Citations:

Primary article used:

SCELP Cases: Folly Super Beach Front Lots – Avulsion. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://scelp.org/projects/view/130

Johnson, C. (2019, March 28). Folly Beach land swap raises concerns about city’s environmental lawsuit. Retrieved from https://www.postandcourier.com/news/folly-beach-land-swap-raises-concerns-about-city-s-environmental/article_26bb6234-50a1-11e9-a5da-db117ac95188.html

Additional article used:

https://www.change.org/p/stop-folly-beach-land-swap-and-risky-beachfront-development

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The questions: who/what/when/where/why/how

The South Carolina Environmental Law Project filed a lawsuit on February 12th against private landowners. They want to challenge the landowners who took artificial renourished  land and claimed it as there own. It is a big debate between whether are not this should be allowed, because the “South Carolina’s Public Trust Doctrine, the state owns all land below the average high-water mark and keeps this land in trust for the benefit of all the citizens of the state. When private property borders a shoreline, the boundary between public trust property and private property is not fixed.” (https://scelp.org/projects/view/130). Recent news reported that the City of Folly Beach wants to do a land swap with the private landowners.  This raised concerns to other residents on Folly Beach because they do not want another unsustainable home on Folly Beach.

Impact/Relevance to our class

If the land swap does not occur there is a likely hood that there could be another “super beach front” lot on Folly. These houses are built because people want to make a quick and easy profit with this land. Meaning that the houses that are being built are made quickly and without thinking of the long term effects. Folly Beach is already eroding quickly and with sea level rising it is only going to get worse. Folly Beach citizens began a petition to the land swap because it goes against what Folly Beach stands for and that is saving the sand-starved beach. This is relevant to our class in many different ways. it deals with sea level rising from the cause of climate change and pollution from the houses that can cause greater contamination to our oceans.

Why I chose this article

This article I chose, because I personally wanted to know what is going on in Charleston. I do not live on folly, but I does frequently visit it as do many residents and tourist. Folly Beach is a home that is eroding quickly and the community is trying everything to help slow it down.  In class we have talked about sea level rise due to climate change is already affecting coastal cities. Many people find it hard to believe that is already happening here locally. I wanted to raise awareness of how building these “super beach front” lots will only damage us in the long run. Putting more pollutions into our waterways and the possibility of the septic tank overflow that will contaminate the area locally. Although many people are not from Charleston, you, students still go to school here making this your second home. Signing the petition I showed in class will help stop this from happening in the future as well. I will also link it here below if you did not get a chance in class.

The petition website:

http://chng.it/NQHPSrk9Fn