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Dozens of Short-term rental property owners met Monday night on Folly Beach to discuss how to maintain both their property’s value their licenses.

FOLLY BEACH, S.C. (WCSC) - Dozens of short-term rental property owners met Monday night on Folly Beach to discuss how to maintain both their property’s value and short-term rental license.

This comes after the months-long short-term rental discussion came to a close last month, officially capping the number of short-term rentals on Folly Beach at 800.

The owner of Folly Beach property management company “Folly’s Best Rentals,” and host of Monday’s meeting, Greg Hart, said the short-term rental cap will drive down property value and make Short-term rental licenses more valuable.

“My advice for those who have a license is to be sure to take care of it, because it’s worth its weight in gold,” Hart said.

Right now, the short-term rental cap is set at 800, and there are currently around 1,200 on the island. Hart said he believes the city will try to lower the number of short-term rental licenses.

He said he encourages property owners to pay attention to strikes on their property, and the short-term rental license renewal date itself. Other suggestions included contacting Folly Beach Officials, and supporting a state-wide bill that would make imposing short-term rental bans illegal.

One short-term rental owner, Randy Holton, said he’s going to keep a close eye on his own short-term rental license.

Holton said when he and his family bought the house thirty years ago, renting it was always part of their retirement plan.

“Now we are reaching retirement age, so we are very threatened by laws that come along and say, ‘no we can’t do that,’” Holton said.

A majority of people at Monday night’s discussion were short-term rental property owners who are against the short-term rental cap.

Live 5 News reached out to The Folly Beach Resident Association, a group that is openly in favor of the short-term rental cap, for a statement.

We at the Folly Beach Residents Association (FRA) were pleased to see the highest voter turnout of any election on the Island vote to retain our sense of community and quality of life by passing the Referendum to CAP Investment Short Term Rental licenses at 800. The City leadership team is now beginning the implementation process of updating ordinances and capturing this decision into implementable city rules and regulations and the FRA is partnering with the City however they need us to through this process. We’ve already heard of one positive shift so far... the City confirmed to us that there are more Long Term Rental licenses being requested.

The City of Folly Beach said they did not want to comment on Monday’s discussion at this time.

Copyright 2023 WCSC. All rights reserved.

A months-long discussion came to an end Tuesday night as voters decided on the fate of short-term rentals on Folly Beach.

FOLLY BEACH, S.C. (WCSC) - A months-long discussion came to an end Tuesday night as voters decided on the fate of short-term rentals on Folly Beach.

Just 78 votes ended up separating the debate of the number of short-term rental licenses allowed on Folly Beach. The final vote rang Tuesday night after lines at the polls began at 7 a.m. officially capping the number of rentals, like condos and Airbnbs, to 800 across the island.

There were more than 1,200 people that voted, which is about half of the number of registered voters on the island.

“This is probably the most people I’ve ever seen vote, even in a presidential election, that I can remember,” Goodwin said.

This special citizen vote tallies 655 voters for the cap on short-term rentals and 577 against it.

This issue stems back to October when a citizen petition to cap the number of short-term rentals came to city council, which was then put up to a citizen vote.

Ann Peets, who supports the cap, says she doesn’t want the permanent residents leaving because of disruptive renters.

“It’s a very tight-knit community and we feel like if people keep leaving that’s going to be lost,” Peets said.

Those against the cap on rentals, like Elton Culpepper, says he doesn’t want his kids to not have a rental option on inherited property.

“I feel like the property value will go down and they should be able to short term rental it,” Culpepper said.

Bill Murschel says he’s been renting on the island for over 25 years. Although he could not vote, he says he worries how this would affect his vacations.

“I don’t want to be priced out of the market,” Murschel said. “I want to have plenty of choices when I contact a local real estate office and pick my place.”

Mayor Goodwin says he signed the original petition and voted for the STR cap.

“We know they bring in tax dollars,” Goodwin said. “We never want to see short term rentals go away totally. It’s just where do you want your city to be in reference to a community versus businesses.”

He was asked if he thinks this will have any effect on people investing on Folly Beach in the future.

“I don’t think so,” Goodwin said. “You know, before this got started, like I said, the number was 800. That didn’t stop people from buying and selling out here... Nobody’s going to be totally happy with the vote. So, now it’s just a matter of the community coming back together and healing and let’s get on with the rest of the world.”

Goodwin says it will take several years for the number of current STRs to dwindle down to 800 from either people selling their property or no longer renewing their licenses. He says there’s currently around 1,200 on the island.

The vote will be certified on Thursday and will immediately take effect.

Copyright 2023 WCSC. All rights reserved.

Folly Beach received a significant amount of federal funding for emergency renourishment following beach damage from Hurricane Ian.

FOLLY BEACH, S.C. (WCSC) - Folly Beach received a significant amount of federal funding for emergency renourishment following beach damage from Hurricane Ian.

The September storm washed away sand dunes and caused erosion to take away parts of the beach.

The $27 million of funding will work to get the beach back to normal with sand replacement.

“This is not a full renourishment, but it does allow us to get a little more beach back in place for the protection of infrastructure and recreation,” Folly Beach Mayor Tim Goodwin said.

Around 900,000 cubic yards or 90,000 dump trucks of sand, will be replaced, and the city plans to use sand from the Folly River.

“That kind of does two things,” Goodwin said. “It helps us refurbish the beach with beach sand that just kind of washes around in the river, and it kind of opens up the river for the boaters, gets rid of some sand bars.”

The mayor believes beachgoers will be excited about the project, but they are not the only ones who will benefit.

Safety is a concern when the beach is in its current state.

“A lot of people don’t understand but especially in medical emergencies, we have a lot of equipment to carry, so it’s helpful when we can bring that one a cart or a four-wheeler, and with a small beach that’s impacted by the storm, it makes it pretty difficult or impossible to do, so getting this sand is a huge help for us,” the City of Folly Beach Director of Public Safety Andrew Gilreath said.

The sand is also crucial for those who rely on the beach for business.

“Just makes the beach so much deeper, so much more room for everybody, everybody’s not shoulder to shoulder stuffed on the beach, so once we get that new beach it’ll be glory days for us,” Sun & Ski Beach Service Owner Andy Pracht said.

The project most likely will not get underway till after the busy season.

“Everybody just has to work together to get through the summer,” Pracht said. “It’s going to be crowded. It kind of is what it is. Hopefully, we could have a new beach by this summer but we’re not going to. So, if we have one by next summer that would be awesome.”

City officials say this will be the first emergency renourishment Folly has needed since 2018.

They say It will be a few months before a timeline is laid out for the project.

A contract should be awarded in late summer/early fall and construction will start shortly after.

Copyright 2023 WCSC. All rights reserved.

Charleston County Parks and Recreation Officials say they look forward to formally celebrating the Edwin S. Taylor Folly Beach Fishing Pier Wednesday.

FOLLY BEACH, S.C. (WCSC) - Charleston County Parks and Recreation Officials say they look forward to formally celebrating the Edwin S. Taylor Folly Beach Fishing Pier Wednesday.

The pier will be dedicated at 10 a.m. with a ceremonial cast of fishing lines following a quiet opening back in December.

Charleston County Parks and Recreation spokesperson Sarah Reynolds said the history of a pier in this location dates back to the 1930s.

Reynolds said Charleston County purchased the land in 1992 and built the “original” wooden pier, which opened in 1995. After it showed signs of deteriorating, officials closed that pier in 2020, tore it down and built a new one from scratch.

But Reynolds said they didn’t want the new pier to lose its original feel, so they decided to build it in the same footprint.

The structure is made from concrete, meaning it will last generations longer than the original, but the walkways, railings and fishing stations are all wooden.

“We knew it was so important to the Lowcountry and to so many visitors and people who have made memories on the pier with fishing and, I’ve heard so many stories of people getting engaged out there and going there after their weddings and stuff, so we knew it meant a lot to a lot of people. So we wanted it to be reminiscent and nostalgic of the previous wooden pier at the site,” Reynolds said.

The pier stretches 1,049 feet and is 25 feet wide and 22 feet above sea level. Charleston County Parks and Recreation says its amenities include a 7,500-sq.-ft. diamond-shaped platform at the end of the pier, beach access, accessible restrooms, showers, rod rentals, a gift and tackle shop and oceanfront dining at Pier 101 Restaurant & Bar.

She said the pier is being dedicated to Edwin S Taylor, a prominent member of their commission in the 1990s and an instrumental part of building the original wooden pier.

The new pier is being dedicated to Taylor once again along with honoring many others who played key roles in its construction.

She said the pier is an iconic landmark, and it is important to acknowledge people who have invested so much time into making the pier a reality.

Copyright 2023 WCSC. All rights reserved.

Cyclists, walkers and joggers going through James Island to Folly Beach are one step closer to what officials hope is safer and easier travel.

FOLLY BEACH, S.C. (WCSC) - Cyclists, walkers and joggers going through James Island to Folly Beach are one step closer to what officials hope is safer and easier travel.

The Rethink Folly Road Complete Streets Initiative focuses on improving connectivity and reducing congestion on Folly Road.

The steering committee made up of officials from Charleston County, the city of Charleston, James Island and Folly Beach held their quarterly meeting Wednesday to go over where this project stands.

As far as the phase one update, Charleston County says we are seeing “the light at the end of the tunnel.”

The state’s department of transportation and health has officially approved the permits for phase one of Rethink Folly Road, according to a Charleston County official.

Phase one is the initial phase of the bike and pedestrian accommodation project, which includes mixed-use paths or lane markings, but construction cannot start just yet.

James Island Mayor Bill Woolsey says they are thinking of beach traffic and how this would impact construction if it were to start in the summer.

In addition to less traffic, these islanders could also see a beach shuttle connecting Folly Beach to James Island, sometime in the future. The town of James Island put out a survey on this to see if people would really use it.

“There is an interest if we can make the ride feasible,” Jenny Costa Honeycutt, Charleston County District 9 councilmember, said. “That is get out there in a way that makes it, encourages people to ride it instead of simply driving and waiting in traffic on their own.”

A survey that pulled in 400 responses from people on James Island, West Ashley and beyond says 77% of people would use a beach shuttle with 23% would not.

When asked if they would take a 10-minute ride in the shuttle in an alternative lane passing traffic, 86% said yes and 14% said no. When asked if they would take a 45-minute ride in the shuttle in the same lane of traffic, 19% said yes and 81% said no.

Katie Zimmerman, executive director of Charleston Moves, says this data could create transit opportunities in the future.

“I think the results are really telling and really useful,” Zimmerman said. “And its information we keep in the back of our minds proceeding forward.”

Charleston County says they are anticipating a 300-day construction timeline for phase one. There is not a set date of when that will start as of now.

Copyright 2023 WCSC. All rights reserved.