Development firm seeking to build an erosion barrier
Kiawah Development Partners wants to build a 2,783-foot bulkhead and revetment to stop erosion next to Beachwalker Park. The state Department of Health and Environmental Control is proposing a 270-foot wall.
Photo by Alan Hawes
Previous story: Appeal under way to allow revetment, published 08/25/09
COLUMBIA -- A five-day hearing about the construction of a half-mile erosion barrier on Kiawah Island concluded Friday, but it likely will take several months before the judge issues a decision.
Chief Administrative Law Judge Ralph Anderson III could decide to allow Kiawah Development Partners to build a 2,783-foot bulkhead and revetment to stop erosion next to Beachwalker Park, as opposed to the 270-foot wall the Department of Health and Environmental Control permitted.
Anderson could also send the case back to the DHEC for further consideration.
The Kiawah Development Partners argued its case against the DHEC and the Coastal Conservation League.
The developers think the DHEC should have based its decision on the barrier itself, but the conservation league warned the judge that the revetment would facilitate plans to develop 50 homes on a spit of dunes at Kiawah's southwestern end.
The area is an important habitat for diamond terrapin turtles and piping plover birds as well as a resource for the public, and is an unstable place to build homes, according to the conservationists.
The developers told the judge that any subsequent home construction would have to go through a separate vetting process.
About 15 witnesses were called to testify before the judge. Testimony from one additional witness is still expected.
