Volume 40:11
Presorted Standard
U.S. Postage Paid
Postal Permit 03
Folly Beach SC
November, 2016
Volume 41:3
March 2017
Publisher: Folly Beach Civic Club, est. 1938
Editor: Susan Breslin, [email protected], (843) 588-3026
POSTAL PATRON
FOLLY BEACH 29438
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Will “Party Houses” Be Banned?
They’re known as “party houses” or more formally, “event
spaces.” They’re sprinkled through residential areas,
especially on front beach. They have lots of bedrooms, and
most weekends, they explode with crowds and loud music,
especially in wedding season. They cause many Saturday
night calls to Public Safety, when officers are busy with
Center Street problems.
City Council is looking at an ordinance which would restrict
them to commercial areas, and limit their occupancy. If
Council votes for the ordinance in one meeting, likely in
March (it’s already been considered in a work session), it
will be referred to the Planning Commission for
consideration and a public hearing (likely in April). If the
Planning Commission votes it out and Council passes it in a
second meeting, it will become law.
commercial zones – Center Street (downtown commercial),
blocks adjacent to Center Street (island commercial) and
the 9th Street marina area (marine commercial). Island
commercial covers the first two blocks on either side of
Center from Arctic to Ashley, and the first half block on
either side of Center from Cooper to the river.
In crafting the ordinance, the City looked at how other
islands deal with event spaces. Isle of Palms, for instance,
limits occupancy to a maximum of 25 persons. The concern
on Folly has always been to avoid sweeping up residents
who have parties several times a year, or owners of shortterm rental properties.
The City is looking for a $1,000 grant to pay for a College of
Charleston mini-study to examine the data base for
properties and identify those which are used for events.
Zoning Administrator Aaron Pope says the ordinance was
“as narrowly tailored as possible.”
The philosophy behind the ordinance is that events are a
commercial activity, and should not take place in a
residential area. Event rentals would still be permitted in
Letter to the Editor
Flood Map Review Meetings
My husband and I vacationed in Folly Beach this past
Charleston County is sponsoring open houses throughout
the county for residents to look at preliminary new flood
maps. The maps were drawn up by a joint project
between Charleston County, SC Division of Natural
Resources, and the Federal Emergency Management
Agency. They are more precise, because they are based on
better flood hazard and risk data.
weekend. We rented a house through VRBO. It was our
first time ever to Folly. We absolutely loved it. The
beaches are beautiful, and the city life reminded us of a
small surfing village from our time in Hawaii. We loved
walking through the town and visiting shops and
restaurants. You have a quaint and enjoyable
atmosphere. However, we do have a huge complaint.
At the open houses, residents can meet one-on-one with
experts on flood insurance, engineering, building permits,
and more. They are scheduled as follows:
North Charleston: Monday, March 20th, 2-7 pm
Lonnie Hamilton III Public Services Building, 4045 Bridge
View Drive, County Council chamber, 2nd floor.
This past Saturday was the Folly-Gras. Now don’t get me
wrong we love a good party. We are typically right there
with the best of the partiers. We came back in a little late
from downtown Charleston and missed the day. Sunday
morning, we decided to walk through town again. We
were absolutely appalled at the state that the main street
was in. I have never in my life walked over more empty
and half full beer cans, broken beer bottles, cigarette
butts, dried vomit and used condoms. I understand that
we came during a huge party weekend. However, the
destruction and trash that was left was unreal. I was
shocked at the way your city was treated!! Heather
[This letter was received by the mayor and was edited for
space reasons. The writer has given permission to print it,
but has asked that her last name not be used.]
West Ashley: Tuesday, March 21st, 3-7 pm,
C.E. Williams Middle School, 640 Butte Street.
Mount Pleasant: Wednesday, March 22nd, 2-7 pm
Alhambra Hall, 131 Middle Street.
For information on the open houses or what the new flood
maps may mean for you, visit www.floodsmart.gov or
contact the Folly Beach floodplain administrator, Eric Lutz,
at (843) 513-1838.
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Folly Clubs and Organizations
Exchange Club
Civic Club
We held our February dinner meeting in our newly
remodeled hut. We still have work to do before it’s
finished, but we felt it was important to get back to a
normal schedule. Thank you to everyone who helped. We
plan to having a social reception for everyone involved.
March features our annual oyster roast and silent auction
at Bowen’s Island. This year’s event will be Sunday, March
26th from 1-4 pm. All you can eat oyster tickets are $25;
non- oyster eaters are $10, available from any member.
Music provided by Sunflowers and Sin, Shakin’ Martinis
and Sweet T. Coolers are welcome. Come enjoy awesome
local oysters, bid on sweet prizes and have an awesome
time!
Please join us Tuesday, March 21st at 7 pm at the
Community Center. Our speaker will be Mark Patrick, who
heads Charleston County Parks operations on Folly Beach.
Mark will tell us about those operations and their plans for
all the Folly Programs going forward. They offer a lot of
services for our residents and visitors.
“D” Doyle Word 843-588-2297
[email protected]
Home and Garden Club
March's Yard of the Month, 19 Red Sunset Lane, belongs to
Kathy and Dave Miller, who are enjoying their first
anniversary of life on Folly. Their grandchildren, within
sight across the marsh, brought them here and now they
are immersed in the beauty that is Folly.
Our March board meeting is Thursday the 2nd and our
dinner meeting will be Thursday the 16th, both at 7pm. This
will be our St Patrick’s Day dinner with corned beef and
cabbage, so members please bring sides.
DJ Rich (843) 475-9787
They designed their landscape with native plants that
would attract butterflies and reflect the white and purple
palette which Kathy prefers. A greenscape of empire
zoysia grass is crossed by a pea gravel driveway. Tall
palmettos bank the entry. Sago palms grow in side beds,
with pittosporum encasing the perimeter. Rush grass and
purple sweet grass offer texture Several species of
milkweed invite monarchs to lay their eggs.
[email protected]
Senior Citizens
The Folly Beach Seniors will meet Thursday, March 2nd at
11 am in the Community Center. All 55 and older are
invited. We are always glad to have visitors.
Since St. Patrick’s Day is in March, we will have corned
beef and cabbage prepared by Patti Holsclaw. All others
bring your favorite dish. Our speaker will be from Save the
Light. Come and learn all about our Folly Beach Light
House.
A newly planted loquat tree, also favored by butterflies, is
in the far-right bed along with variegated lilies, white
camellias and yellow daylilies. A red bottlebrush greets
butterflies, followed by coral azaleas.
White trailing lantana flourishes in the left bed near a
pindo palm and purple Russian sage. Folly driftwood
serves as yard art, preceding a deep purple crepe myrtle,
white camellias and a finishing touch of lavender. Pavers
for the circular walkway are accented with nandina, fan
palms and cast iron plants. Mexican purple petunias and
dwarf white oleanders rest nearby.
We will donate to our Methodist Church Pantry in March.
As always, let us remember our sick and shut-ins.
We invite you to come to our pretty improved Center
Street, and stop by our meeting March 2nd. Happy and safe
St. Patrick’s Day!
Pauline Ray (843) 588-9580
A rocker from Dave's retirement from the Red Cross is on
their front porch, but they seek an active life on
Folly. They are taking advantage of the long growing
season and short time required to cut the grass. Relishing
the cadence of nature, the friendly people on Folly, and
their family has been their focus this year.
We are busy getting new “critter” signs for our beach
access walkovers, reminding everyone to please pick up
their trash when leaving the beach. Turtle season is
around the corner and we want to help take care of them,
so remember to pack it in and take it out when leaving the
beach. Interested in a beach/island clean up? The Green
Team has been asked to set up all beach/island clean ups.
Please contact me if interested.
Green Team
Congrats to the Millers for the habitat they have created.
The Garden Club will meet at noon Tuesday, March 28th in
the Community Center. Leigh Jones Handle will speak
about twentieth century southern landscapes. All are
welcome. Happy Saint Patrick’s Day,
We are also working on a resident/business Adopt-AWalkover Program for Folly. More info to come.
Our next garden workday is Saturday, March 4th at 9 am.
Feel free to join us. We meet the first Thursday of every
month – 6 pm at the Community Center. All are welcome.
Teresa Marshall (828) 553-4690
[email protected]
Lynn Ray Smalley
(843) 588-0093 [email protected]
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From the Desk of the Mayor
Asking “will it make Folly safer?” is the wrong question. I
believe it will deter some would-be criminals from coming
to Folly if they know they are being watched/tracked… but
that’s sort of the extent of “safer.”
But it will be an invaluable investigative tool to help solve
crimes that happen to our visitors and citizens -- burglaries,
hit and run accidents (vs. pedestrians or vehicles), thefts,
stolen Items, etc. One of the VERY few benefits of having
one way onto and off the island is that we can use these
cameras to help solve crimes where witnesses see partial
plate numbers, describe a vehicle, or have timeframes. We
can use the information the cameras collect passively to
link witness accounts with actual suspect leads.
Happy Saint Patrick’s Day! It seems like yesterday that we
were saying Happy Thanksgiving. With the arrival of
March, I would usually say that tourists are on their way,
but not this year. With the great weather we have had,
they never quit coming. As the weather continues to
warm up, we will need to switch into tourist season mode
earlier than in previous years. Watch out for pedestrians
who seem to enjoy stepping out in front of automobiles,
and prepare for extended times of weekend travel as the
traffic continues to increase. Our lines will grow, as all local
beaches have, with the vast increase in the area’s residents
on James and John’s Island as well as West Ashley and the
cities of Charleston and North Charleston.
Will 99% of folks who pass those cameras ever even
notice? NO. In fact, they are all over the low country in
Charleston, Mt. Pleasant, Edisto, North Charleston, James
Island, etc. We pass them every day with not so much as a
blink. Folks need to take off the tin foil hats if they think
there is any more to it. If they help us solve crimes that
victimize our community, or deter some would-be criminal
from coming to Folly, they are worth every penny.
The first week of March will find me and the City
Administrator in Washington DC, beginning the federal
fight for beach renourishment funding for needed
engineering studies in 2017, and pumping sand in 2018.
We will also meet with the Corps of Engineers and the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service to begin work on allowing Folly to
take sand from the federal COBRA zone, Folly River and
Stono Inlet. This would allow the Corps to use these areas
as borrow zones for the sand source, reducing the cost of
our next project. I will update you as these efforts proceed.
They don’t write speeding tickets. They don’t have facial
recognition. They don’t constitute a warrantless search
(license plates are mounted on the outside of a vehicle in
plain view). Some folks will argue that it isn’t our business
to stop someone who is a thief from somewhere else. I
think that if they are a thief somewhere else, they don’t
come across our causeway and magically stop being a
thief. We should want to know when someone who is a
wanted thief, burglar, or rapist comes to Folly Beach.
As always, feel free to contact me with a call or an email:
[email protected] or (843) 729 0298.
MayorTim
The Chief’s Corner
We have used information from other local area LPR
cameras to help solve some Folly crimes. Having them
monitoring our causeway will only increase that ability.
March is here… although if you based it on the weather,
spring seemed to start last month. We are a busy crew at
Public Safety. Since my last article, we have handled 1,300
calls for service, made 27 arrests, issued 232
criminal/traffic citations and a few hundred parking
citations. Many of those arrests and citations were for
violations such as: Failure to Yield to Pedestrian in
crosswalk, DUI, Speeding, Overnight Camping, Open
Container, Drugs/Narcotics, and Dogs off leash. We cannot
be everywhere at once, but are working hard to address
your concerns as we receive them.
I will be happy to further discuss any concerns with anyone
who would like to do so. Andrew Gilreath, 843-588-7003
[email protected]
Board and Commission Vacancies
CONSTRUCTION BOARD OF ADJUSTMENTS AND APPEALS
(1) Registered Architectural Experience
(1) Registered Structural Engineering Experience
(1) Registered Mech. and Plumbing Engineering Exper.
(1) Registered Electrical Engineering Experience
(1) Registered Fire Protection Engineering Experience
PURPOSE: To hear and decide appeals of decisions and
interpretations of the Building Official, and to consider
variances of the technical building, fire, or flood codes.
I want to address the misinformation out there about the
soon-to-be-installed license plate reading (LPR) cameras.
They capture license plates of vehicles entering and
leaving, and check that information against a SLED law
enforcement database for reports of stolen vehicles, crime
suspects, AMBER alerts, silver alerts, warrants, etc.
For more information, www.cityoffollybeach.com, Boards
and Commissions page. Submit resume or brief statement
of qualifications by Friday, March 31st to Colleen L. Jolley,
Municipal Clerk, PO Box 48, Folly Beach, SC 29439 or
[email protected].
The camera takes a photo of the plate and vehicle, and
logs it in a database. Staff do not monitor it. It is for
evidence later, if someone commits a crime while on Folly.
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Folly Fun Stuff!
The City of Folly Beach is partnering with Yoga on the Edge (Jennifer and
Jenifer) to offer yoga classes during March in the Community Center on
Tuesday mornings at 10-11 am and Thursday evenings from 5:45-6:45
pm. The price per class will be $5 for residents, $10 for nonresidents.
☼ ☼ ☼
The Folly Beach United Methodist Church will have an Ash Wednesday
Service Wednesday, March 1st at 7pm.
☼ ☼ ☼
Residents are invited to a community meeting to learn about designs for
the new James Island Branch Library. The architects will make a
presentation, and CCPL and County staff will answer questions.
Monday, March 6th at 7 pm, James Island Elementary School Cafeteria,
1872 Grimball Road, James Island
☼ ☼ ☼
The "Girlfriends" Bible Study group at Folly Beach Baptist will begin a
new seven-week study on Monday, March 20that 6:30 pm in the
Fellowship Hall. The study is: "Faithful, Abundant, True" by Beth Moore,
Priscilla Shirer and Kay Arthur.
Recovery in Christ is offered every Thursday evening at 6 pm at Folly
Beach Baptist Church for those suffering from hurts, habits, hang-ups.
☼
☼
☼
Charleston SUP Safaris will sponsor the 6th Annual Paddleboard Race on
Sunday, March 19th from 8 am-1 pm to benefit Youth to Ocean, Surfers
Healing and Leaf Festival. For more information:
http://www.charlestonsupsafaris.com/sup-race.html
FOLLY BEACH LIBRARY
We have Story time and a craft on Mondays at 10:30 am. Monday,
March 6th is Read Across America, Dr. Seuss’ birthday celebration. We
will have special guest readers Mayor Tim Goodwin and Pastor Richard
Summey. Monday afternoons we have our After-School Club at 3:30 pm.
On Wednesdays at 6 pm we have Knitting on the Edge. The Book Club
will meet on Wednesday, March 8th at 2:30 pm to discuss The Mare by
Mary Gaitskill. We will be open Saturday, March 11th from 10 am-2 pm.
We will show The Secret Life of Pets at 11 am, and you can make fun
crafts. For more information on any of these programs, give us a call or
like us on Facebook.
Mary Bushkar 843-588-2001
County Parks and Recreation
www.facebook.com/Folly Beach Civic Club
Printer: Print Shop of West Ashley
City web page: www.cityoffollybeach.com
City Radio Station: 1610 AM
LIBRARY HOURS OF OPERATION
MONDAY 10-6
FRIDAY 10-6
WEDNESDAY 12-8
2nd SATURDAY 10-2
CALENDAR FOR MARCH
Council Chambers
6th
14th
20th
Planning Commission
Council meeting
Design Review Board
7pm
7pm
6pm
Clubs, Organizations & Committees
1st
2nd
2nd
2nd
7th
9th
16th
21st
28th
Save the Light
Senior Citizens
Exchange Club Board
Green Team
Art Guild
Folly Association of Business
Exchange Club
Civic Club
Garden Club
7pm
11am
7pm
6pm
6:30pm
6pm
7pm
7pm
noon
Library
6th,
13th, 20th,
27th
Story Time, craft
10:30am
6th, 13th, 20th, 27th After-School Club
3:30pm
1st, 8th, 15th, 22nd, 29th Knitting on the Edge 6pm
8h
Book Club
2:30pm
The Mare by Mary Gaitskill
11th Open Saturday
10am-2pm
The Secret Life of Pets
11am
Recycling
13th, 27th
Volunteer Fire Fighters
Boot Camp at Folly Beach
Get in shape boot camp style! Workout delivers a calorie burning boost.
Tuesdays, Thursdays: March 2, 7, 9, 14, 16, 21, 23, 28, 30 5:45-6:30 pm
Meets at: Folly Beach County Park
Age: 16 and up
Fee: $10/$8 CCR Discount/Free Move IT Pass Holder. Register for six or
more classes for a discount. Coupon code: FITMULTI.
Folly Beach Bird Walks: Folly Beach County Park
March 10 Friday 8:30 -10:30 am
Meets at Folly Beach County Park
Fee: $9/$7 CCR Discount/$5 Move IT Pass Holder
Publisher: Folly Beach Civic Club
PO BOX 884 – FOLLY BEACH, SC 29439
Course # 50018
Age: 12 and up
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2nd, 9th, 16th, 23rd, 30 th
6pm
Special Events
5th
County Parks Customer Appreciation Day
10th Bird Walk, County Park 8:30-10:30am
12th Daylight Savings begins (spring forward)
17th St. Patrick’s Day
18th, 19th Tides of March, Art in the Park
20th Vernal Equinox