Spotlight
On...
Planning
for Growth Along a Rapidly Growing Coastline
The
South Carolina Sea Grant Extension Program (SCSGEP) and its partners
started a NEMO project to help coastal communities protect natural
resources while also planning for and accommodating growth.
After
an initial pilot project in the Waccamaw watershed along South
Carolina’s northern coast, the program has expanded its efforts
to watersheds throughout the state, providing educational programs
in nearly 60% of the counties. Never-theless, the rapid development
of previously undeveloped lands along the coast has required a
targeted coastal effort. Thus, NEMO launched the Coastal
Community Initiative (CCI) grants program to provide intensive
support and training focused on the development of land management
policies and practices to reduce polluted stormwater runoff, protect
local natural resources and encourage sustainable development.
The
Town of Edisto Beach in Colleton County, the Town of Bluffton in
Beaufort County, and Horry County were chosen to each receive a
CCI grant award of $2,500. As a result, more than $17,000 in additional
funds were leveraged by these communities for project implementation.
The SCSGEP staff provided water quality educational and technical
assistance training to the local officials, in addition to providing
input and recommendations on best management practices for reducing
polluted runoff. All three communities have made good use of the
educational and technical assistance.
The
Town of Edisto Beach, which lies just south of Charleston, incorporated
SC NEMO’s recommendations on pervious and semi-pervious surfaces
and the maintenance of roads and storm drains in the sections of
its Comprehensive Plan for new development and water quality recommendations.
After the comprehensive plan revisions were approved, the Town
began to implement the plan by adopting ordinance changes that
encourage on-site treatment of polluted runoff with landscaping
and buffer requirements, and the reduction of impervious surfaces
through limitations on lot size and dwelling size. Edisto Beach
is now in the process of completing an area-wide stormwater management
plan and developing further code recommendations for zoning changes
to further control runoff.
The
Town of Bluffton, faced with overwhelming development pressures
on and around the popular Hilton Head Island, used the grant funding
to research and develop a map of the critical natural resources
within the community. Based on the Critical Resources Map and Survey,
the town has revised the natural resources portion of its comprehensive
plan and drafted natural resource protection ordinances for wetlands,
floodplains, trees, wildlife habitat and stormwater, all of which
are awaiting final approval from the Town Council.
Horry
County, which borders North Carolina and includes the resort mecca
of Myrtle Beach, conducted an open space inventory of the County
with NEMO’s
assistance and then developed an Open Space Plan that will be included
in the County’s Comprehensive Plan, currently
under revision.
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