Kiawah Island's developers can build a 270-foot-long bulkhead next to the county's Beachwalker Park, but not the 2,783-foot erosion barrier the developers originally wanted, state regulators say. Environmentalists were pleased, saying a half-mile-long barrier would harm wildlife. But the developers plan Thursday to ask the state Department of Health and Environmental Control's board to reconsider its decision. Earlier this year, Kiawah Development Partners sought a state permit to build a half-mile concrete revetment near an undeveloped spit of dunes at the island's southern tip. The company has said it hopes to build 50 homes there, though most of the spit's 150 acres would be put in a nature preserve. The bulkhead proposal outraged conservationists and some residents, who said it would interfere with the spit's process of erosion and accretion. Critics also said it could threaten endangered wildlife. Kiawah Development Partners said the revetment would have a sloping design and contain networks of holes for vegetation, which would give it a more natural appearance. In December, DHEC's Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management said Kiawah Development Partners could build a 270-foot bulkhead next to the county's Beachwalker Park. But DHEC said the developers couldn't build the remaining 2,513 feet of the bulkhead toward Capt. Sam's Inlet. The agency said if allowed, the bulkhead would prevent "shoreline movement in an area that historically has seen inlet formation," and that it would "facilitate development in a pristine dune area," a federally protected habitat for the piping plover, a threatened species. In a statement Tuesday, the company said, "We are disappointed in this decision and have filed an appeal. We have submitted evidence which proves that the entire revetment can be designed and built without injury to habitat, species or critical area." Kiawah Development Partners will ask DHEC's board Thursday to hear the company's appeal, said Thom Berry, director of DHEC media relations. The board may decide to hear the appeal at a later date or refer the matter to the courts. Nancy Vinson, a program director for the Coastal Conservation League, said the state did the right thing to nix the long bulkhead but urged conservationists to monitor the appeals process to make sure DHEC's decision isn't reversed. The area is in a specially designated zone where the federal government isn't allowed to spend money on flood insurance or beach renourishment. A Watchdog investigation revealed that Kiawah Development Partners and the town of Kiawah asked U.S. Rep. Henry Brown to introduce a bill to remove the area from the zone, making it possible for future homeowners to qualify for federally subsidized flood insurance. Constituents flooded Brown's office with protests, and Brown killed the bill.

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