Folly Beach comes of age: A short and recent legal history of the development of Folly Beach
By Ben Peeples
When I moved to Folly Beach the week after Labor Day in 1976, it was the most affordable place to live in the Charleston area. In 1974, there were no neon lights on Folly. Parking meters were removed and the stop light would switch to a blinking caution after Labor Day. There was no Mariner’s Cay.
The boat landing was a campground. The Holiday Inn site housed the remains of an amusement park and the dance pier was a failing business. Sunset Point was a jungle with a neat hiking/running trail through it. Folly was small enough that, in the off season from Labor Day to Memorial Day, the locals would know almost everyone they encountered in a restaurant or on the street. A letter with only a first name would find the correct mail box. I liked it that way.
I was an avid, though untalented, surfer. Folly government was hostile toward surfers. I sued Folly Beach in Federal Court on a Civil Rights theory (the Constitution protects even surfers!). The Judge saw it my way. After that case, Dennis McKevlin convinced Mayor Adams and the Council to hire me as City Attorney in June of 1976. Most of what follow is from my recollection. I apologize in advance for any omissions or errors.
When I picked up the files from the previous City Attorney, he gave me two file folders. I did not anticipate that Folly would take up much of my time.
Developers discover Folly Beach
Almost immediately, developers from Columbia appeared with a plan to build hundreds of units where the County Park on the West End is located. They wanted to construct and iron frame and “slot” what looked like mobile home bodies into the frame. Council was lukewarm, as I recall. Opponents of the plan scheduled a press conference at the site on a seven-foot tide. When photographs showed a foot of water over much of the highland, the project was defeated.
Another group came to the city with a plan to build Charleston-style homes on what is now known as Mariner’s Cay. They signed a contract for the property but did not proceed. Instead, they sold the land to the group that developed Mariner’s Cay. These developers brought sewer to the foot of the bridge from JIPSD, a distance of almost four miles. This same group started building the units on Little Oak Island, which had been a campground run by Captain Blackie.
While “development” was not embraced by all, it met little resistance. In fact, it rapidly gained momentum. The Mariner’s Cay developers proposed 700 units on what is now known as Sunset Point. This would have doubled the number of housing units on the island. The City contested this in court.
Sewer comes to Folly
The developers also wanted to extend the sewer line from Mariner’s Cay, underneath the river, directly to the property. Prior to this, Folly residents had rejected an island-wide sewer system.
The City Council asked the citizens to approve a sewer system only for the commercial district. They passed an ordinance restricting sewer to the downtown commercial area unless an extension was approved by a referendum. Several such extensions have been approved – Sunset Point being the most significant. Two decades later court decisions weakened this ordinance. It was felt that if Folly had its own sewer system we could control it more effectively than if a private developer built his own.
The Holiday Inn
The Holiday Inn was built in 1982 or 1983. It was originally proposed as a three or four-story building. Just prior to the construction of Holiday Inn, the developers discovered that Folly did not have a height limitation in our commercial district. One was immediately added but not without significant resistance.
The Holiday Inn project represented the first real fight and several lawsuits were filed to stop it and stop the relocation of easements required for its construction. Not too long after the Holiday Inn was built, two twelve-story buildings were proposed, one on each side of the Holiday Inn. Folly said “No.” That case went to court in 1984, and the Folly Island Resident’s Association (FIRA) was organized to oppose most of the new development on Folly Beach.
A house divided
Many of the residents of Folly loved the island just as it was then. However, others felt that Charleston, Isle of Palms, and Sullivan’s Island were flourishing and that Folly was stuck in the back-water. Folly Beach was not considered a chic place to live.
At the time, City Council was divided three-four on most development issues. It was a hostile and ugly time. Council meetings often lasted until midnight with filibusters and more than once council members would skip the meeting so that there would not be a quorum. This was done to avoid a vote being taken. I was ordered by Council to sit at the front table with them where I acted as the official parliamentarian. It seemed to me that one-third of each meeting was consumed with procedural maneuvering and arguments about Robert’s Rules.
Folly gets tough
During this period, Folly Beach defined the outer limits of the Pending Ordinance Doctrine in the Supreme Court. Beyond that, Folly was one of the first cities to use the initiative and referendum process, when City Council passed an ordinance governing height limitations.
The water system was upgraded in 1985 after we learned that we were losing about 30% of the water we were buying. Folly Beach was involved in several lawsuits during the next two years, including a mobile home suit in 1985, sewer rate suits in 1985 and 1986, a major sign fight that lasted most of 1985, another suit with Mariner’s Cay in 1986 and then the big one – the Dry Stack suit in 1986.
This is Part I of a two-part series on how Folly Beach developed from the bohemian community of the 1970s to the current tourist destination and commercial beach it has become today.
