City, County working together to reduce vandalism
By Bill Davis | Current Staff Writer
Vandals have made such a mess in the Lighthouse Inlet Heritage Preserve, located past where East Ashley Avenue ends, that Charleston County and Folly Beach municipal officials have vowed to stop the graffiti there.
In the past, interlopers armed with cans of spray paint strolled out there and tagged their names on the road or on former U.S. Coast Guard facilities.
It was odious, but now it’s getting egregious. And something has to be done, according to Sarah Reynolds, Public Information Coordinator at Charleston County Park & Recreation Commission (CCPRC).
The preserve, while located on the harbor-side of the island, is owned and maintained by the county.
Reynolds said the county spent $8,000 two years ago to reseal the road, but people had apparently spray-painted their names over the sealant by the next day. These days, the road is “totally” covered with graffiti.
And not “cool” graffiti with some sort of artistic merit. Just people dopily spraying their names, or crude hearts onto every surface.
“But when we saw they were spray-painting trees, we knew we had to branch out,” Reynolds said, not aware of the terrible pun she’d just dropped.
Trees … branch out … Hello?!?
But, seriously folks, Reynolds said her department is considering long term clean-up options, and will soon put out public bids.
“We are looking at using paints that you put on a surface so that when someone tries to spray-paint on that surface, it won’t stick,” she says.
She also confirmed that the county is considering installing some sort of surveillance cameras along the road. Additionally, the county is considering launching an extensive awareness campaign.
Reynolds said the people doing this need to understand what they are hurting: a former Coast Guard station, historic Civil War sites, and wildlife that calls the preserve home.
She has a personal reason for upping the protection ante: she fell in love with the preserve when she was in her early-20’s and would visit it during her days in college.
Reynolds has already met with Police Chief Andrew Gilreath to see how they can coordinate county and municipal efforts to crack down on the vandalism.
Gilreath is facing a numbers crunch. “We only have so many man-hours and officers,” he said.
Gilreath has committed to working with county officials and has put out the word to his officers to increase patrols and heighten their awareness of the situation.
Local resident Teresa Marshall is especially incensed by the spray-painting. On top of being a member of City Council, she is also one of the founding members of the Folly Beach Green Team.
“It’s a horrible thing for them to do,” said Marshall, who suspects local high school students are the most to blame.
Marshall disagreed with Reynold’s assertion the road was spray-painted on the day after it was laid down.
“It was later that night!” she insists, saying that she and her fellow “turtle watch ladies” were out there in the wee hours and found signs of the ersatz artists’ strikes.
Marshall worried that the vandalism could affect the turtles during hatching season.
“Put out some hunting cameras; that’ll catch them!”
Folly Mayor Tim Goodwin is equally ticked.
“They did the same thing, painting the tree next to the Folly Boat,” he said. “And now they’ve spilled paint on the ground (on the preserve), and I guess they think it’s art.”
Goodwin has pledged that the city will “do everything we can to help the county catch whoever is doing this. And I hope they prosecute. Every. One. They. Catch.”
