Town had instructed thepolice force to be more “consider-ate” and friendly because people were complaining that they weretoo strict.
A bump in the road
 The Council announced thatplans to repave Middle Streethave been put on hold. Theproject was being done by theSouth Carolina Department of  Transportation (SCDOT) and wassupposed to be begin a couple of months ago. In fact, the Town’sWater and Sewer Departmentconducted its work on somepipes crossing Middle Street in
order to be nished in time for
the DOT to do its work. How-ever, a lack of funding is beingblamed for the DOT’s inability tofollow through. The Town planson meeting with Secretary of  Transportation Buck Limehouseas well as State RepresentativeMike Sottile on the matter some-time in the future.
BTW :-)
Police Chief Danny Howard stat-ed that he is in the process of 
evolving public notication into
the texting era. Chief Howard isgetting the Town involved in aprogram so that residents canregister their cell phone numbers
 with the Town and be notied by
text for any number of reasons. They would have the ability toinclude pictures and possiblyvideo, if relevant. He says theapplication is being processed atthe current time. Contact TownHall for more information.
Ordinances
 The Council passed second read-ing of Ordinance 2009-02 whichgives the Zoning Administratorthe authority to approve certainminor projects, alterations, anddesign changes to previously is-
sued certicates of appropriate
-ness. It will allow some people toavoid the Design Review Board
and increase efciency for small
-er projects.
 They also passed rst reading
of ordinance 2009-04, whichamends the Town’s smoking or-dinance to comply with a Federalmandate.
May 29, 2009
 
3
Lynn PierottiPublisher 
lynn@lckydognews.com
Kristin Hackler Editor 
kristin@lckydognews.com
Swan RichardsGraphic Designer 
swan@lckydognews.com
Ali AkhyariAssistant Editor 
ali@lckydognews.com
Brittany UrbachReporter 
brittany@lckydognews.com
Chelsea LanganAdvertising
chelsea@lckydognews.com
InternsJennifer Millar Bridget HinkebeinBri Horahan
•
ContributorsBarbara Bergwerf Emily ColemanDaniel Culpepper SC Dept. of Natural ResourcesDavid FarrowJack LittleSarah Harper Richard HricikMegan McNameraMary PringleSarah ReynoldsPublished byLucky Dog Publishingof South Carolina, LLCP.O. Box 837Sullivan’s Island, SC 29482843-886-NEWSSubmit your letters to the editor to:info@luckydognews.comFuture deadlines:June 3 for all submissions.
www.islandeyenews.com
Lucky Dog Publishingof SC, LLC
Publisher of the
Island Eye News 
,
The Island Connection 
and
The Folly Current 
.
t i e n,    -  l d P  s cllc,   , p pp p-         i  Pm, s’ i, g i d i. cp  m       mx            p  -. sp-  $30 p   -        ld P, llc, P.o. bx 837, s’i, sc 29482. c  m,p    m     p m       xp  pq. o    pm     ;  p p        i e n m. cmp   $50, ,   p  30%        x . a    ..  “”.
 
Isle of Palms886-6428www.iop.net
Tuesd, June 2
Public Works Committee
4pm1303 Palm Boulevard
Public Safety Committee
5pm1207 Palm Boulevard
Thursd, June 4
Livability Courty
5pm1207 Palm Boulevard
Tuesd, June 9
Real Property Committee
4pm1207 Palm Boulevard
Board of Zoning Appeals
5:301301 Palm Boulevard
Recreation Committee
5:30pm24 28th Avenue
Wednesd, June 10
Planning Commission
4:30pm1301 Palm Boulevard
-------------------------------------------Sullivan's Island883-3198www.sullivansisland-sc.com
Mond, June 1
Budget Public Hearing
6pm1610 Middle Street
Committees of Council
6pm1610 Middle Street
Tuesd, June 2
1st Day of Summer TrashSchedule 
Wednesd, June 10
Planning Commission
6:30pm1610 Middle Street
 
Thursd, June 11
Board of Zoning Appeals
7pm1610 Middle Street
Civic Clendr 
Sullivan's Town Council
staff rePort
Civic
of 00

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