Folly Beach is in the middle of rewriting its Local Comprehensive Beach Management Plan, and this time residents are helping decide what goes in it. The update covers everything from erosion and public access to dune protection, wildlife and storm preparation, with the final version due to the state in 2027.
According to Live 5 News, the community is directly shaping the document, and Mayor Chris Bizzell has framed the effort as a shift toward getting ahead of erosion rather than scrambling after it hits. The outlet reports the plan will touch on erosion control, public beach access, dune and wildlife protection, and storm readiness all at once.
Once the city finalizes its draft, the South Carolina Department of Environmental Services will take over. The agency runs a 30-day public comment period, weighs what it hears, and then either approves the plan, sends it back for modifications, or asks for a full revision, per the same report. The state agency's own guidance, posted on its Bureau of Coastal Management page, confirms that local beachfront plans are submitted to the bureau for that review and state approval.
Residents Push Sand Fencing, Native Plants and Zoning Rules
Folly Beach residents have weighed in with a range of suggestions, from sand fencing and dune restoration to native planting and even beachfront zoning rules, Live 5 News reports. Resident Gerrie Delaney told the station that more plantings could help sustain the shoreline and extend the life of the dunes, a sentiment that echoes a broader city push toward nature-based solutions and public education.
Mayor Bizzell has also pointed to the financial stakes of keeping sand on the beach. He said every dollar spent on renourishment generates $1,200 in economic activity, the station reports — a figure he's using to make the case for continued investment in the shoreline.
Right now, the city says it has not hit the sand-loss threshold that would make it eligible for renourishment funding. But Bizzell was blunt about how quickly that could change: it just takes one storm, he told Live 5 News.
Fifty Years of Fighting the Tide
The city says it has spent 50 years working to battle erosion on Folly Beach, a fight residents have watched play out in real time as streets flooded and former house sites turned into open beach, according to the same Live 5 News report. That long history is part of what's driving the renewed planning effort — the beach the city fights to protect today looks nothing like the coastline from decades past.
The scale of that erosion problem shows up in the city's own numbers. The City of Folly Beach's 2024 Dune Management Plan, adopted by City Council that November, found that between 2014 and 2023 dune elevation grew by 7.4 feet at 910 West Ashley Avenue while dunes near 6th Street East lost 2.2 feet in elevation and retreated 100 feet landward — a stark illustration of how unevenly the coastline is shifting block by block.
That 2024 plan is a separate document from the Local Comprehensive Beach Management Plan now being updated, built around five goals: engagement, monitoring, protection, restoration and adaptation. It also notes that the city and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers signed a design agreement in September 2024 for a federal beach project, not yet built at the time the plan was published, that calls for an 8-foot design berm and a 15-foot dune along the developed shoreline.
Renourishment's Price Tag and a Disputed Count
Folly Beach's relationship with imported sand goes back decades, though sources differ on exactly how often it's happened. The city's dune plan lists federal renourishment projects in 1993, 2005, 2007, 2014, 2018 and 2024, while The Post and Courier has reported sand was dumped on the beach five times in the last three decades, totaling $77 million in federal and local funds according to Army Corps of Engineers data. The discrepancy between the two counts is unresolved in the available records.
Individual project costs show how expensive those efforts can get. The Post and Courier reported a 2018 renourishment project cost $17 million and was fully federally funded because of hurricanes Matthew and Irma, and that the federal government later allocated another $27 million for an emergency sand replacement project in 2024. The paper also noted that scientists believe climate change, sea-level rise and increasing storminess are driving the recurring erosion.
A Living Shoreline Takes Root in the Marsh
Beyond sand and dunes, the city has also been experimenting with a different kind of defense on its marsh side. WIS-TV reported that Folly Beach's first model living shoreline uses bagged oyster shells, wire reefs, spartina grass and oyster castles to build a natural barrier against erosion. City officials said the project will be monitored over time to evaluate how well it holds up.
For residents curious about how Folly Beach got here, the city's own history is on display at the Folly Beach History Museum at 55 Center St., which features an exhibit called Shifting Sands: The Ever Changing Story of Folly Beach, exploring the history of the island's preservation efforts. With the comprehensive plan update still underway and a 2027 state deadline on the horizon, that story is still being written.
