Granite Countertops in Pawley's Island, SC

GEORGETOWN COUNTY, S.C. (WPDE) — Many cities across the country are replacing the traditional Fourth of July fireworks with light shows to reduce the risk of fires, injuries, and provide alternatives for people with noise sensitivities.

In Pawleys Island at Retreat Park where the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce is sponsoring one of these light shows, but they say the reasons aren’t political.

The event coordinator says there’s only one reason he’s doing this.

“I love fireworks, I’m not doing this for any political reason or any kind of environmental reason, even though I really understand the benefits to that, I'm in it for the fun factor,” said Blaine Harvey, the event coordinator.

Harvey says they hired a light show artist.

From there you program the lights to music and then you add ambiance with different watt lights and colors.

However, he says the fog machines, or hazers as they call them, are the key.

“Really kind of creating a ceiling for the folks that are there. Not as much straight up into the sky, but more of an overhead while you’re standing there with the presentation over your head.”

TRENDING: Where to watch 4th of July fireworks along the Grand Strand

The Georgetown Chamber is sponsoring the event because they want to provide alternatives for people with noise sensitivities like veterans, children, people with autism, and dog lovers, but make no mistake about it, there will still be fireworks on the Fourth of July.

There are fireworks all over Georgetown County during the fourth. whether it’s on the marsh walk down to the city of Georgetown. so you’ve got opportunities for everyone to celebrate and have a good time. whether it’s fireworks or a laser light show,” said Beth Stedman, President & CEO of the Georgetown County Chamber of Commerce.

The event, called Wave that Flag, will start at 5 p.m. on the 2nd and 3rd of July at Retreat Park.

The laser show will begin when the sun goes down and will be over before 10 p.m

Harvey says that Sunday's show will have a recorded music track, but on Monday, they're going to attempt to run the show to a live band.

The chamber said that the light show is much more cost-effective than fireworks and these light shows can be shown multiple times, but that’s not why they’re doing it.

They just want people to have alternatives to maximize fun.

They also told me that the drone shows are much more expensive than laser lights and more on par with a traditional fireworks show.

While Pawleys Island is staying out of the politics many cities are not.

The firework injury and death report shows how dangerous the can be when not handled properly.

A suit over the Pawleys Island beach renourishment project can continue, but a Circuit Court judge dismissed four claims in suits brought by neighboring property owners, including one that would have allowed them to seek triple damages.

In a ruling last month, Judge Paul Burch denied a motion from the state Department of Parks, Recreation and tourism to dismiss the three suits alleging that erosion at Prince George was caused by the placement of sand on Pawleys Island over the winter of 2019-20.

The agency funded a portion of the $14.8 million project, which was designed by Coastal Science and Engineering, permitted by the state Department of Health and Environmental Control and carried out by Marinex Construction. Property owners at Prince George have sued all four entities seeking to have their beachfront repaired and to have Pawleys Inlet at the south end of the island restored to its location before the renourishment.

Bud and Melesa Watts, who own the northernmost beachfront lots at Prince George, filed suit last July after seeing the inlet migrate south in front of their property. Other property owners and the Prince George Community Association filed similar suits.

At a hearing in February, PRT’s attorney Walker Humphrey argued that the plaintiffs had failed to exhaust their administrative remedies in challenging the DHEC permit. In fact, “they never sought any review,” he said.

State law provides for permit decisions made by agency staff to be appealed to the DHEC board and then to the Administrative Law Court.

“This argument fails for multiple reasons,” Burch said in his ruling.

The suits, which have since been consolidated, don’t challenge the decision to issue the permit, he noted.

“The question here is not whether DHEC should have issued the renourisment permit, but whether the Watts were damaged by the project and Defendants’ failure to take steps to prevent or mitigate the impacts on Prince George,” the judge said.

As a result, PRT “seeks dismissal based on facts that do not appear in the Complaint, which the Court may not consider,” the ruling states.

In addition, the judge determined that the request for an injunction requiring restoration of the beach and inlet was proper.

PRT argued that an injunction would force the agency to exceed its statutory authority. Humphreys argued in February that the funding for the project had been authorized by the legislature through a budget proviso.

Burch disagreed, saying the court could require PRT to pay to complete the project the way the Prince George property owners say it should have been done in the first place. That would not require the agency “to do anything that the legislature has prohibited it from doing,” he said.

The judge also found that the Prince George owners had met the standard for claiming negligence.

Burch dismissed claims that the renourishment caused a taking or inverse condemnation. Those require a showing of an “affirmative act,” and he said there is no allegation of “any facts that could rise to a reasonable inference that SCPRT caused the accelerated erosion.”

He dismissed claims for trespass for the same reason.

Claims for nuisance, which would have made PRT liable for damages were dismissed because they are not allowed under the state Tort Claims Act.

And since there were not sufficient facts alleged to show that PRT funding of the renourishment was “trade or commerce,” the claims for violation of the state Unfair Trade Practices Act were dismissed. Those would have tripled the amount of damages.

Since the renourishment was permitted by DHEC “any act taken pursuant to that permit was directly and specifically authorized by a regulatory agency and exempt for purposed of” the act, the judge said.

Georgetown County Board of Education: First and third Tuesdays, 5:30 p.m., Beck Education Center. For details, go to gcsd.k12.sc.us. Georgetown County Council: Second and fourth Tuesdays, 5:30 p.m., Council Chambers, 129 Screven St., Georgetown. For details, go to georgetowncountysc.org. Pawleys Island Town Council: Second Mondays, 5 p.m. Town Hall, 323 Myrtle Ave. For details, go to townofpawleysisland.com. , .

READ MORE

READ MORE

PAWLEYS ISLAND — The beach at Pawleys Island is longer than it’s been in more than a century. Those shifting sands carry a steep cost.

As Pawleys grows, neighbors to its south are watching their beach wash away. It’s a slow-motion disaster: First the water came for the live oaks, the parking lot and sand dunes, then it knocked over the boardwalk leading from the first house to what used to be the beach. And the rushing waters of the inlet that flows on the backside of Pawleys haven’t let up. Trapped in a new path by the growing southern tip of Pawleys Island, the water claimed a second boardwalk during high tide earlier this month.

The northern tip of Prince George is fortified with rocks and sheets of metal to prevent the water from rushing into homes that were built 200 feet from the sea. A rebuilt wooden structure slightly farther south to serve a similar purpose began leaning as soon as it was erected this winter. It fell within weeks.

The changes began shortly after Pawleys hauled in more than a million cubic yards of sand for a beach renourishment three years ago, twice as much sand as the town used in its previous four projects combined.

But while Pawleys faces three lawsuits from Prince George homeowners who say the town, state agencies and firms that performed the work should have known better, the town is poised to add even more sand by the end of this year. The federal government has committed $14 million to bring offshore sand to Pawleys Island because homes there were left more vulnerable to storm surge after Hurricane Ian blew through last summer.

“There’s no way you should be doing anything else until you solve this particular problem,” said Rob Young, a professor at Western Carolina University who has been studying shorelines for three decades. “There’s no doubt in my mind that it’s a result of all that beach nourishment sand coming down the spit very quickly, pushing the inlet south towards Prince George. I wish they could figure out how to fix that sooner rather than later. It’s been going on for too long.”

The fix is relatively simple: dig a path across the southern tip of Pawleys to create a new path for the inlet.

But there’s no plan in place to do that. Town leaders aren’t convinced they’re responsible for the inlet’s shift.

Town Administrator Dan Newquist, who was hesitant to say much about the issue because of the lawsuits, said the town’s position is that inlets are constantly moving, and nature’s course can’t conclusively be linked to their decision to pile so much sand onto the beach. The town obtained permits from the state to ensure the project was safe beforehand, he said. The state Department of Health and Environmental Control, which issued the permits, declined to talk about the issue because it’s a defendant in the lawsuits.

Inlets and beaches constantly move, and in South Carolina, that movement drifts to the south. Five times more sand washes out of South Carolina to the south than the north.

In Charleston County, Isle of Palms is working on a plan to haul in truckloads of sand this summer to protect a handful of homes where dunes have been washed away by the movement of Breach Inlet. But the changes there haven’t been nearly as rapid as at Pawleys.

Prince George residents say the timing of the inlet’s incursion onto their beach is no coincidence. The issue wasn’t just predictable, it was predicted. They point to a report from over a decade ago by the firm that oversaw Pawleys’ beach renourishment. It said the town should designate an area south of the island’s last home for clearing to control the inlet alongside any plans to add large amounts of sand to the beach.

The same company that made that recommendation is watching over the work it did to dump more sand on Pawley’s.

Coastal Science and Engineering boasts on its website that it has overseen more than 50 beach renourishment projects in North and South Carolina over the past 35 years. It has a longstanding contract with the state to monitor the results of beach projects. Steve Traynum, the company’s president, said he’s been advised not to say anything because of the pending lawsuit, but added that the company is working to find a solution that would satisfy everyone.

The competing interests — storm protection for Pawleys, inlet protection for Prince George — at their core raise a single question.

Does Pawleys Island have too much sand, or not enough?

‘Looking out the window is nauseating’

From inside the second home on Prince George, Beth Henry could see the walkway from the house to the beach swaying during high tide on June 4. She walked outside to take a look, and a chunk of it had washed away before she got out there.

Video from a camera mounted on the house and pointed toward the beach captured the collapse and the waves crashing violently against the fortifications her neighbor built.

Henry’s family has been visiting this beach since her parents bought the house here 24 years ago. She’s seen the inlet shift over the years, but never so quickly or violently. The rip currents caused by the force of the inlet make swimming in front of the house dangerous.

“Sometimes I just don’t recognize it anymore,” said Henry, who watched 20 more feet of dunes collapse in the three days after the boardwalk fell. “You’re just at the mercy of the Lord to stop the waves, basically.”

Bud Watts, who owns the first home on the island, feels certain the water would be underneath his home if he hadn’t built a wall with rocks and sheets of metal.

He doesn’t visit much now, either. Photos from before Pawleys’ renourishment show rolling dunes covered with vegetation far beyond his home. It’s all gone, swallowed by the inlet.

“Sitting in my living room and looking out the window is nauseating,” he said. “It’s just painful to be there.”

Watts had to get a court order to prevent the state from stopping the fortifications he installed. Initially, he buried them under more sand, but they’re totally exposed now.

The courts will ultimately decide whether he and his neighbors are right about the sand on Pawleys Island. But the water isn’t waiting.

Every week, it encroaches a little farther.

Homeowners say their experience should be a lesson for the state, where the pace of adding sand to save beaches is sure to increase with climate change and rising sea levels.

In the past two decades, adding sand to beaches in South Carolina has cost $284 million, according to a database kept by Western Carolina University. That database also shows that Pawleys’ recent renourishment poured four times as much sand there as it has on any other occasion.

State law requires planning, and money set aside, for unforeseen problems when anyone adds a physical structure to the beach to slow erosion. But that requirement isn’t in place if the only thing being added to the beach is sand.

“Those kinds of policies are requirements that, frankly, we need to have for nourishment, so that in the future we can understand what’s happening once we place sand somewhere,” said Emily Cedzo of the Coastal Conservation League. “The trouble right now is everyone’s going to point the finger and there’s no clear consensus because there was never that requirement to understand the potential consequences of that project.”

Cedzo was part of a state work group on beach preservation that wrapped up its work this winter. She said the state plans to form another group specifically to study renourishment projects.

That group will also consider ways to protect nesting sea turtles and shorebirds as the frequency of renourishment increases.

It likely won’t happen soon enough to protect Prince George.

Traynum told The Post and Courier last year that digging a trench through Pawleys to solve the issue could likely be done for under $1 million.

Newquist, the Pawleys Island administrator, said there’s no plan in place for that work.

Adding sand instead of moving it

The federal government set aside $14 million for new sand to protect homes after Ian swept away the dunes meant to combat storm surge. The sand from a few years ago helped protect homes from 6 feet of storm surge during Ian, but it’s gone in many spots now.

Think, “Midsommar.” Or “Shaun of the Dead.” Or, “The Wicker Man.”

These are some of the movies that have inspired 21-year-old film director Mathew Epp in a latest film project that takes place in Pawleys Island.

Epp, a Charlotte, North Carolina, resident, graduated from University of North Carolina at Charlotte recently and is working on a new project, “Eden Avenue.”

Pawleys Island has the perfect small town nature to it, Epp said. He had been visiting a friend — the lead actor — for the past five or six months and decided it was a perfect setting for the film.

“I just realized like the more and more I go down there, you know, it’s a small town,” Epp said. “It’s a local community. And it’s beautiful.”

“Eden Avenue” follows a group of recent college graduates — Michael, Allie, Nick and Brandon, as they decide to take one last vacation together.

The beach town they end up at is inviting at first, Epp said. The town name “Eden Avenue” is supposed to give the area a motherly, inviting feeling.

But there’s a darker side.

The people of Eden Avenue are infected by the algae in the waters. It turns them into a cult-like group of people bent on infecting the protagonists, Epp explained.

It takes on a theme of “group of kids versus everyone else,” he said.

All of this occurs as the protagonists face internal struggles about change. The movie is character driven, and is much more about personal conflicts, such as accepting change than the cult, he said.

With about 20 working on the project, including a crew of 10 and around five to 10 actors, it’s still a while before local residents can see Pawleys Island on the screen.

Epp said that “Eden Avenue” was still in a pre-production stage, but filming is set to begin this month and will take a few days. The crew is still working on getting permits to film in specific areas.

Local viewers can expect to see a recognizable area in Pawleys Island, including the Pawleys Inlet toward the south end of the beach. Epp said he was working with Clam Bake Cove or Oakley as possible settings as well.

He anticipates a spring 2024 release, with “Eden Avenue” distributed on public platforms and then premiering locally in theaters.

The project members are asking for donations to help with production.

And “Eden Avenue” still has some spots left for extras in some scenes, he said.

Those interested can email Fortis Fortuna Films, the production company, at Fortisfortunafilm@gmail.com.

This story was originally published August 11, 2023, 5:00 AM.

Two Georgetown County destinations were named two of Southern Living’s 25 best fall beach spots for 2023.

Huntington Beach (ranked number 10) and Pawleys Island (number 18) were joined by fellow South Carolina destination Sullivan’s Island at number 23.

The magazine praised Huntington Beach’s annual Atalaya Arts and Crafts festival in September and Pawleys Island’s kayaking and oceanfront cottages.

Both of these places are located in what’s called the Hammock Coast, named after Pawleys Island Hammocks.

Mark Stevens, Director of Tourism Development for the Georgetown County Chamber of Commerce, said the area has beaches and history like neighboring Myrtle Beach and Charleston, while being “totally unique.”

With balmy temperatures continuing through the fall months, “the fall is one of the best times that you can be here on the Hammock Coast,” Stevens said.

Southern Living had this to say about Sullivan’s Island.

“This tranquil South Carolina getaway is located on a two and a half-mile long barrier island near the mouth of Charleston Harbor. It’s quiet and charming with a few restaurants you just can’t miss. Edgar Allan Poe was stationed at the fort there—make a stop at Poe’s Tavern and pay homage to the Gothic novelist.”

In March, Southern Living named Huntington Beach State Park the 2023 best state park in South Carolina.