Mortgage Broker in Isle of Palms, SC

Ever since the Isle of Palms incorporated in the 1950s, voters have elected eight at-large council members and a mayor. In the coming month, these city voters will decide if that’s two council members too many.

We don’t think it is. More specifically, we don’t see any big advantage that shrinking City Council would provide to residents, and we see a few disadvantages.

The idea of reducing council’s size has been batted around quietly for several years, Mayor Phillip Pounds tells us, partly because the city does seem to have a rather large council for its size, about 4,400 residents. Only about 4% of South Carolina municipalities have more than seven council seats, and most of them are much larger. For instance, Charleston, North Charleston and Mount Pleasant have 12, 10 and 8 council seats, respectively.

The debate has remained fairly quiet, even as the council added it to the Nov. 8 ballot, and with less than three weeks remaining before early voting starts, no one has offered a compelling reason to vote “yes.” The conservative approach to any referendum question is to maintain the status quo unless there’s a compelling reason to make a change.

The primary upside of shrinking the Isle of Palms council apparently is saving a little time for council members and staff. Not to knock efforts to improve efficiency, but that strikes us as pretty thin gruel. It’s true that voters still would have six council members representing them (all seats are at-large), but who’s to say that the seventh or eighth council member wouldn’t be the one who listens to particular voters’ concerns most closely — and does the best job representing them?

Because of the way the reduction is planned, if voters approve it in the referendum, the City Council would be a mess for two years. The slim-down would be phased in with voters electing just three rather than four seats in the 2023 city election and then doing the same thing in the 2025 election. That would leave the council with an even number of votes (including the mayor’s) for two years. That might make a big difference, delaying important action on an important issue. Or not. But why take the risk?

This issue seems to be important mainly inside City Hall. While Mayor Pounds tells us he supports the idea, he acknowledges that the average Isle of Palms resident seems to have little skin in this game: “I can’t imagine they would notice a blip if we have five council members or seven or nine.”

If City Council members believe the current city governance is inefficient, then perhaps they should come up with changes that don’t affect the voters’ ability to elect council members. And if council members believe the job requires too much work — about 10 hours of work a week, on average — for too little pay (council members make $1,500 a year, but do qualify for health insurance benefits), perhaps they should either reexamine their work schedule or step aside for someone else to serve.

The council’s relative size might make the job of its members more time-consuming, but that also might work to ensure that their consensus, once they arrive at one, will better stand the test of time.

The city is grappling with big decisions, from the future of its marina to possible adjustments in its short-term rental rules to the logistical headaches involved in managing summertime crowds. We’re unconvinced City Council would make better decisions with fewer council members.

Get a weekly recap of South Carolina opinion and analysis from The Post and Courier in your inbox on Monday evenings.

ISLE OF PALMS, S.C. (WCIV) — Another Lowcountry Town is in the Spotlight!

The Film "Suncoast" starring Woody Harrelson is filming all over the area, from Mount Pleasant and James Island, to Moncks Corner.

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October on the Isle of Palms tends to be quiet. But on Thursday, Ocean Boulevard was bustling.

“We’re shooting a beach scene, and it’s actually a Super Bowl party, and two of our protagonists are at the bar," says Francesca Silvestri, a movie producer in Suncoast.

The crew for the movie says they chose Isle of Palms because of the small-town atmosphere and its beautiful beaches.

“We’ve been here since August and we’re in love with Charleston and the wonderful people that live in this wonderful city. We’re actually cheating it for Florida," continued Silvestri.

South Carolina sets aside almost $16 Million a year for film incentives, which allows in-state production.

READ MORE: Parts of Isle of Palms to be closed due to filming Thursday

Staff from the Film Commission Office look forward to putting small towns on the map.

“When you look at a crew base, when you look at how many people these productions apply, it gives our citizens a chance behind the camera -- or even in front of the camera," says Dan Rogers, the Senior Project Manager for the South Carolina Film Commission.

And Charleston is a favorite location for Blockbuster projects, like "Outer Banks," "The Righteous Gemstones," "The Notebook," and the "Halloween" movie series.

Besides the new movie bringing excitement to the Lowcountry, it also brings more money in for small businesses.

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“It’s exciting. The flower shops are busy, and the dry cleaners are busy, and the restaurants are all busy, and it’s good business," says Matt Storm, the Director of the Film Office.

Production for the movie stops in November, but they are still looking for extras, If interested, click here!

Isle of Palms City Council members will hear the first reading of a plan to temporarily block short-term rentals in a special meeting Tuesday afternoon.

ISLE OF PALMS, S.C. (WCSC) - The Isle of Palms City Council did not support a moratorium or pause on issuing new short-term rental licenses. The agenda item at a Dec. 6 special meeting garnered a lot of attention.

Many people spoke, both for and against the moratorium, at the meeting. One person presented a petition with more than 600 signatures she said was ‘mostly from residents’ against the pause. The property owner of Wild Dunes also spoke on behalf of some residents against the ordinance.

But Beverly Miller is one of many who said they wanted to see the moratorium pass. She has also owned a short-term rental on the island.

“Speaking for myself, I don’t want our city to be the last city who puts together any kind of restriction -- and I call it a restriction -- in order to find some balance between the residents and the short-term rental operators. Because having been on both sides, we’re not saying you don’t have any. You do want to accommodate the vacationers and the rental market. But you also need to find that quality of life for the residents,” Miller said.

Council member Blair Hahn voted against the moratorium.

“It appears to me that the issue is not so much short-term rentals as it is an explosion of traffic in noise and chaos on certain through freeways on our on our island. So if we can control that, I think we can control the concerns and the short-term rental issue will take care of itself,” Hahn said.

He said going forward the council will work hard to enforce speed limits, noise ordinances and other issues to protect the quality of life.

According to the council as of Dec. 5, 2022 there are 1678 licenses with 211 applications coming in since June.

Council member Jan Anderson says the more than 1600 licenses make up more than a third of the island. She voted in favor of the moratorium. “We don’t want to kill the rental market. We just want to manage it. We are now the only beach community in the Charleston area with an unlimited short-term rental opportunity.”

She goes on to say only 50 of the current short-term rental licenses are to residents. Council member Scott Peirce also expressed support for the moratorium as a short opportunity to evaluate the situation.

The council overall voted against the moratorium. For now, there won’t be a pause on issuing new licenses or a cap on how many are allowed.

City council asked staff members at its Nov. 15 regular meeting to prepare a 6-month moratorium for the council to consider at Tuesday afternoon’s meeting.

The agenda states the moratorium would “allow city council to evaluate the short-term rental regulations recommended by the planning commission.”

The document also says over the last few months the city received “several hundred new business license applications for short-term rentals which represents an exponentiation increase in applications.”

After Tuesday’s first reading, the moratorium must go through a public hearing and second reading before it could be ratified.

Copyright 2022 WCSC. All rights reserved.

The Isle of Palms (IOP) City Council has chosen a new traffic pattern for the IOP Connector.

Council members want two lanes heading into Mount Pleasant and one lane onto the Island. However, Councilman Blair Hahn believes adding more lanes means adding more traffic and that adds chaos.

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"I think it’s a mistake," Hahn said. "I think what we need to do is look at the safety of everybody that comes on the island and uses the bridge."

Hahn is also worried about the access first responders may lose in case of an emergency, noting first responders need as much room on the roadway as possible.

The Isle of Palms City Council has chosen a new traffic pattern for the IOP Connector. (WCIV)

"To me, those are the people who put their lives at risk on a daily basis," he said. "We should listen to them and what concept they think is the best for the bridge. Whether you call it a median or emergency lane, it is a buffer that allows first responders to operate on the bridge without putting themselves at risk."

Local advocate Katie Zimmerman of Charleston Moves says if it isn't broken, it doesn't need to be fixed. She feels the IOP Connector already allows necessary space for all types of travelers and is hopeful the connector lane design won't change.

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"Given what the options are, and the situation is, we think the current existing configuration of IOP connector is the best option," she said. "It meets all the needs and it's the safest option for people who are biking, walking, and running given the amount of space out there. This was not a road diet, this was not a change for drivers, it was an improvement for people walking biking, and running.

IOP Mayor Phillip Pounds says once they meet with the City of Mount Pleasant, they can move forward on a final decision for bikers and pedestrians.

ISLE OF PALMS, S.C. (WCBD) – Isle of Palms City Council heard from residents about Friday’s beach shooting and also discussed potential changes coming to the Isle of Palms (IOP) Connector.

The special meeting was scheduled prior to last Friday’s shooting that left five people wounded. Some neighbors attended to share their thoughts on the shooting.

“Awesome shoutout to our first responders who got in last Friday’s continuous,” Isle of Palms resident Al Klaus said, “contentious world of reality that we live in.”

For neighbors like Terry McGowan, who experienced the shooting first-hand while walking with his wife on the beach.

“This incident has left us both traumatized,” McGowan said.

He is asking for action to be taken to prevent something similar from happening in the future.

“We believe it’s imperative for council to address the root causes of these flash mobs and improve city services,” McGowan said.

After public comments, council began discussing results of a survey distributed by the South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) regarding possible lane configuration changes for the IOP Connector.

“The report that’s in our packet summarizes about 3300 survey responses after scrubbing through duplicates,” Isle of Palms Mayor Phillip Pounds said.

Of those 3300 responses, 48 percent were IOP residents. Their top two concerns are traffic congestion and the safety of bicyclists and pedestrians.

“Participants priority ranking item on the bridge primarily focused on reducing traffic congestion and improving safety,” Pounds said.

From the five potential changes SCDOT proposed last December, Concept Five was the most popular choice.

“Concept Five,” Pounds said, “which you may remember adds a lane capacity on the bridge by adding a second lane toward Mount Pleasant, received the highest rating with 50 percent of the respondents rating it four stars or higher.”

And many councilmembers appear to be in favor of that option as well.

“With the alternatives that have been proposed by DOT,” Isle of Palms Councilwoman Jan Anderson said, “there’s one that provides additional capacity on the road that will help relieve traffic congestion, and that’s option five.”

Mayor Pounds says any changes made to the IOP Connector will likely come after the summer.