Local breweries, like the Folly Beach Brewing Company, who dare to grow in a down economy are prevented doing so by State legislation, or a lack thereof. What role might lobbyists representing large beer distributors play?

The Folly Beach Pub was opened in the spring of 2008 and sits at 34 Center Street, boasting a cozy atmosphere that attracts locals and visitors alike with its incredible selection of beers from all over the world. With smooth Americana/Folk-Bluegrass music from locals Jason Shore and John Irwin, the Folly Beach Pub features a relaxed scene and an opportunity to just sit back and take it all in.

The business is owned by Andy Cope, Will Smith, Matt Kacenga and Shawn Geouge, who met through the local social scene and their similar passion for surfing. Smith has been brewing beer for five years and enjoys every moment of it. “I have a lot of fun and it’s got to be a love. The feeling you get when you taste your end result is the reward. And I’m here trying to brew beer and create a local micro-brewery for Folly Beach,” says Smith. “We are excited to move into the fall season and make more traditional brews such as a Nut Brown Ale, and we are constantly searching for new and exciting things to brew. We offer different styles for different seasons and try to appeal to the public’s taste.”

“We came in and finally found this place. It was formerly a liquor store and we gutted it and hand built the inside using each of our own personal skills,” says Kacenga.

But, will The Folly Beach Pub ever be able to actually earn the title of Brewery?

With some help from Anne Peterson Hutto, South Carolina House Representative for our beloved District 115, I attempted to interpret the code regarding brewing and distribution laws in South Carolina. Currently the term “Micro-Brewery” does not even exist in SC Code Ann. “Helping my District 115 community and local businesses in it promotes everyone’s best interest,” says Representative Hutto, “Changes in the current law that would enable a business like the Folly Beach Pub to be more successful could generate tourism dollars and revenue for the Palmetto State.  We would be stimulating the local economy, promoting growth and raising revenue.”

“If we wanted to become a brewery – meaning bottle, distribute and serve our beer – we would have to change the current SC Code Ann.,” says Smith. “South Carolina is out-sourcing to other states to brew beer, thus limiting business development and growth. We want this place to take off and granted, it is a gradual process, but something has to change in order for that to happen. Folly Beach could have a local brewery that bottles the beer here and serves it here. It would attract tourism, increase revenues, and give the Hospitality State something it is lacking,” explains Smith.

“Why, during this economic depression, are we restricted so much? We all have day jobs and we all came together for the common love of creating an atmosphere for the locals, guests and our friends at Folly Beach. We want an environment where you can join us and celebrate the common love and appreciation for a friendly locally brewed beer that will hopefully be here to stay,” says Cope.

President of the South Carolina Brewer’s Association, Jaime Tenny, says, “Just recently, three breweries contacted me in regards to possibly moving and beginning their businesses in South Carolina. Once they read the laws and restrictions place upon beer breweries and small businesses, they decided not to move to South Carolina and chose North Carolina instead. Who blames them? Why open here when North Carolina will welcome you with open arms,” explains Tenny.

South Carolina revenues generated from micro-breweries, brew pubs, beer bars and beer stores are staggeringly less when compared to North Carolina. In 2008, South Carolina generated an estimated $16,696,152 in total pint sales at the average price of $4.50 per glass served. That is an estimated $1.25 million in state sales tax. If SC Code Ann. mimicked North Carolina brewing laws, the State could potentially benefit by an estimated gain of $60 million in revenues and $4.5 million in sales tax. Of course, local brewers would also be able to live their dream.
The “ways of old” not only restrict many South Carolina businesses, but directly decrease revenues for the State. Currently there are not any bills being proposed that would benefit the Folly Beach Pub in regards to expansion, brewing and distribution of beer. Microbrewers hope to broker a compromise with and gain support from the lobbying powerhouse South Carolina Beer Distributors that benefits both the brewers and the distributors, though they have not been successful to that end so far.

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Shameful. Outrageous. Disrespectful. All of these adjectives could be used to describe the condition in which parts of Charleston County’s beaches were left after the recent Fourth of July holiday. However, one must hesitate to use the word “surprising”.
All of our barrier islands, from Isle of Palms to Folly Beach, saw an increase in the number of people coming to the beach during a typical weekend due, partially, to the fact that July 4 occurred on a Saturday this year. Furthermore, the rapidly growing population in Charleston County has become less likely to travel due to the economy and prefer to take what has recently been coined as “stay-cations”. The result was a huge influx of visitors and daytrippers to local beaches who wanted to enjoy the July 4 holiday.

Photo by Bubber Hutto

Linda Lovvorn Tucker, the City Administrator for Isle of Palms, stated that they had one of the largest beach visitation records during the July 4 weekend that the Town has ever known. Folly Beach had an estimated 40,000 visitors that Saturday alone. The more people you have, the more likely you are to have environmentally insensitive people. Who knows why, but to loosely quote the witty “Agent K” from the movie Men in Black, “A person is smart, but people are stupid.”
However, it was Folly Beach that found itself in the throes of a media avalanche when the trash story was attached to a possible ban on alcohol, as several residents presented pictures and strongly worded letters describing the amazing amount of trash that some environmentally insensitive people left on the beach. In the midst of their rage, many residents began crying for blood … or lower blood-alcohol levels, at least. Folly resident Bubber Hutto supplied pictures and several letters requesting that the City of Folly Beach follow Isle of Palms and Sullivan’s Island by banning alcohol on the beach in order to fight litter. However, the Folly Beach City Council recognized that litter and alcohol were inherently different issues at a July 14 workshop.
Folly Beach Mayor Carl Beckmann set the tone by pointing out that the Isle of Palms and Sullivan’s Island had the same experience as Folly on July 4,and that both municipalities were inundated with visitors’ trash. Despite providing more trash cans on their beach accesses, Tucker stated that receptacles on the Isle of Palms were also overflowing, and that trash had been left on the beach, as well. It was something of a perfect storm; a situation that encouraged large amounts of trash to be generated in the beach area.
“I believe that timing circumstances impacted the appearance of the trash,” Tucker said. “From Friday until Sunday, the trash that was collected had no off-island destination.”
Despite having alcohol bans, the Isle of Palms and Sullivan’s both had similar experiences. In fact, it was Sullivan’s Island in the news last year when a section of their beach was completely trashed by visitors. To combat the problem, Sullivan’s Island has been very straightforward in their use of signs at beach accesses and even a large traffic sign on the Ben Sawyer Causeway that warns visitors against littering. They also have a beach patrol which Fire Chief Anthony Stith believes helped to keep things more controlled this year.
The Isle of Palms has hired Schupp Enterprises to regularly sweep the beach. Bill Schupp, the company owner, stated that they picked up more trash this past Fourth of July than they have had to pick up during any weekend on record.
“We all had the same problem. Which direction we want to go in and how best to attack the problem is what Folly Beach has to decide,” says Folly Beach Mayor Carl Beckmann.
Currently, the trash “problem” is only a problem during the summer and only a severe issue for several days out of the year. Folly Beach Council member Tom Scruggs pointed out that the area of beach he patrols for their turtle watch program was not even impacted during the July 4 weekend. In other words, the problem is isolated. An alcohol ban for the entire community would not impact the litter issue.
“This Council has a trend of solving problems with new rules banning things,” Council member Eddie Ellis stated. He’d like to see the Council go in a different direction this time. In fact, he’d like to see community based solutions that reflect a smaller government.
The Folly Beach City Council spent an hour and half discussing how to fight litter on the beach. They considered putting more trash receptacles and trash bags at walkovers, as well as conducting more trash pick-ups. They also discussed doing a “litter blitz” over the course of several weekends in order to show that Folly Beach will enforce state litter laws, which can include up to $1000 in fines and jail time. It was noted that the blitzes could cost up to $10,000. However, that cost could be offset by the fines, Ellis said. Better enforcement of existing laws was also a focal point, and these ideas, as well as others, will be presented at a Folly Beach public meeting scheduled for August 4.
Other factors besides alcohol are largely to blame for the litter that was left on Folly Beach. However, that does not mean that an alcohol ban is not on the table for Folly residents. The Council also discussed “inappropriate behavior”, which had some Council members discussing a ban. Council member Laura Beck led that discussion and suggested partial bans that would only apply to certain “high holidays”, like July 4, that tend to include more drinking than usual.
However, one of the more popular ideas was a new law enforcement program that included a citizen patrol modeled after Del Rey, Florida. Citizens would be trained to patrol certain areas and work with the Public Safety Department to provide more “eyes and ears” to help local law enforcement catch inappropriate behavior, such as public urination, disruptive behavior and underage drinking.
Banning alcohol was not among the ideas that the City of Folly wanted to present in their battle against litter or inappropriate behavior. A survey provided by the Folly Island Voters Association (FIVA) suggested that the vast majority of people want a ban. However, a Post & Courier survey told quite a different story with 304 people against a ban and 149 people in favor of one. Our own Folly Current survey suggested that 85 percent of people do not want an alcohol ban and nearly 70 percent did not think an alcohol ban would significantly impact litter. 65 percent of those surveyed were either full-time residents, property owners, or previous residents of Folly Beach.
Those who will be attending the August 4 meeting will have an opportunity to say whether or not Folly Beach should ban alcohol on the sand. Despite the opinion that alcohol on the beach is not really associated with litter, Mayor Beckmann stated that they would get a poll from attendees on whether alcohol should be banned.
The August 4 meeting is expected to be held at the Holiday Inn at 6pm or 6:30pm. The event has not been officially scheduled, so be sure to check with City Hall. The meeting will also be posted on the calendar at www.follycurrent.com once the meeting becomes official.

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Photo provided by Bubber Hutto: Should Folly Beach ban alcohol on the beach to combat trash?

Recently, a large group of visitors to Folly Beach left a present for residents after the Fourth of July holiday: a huge amount of trash. It is inevitable that many people will visit the beach and that more trash will be created as a result. However, many people left their trash on the beach itself which included coolers, beer cans, boxes and bottles with little regard for what would happen when they left. Fortunately, many concerned volunteers cleaned up the mess. However, it has the City government wondering whether or not alcohol should be banned on the beach in order to combat similar situations. Check out this survey to express your opinion on the matter.

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Council member Eddie Ellis makes his point as the Folly Beach City Council discussed litter and alcohol on the beach during a July 14 work session.

While the term “alcohol ban” has been getting a lot of attention in conjunction with Folly Beach lately, the City Council hardly mentioned it during an emergency work session aimed at dealing with the trash problems that surfaced after recent July 4 celebrations. However, the option is still very much on the table and citizens will have a chance to weigh-in during an August 4 public meeting.

Members of City Council recognized that littering on the beach and alcohol are separate issues. Mayor Carl Beckmann pointed out that Isle of Palms and Sullivan’s Island, both of which already ban alcohol, had the exact same problems with excessive trash, beach litter, and trash receptacles overflowing with bags, bottles, and cans that Folly Beach had during the July 4 weekend. The majority of Council seemed to agree that banning alcohol was not a solution for reducing litter on the beach and they worked hard to focus on solving the litter problem and brainstormed many options that could change the image of Folly Beach from an “anything goes” party to one that demands respect.

Some of the ideas the Council produced to reduce litter included providing trash bags at walkovers, banning styrofoam coolers, and getting rid of the “cup” rule which requires alcohol to be poured into plastic cups but simultaneously creates more trash. Many Council members were hesitant to create more legislation. Instead, they wanted to do a better jof enforcing existing laws. While the City does not have its own litter law, State laws which include jail time and a $1000 fine could be enforced. Council member Eddie Ellis was adamant that new legislation would only work to “water down” the already thin Public Safety Department. One of the more popular ideas that could be immediately implemented was “litter blitzes”, where the Public Safety Department comes out in force over the course of several weekends heavily focused on enforcing litter laws on the beach in order to get the message across.

The Council also worked on another problem: inappropriate behavior. Folly Beach, it seems, has become plagued with disrespectful visitors, and residents as well, who throw trash in peoples’ yards, fight, and even urinate on private property. It was during this discussion that banning alcohol began to raise its head. While Council member Laura Beck said that she preferred not to create more legislation, she led the charge with ideas that focused on banning alcohol in one form or another. Among the suggestions were banning alcohol during “high holidays” such as July 4.

One of the more interesting and popular ideas was a “citizens patrol” idea that was modeled after a Del Rey, Florida program in which volunteers out of the community are trained to patrol particular areas in conjunction with the local police force. Charlie McCarty introduced the idea and pointed out that Folly Beach has over 30 property assocations and groups that could be engaged to patrol their particular areas of the island in order to combat inappropriate behavior.

The Council produced many ideas and will present their suggestions at an August 4 meeting that is expected to be held at the Folly Beach Holiday Inn. Public input will be heard at the meeting. While alcohol and litter are two separate issues for the City Council, Mayor Beckmann stated that a poll would be taken from attendees of the meeting on whether alcohol should be banned in its right. The public sentiment seems to be a 50/50 split, according to the City Council. Details have not been finalized on the August 4 meeting, so contact City Hall for more information. The City Council is scheduled to hold their regular meeting on July 28.

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