Sandspur - City of Folly Beach

Volume 40:9 September, 2016
Publisher: Folly Beach Civic Club est. 1938
Editor: Susan Breslin, breslins@att.net (843) 588-3026
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Folly Beach SC
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FOLLY BEACH 29439
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Building a Better Folly Beach
If you have a building (or empty lot) and you’re going to
build something, remodel something, or do a big repair or
spruce-up, you’ll have to comply with a lot of state, county,
and Folly Beach rules and regulations. Fortunately, you’ll
get help and guidance from the Building Official, Eric Lutz.
City’s Tree Fund. And Lutz will visit the site frequently to
make sure what’s being done is legal. He’s looking for
safety and structural integrity problems, not cosmetic
issues. As a former contractor (he and his partner built the
new Bowens Island restaurant), he’ll also suggest ways
around a problem.
Lutz knows that people don’t like all the paperwork and
rules. He stresses that most of the rules are written with
your safety, and the safety of your family, visitors, and
neighbors in mind. He keeps pictures of the harm that
avoiding regulations
can bring – burnedout buildings and
collapsed decks are
big ones – and keeps
in mind the serious
injuries (and one or
two deaths) they
caused.
There’s a building boom going on, and many owners are
tearing down their existing houses to build new. They’re
also putting in elevators, which can cost $50,000.
All this attention to detail has paid off for Folly Beach
owners. The CRS rating, a program insurance companies
sponsor, has come down to 7, and Lutz thinks it will soon
be 6. That means lower flood premiums for everyone.
Lutz stresses that you should hire a licensed, bonded,
insured contractor. He doesn’t recommend most
contractors referred by Lowe’s. It will take at least six
months, and typically 8-12 months to build.
All that and more (septic permits, driveway permits,
stormwater permits, etc.) may seem like a hassle, but
people who’ve done business with other towns and cities
in the area say Folly Beach is a marvel for courtesy and
efficiency – that staff is tough but fair. Lewis Dodson, who
owns the Drop-In Deli and also businesses in Avondale, is
scathing about City of Charleston officials. Bryce Hoch,
who started a solar business on Folly, says he chose Folly
because its officials were so much more competent and
helpful than those in other locations in the county.
Where do you start?
See Aaron Pope for a
review of the zoning
and required flood
Three boys were seriously hurt when a
nailed-in porch railing gave way.
elevation for your property, and a review of whether
buildings on it comply with those elevations and conform
to zoning for your property. The zoning will also dictate
how big your house can be, and where it must sit on the
property. The Planning Commission has adopted some
standards which are relative to the site’s size – how big the
house can be, how wide oceanfront and side setbacks have
to be – and Pope will calculate that. Then see Lutz (they
have adjacent offices) for a review of what you’ll have to
do to get started.
Lutz loves his job and Folly Beach: “What I look forward to
is easy: coming to work every day, helping to protect the
public, and giving back to a community that has been very
good to me. Folly stole my heart when I first arrived after
active duty service in the Army, September 1997. I was
looking for a place to start over, and Folly was it for me
from day one.” Lutz has also taken on directing the
sanitation part of Public Works, and is a Folly volunteer
fireman. He lives on Johns Island with his family.
Any substantial project will need plans from an architect or
engineer. If your property isn’t flood-compliant, planned
additions can’t exceed 50% of the appraised value. (Some
people have jacked up their houses so they’re not limited
by the 50% rule. Others have torn down their houses and
rebuilt so they can get out from under the rule).
NOTE: Weekly recycling collection on Folly Island will
end September 12th. The next pick-up will be
September 26th. Recycling and trash will be picked
up Tuesday, September 6th instead of Labor Day.
You’ll need to take out a permit (for rental housing, a
licensed contractor must do it). If your plans have
changed, you’ll need to submit new ones. If trees have to
be cut down, you’ll need to plant new ones, or pay into the
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Folly Clubs and Organizations
The Garden Club will meet Tuesday, September 27th in the
Community Center at noon. Troy Burgess with Carolina
Turf and Irrigation will speak about outdoor lighting. All
are welcome.
Lynn Ray Smalley (843) 588-0093
Civic Club
I hope everyone has survived the summer and is ready for
a wonderful Fall on Folly. The Civic Club is already planning
some fun events. For our September 20th meeting, we’ve
invited representatives from Folly Boards and Commissions
to come talk about what they do, take your questions and
encourage you to get involved.
9touchstone9@gmail.com
Exchange Club
We are happy to host the MUSC mobile mammogram unit
Tuesday, Sept. 6th at 8:45 am in front of City Hall. If you
pre-register at 843 792-0878, MUSC will bill your insurance
company or the cost will be covered by a MUSC grant.
Thank you to everyone who donated for the Fort Johnson
Middle School supply drive! Principal David Parler and Jill
Sneed attended our August meeting to collect the HUGE
amount of donations collected. Check our Facebook page
for more info and pictures.
In October we will do something really special – sort of an
homage to Folly history. We invite one and all to come to
the October 18th meeting to record your stories about Folly
Beach. We also plan to set up in the park on Saturday,
October 22nd during Art in the Park to record even more
stories. The idea is to have an archive of these stories and
also to get some ideas for future oral histories to be part of
a Folly history archive.
Exchange and Folly Association of Business are hosting a
Patriot Day litter sweep on Sunday, September 11th, 2-4
pm. We will meet in the River Park for bags and team
assignments, with a cookout to follow at Loggerhead's
(thanks for the August membership drive!). All are
welcome!
We’re really excited about this project and can’t wait to
hear some wonderful remembrances and impressions of
our beloved town. And don’t forget the Civic Club’s
Halloween Carnival on Monday, October 31st. Volunteers
needed!
Regina Anderson (914) 400-6435
regina.anderson@comcast.net
Please join us at our Sep 15th 7 pm dinner meeting. Our
guest speaker is from HALOS
DJ Rich (843) 475-9787 fbexchangeclub@gmail.com
Home and Garden Club
Folly's September Yard of the Month, 616 East Arctic,
belongs to Jerry Poer and Albert Burt. Jerry came to
Charleston as a young man in the service. Folly's
bohemian attitude and live-and-let-live lifestyle led them
to make this their permanent home after Hugo.
Senior Citizens
We hope all have enjoyed their summer vacation and are
ready for some good food and fellowship with our seniors.
We will meet Thursday September 1st at 11 am in the
Community Center. All 55 and older are invited.
Their stately white home, built in 1990, is encased by full,
plush plants bordering thick green grass. Jerry's secret
ingredient: lots of water. A pleasing central wood bench
anchored on either side with topiary boxwoods in formal
planters preceded by a rug of slate installed by Albert is
the focal point.
Marie Lowther will provide fried chicken. Others are asked
to bring their favorite dish. Our speaker will be Teresa
Marshall from the Folly Beach Green Team. We are helping
those in need by giving money to the Folly Beach Baptist
Church Food Closet.
The design is symmetrical: humongous sago palms among
Pittosporum and palmetto trees are in the front beds, and
slender, statuesque palms follow with five foot ligustrum
hedges offering privacy along each side.
Our sympathy is with Boots Anderson’s family with her
death. Boots was a long time Folly Beach resident. She was
very active in the Baptist Church and the Garden Club.
We hope to see you September 1st!
Vivid pink, orange and red hibiscus flank the entrance. Fan
palms with pink vincas growing from their trunks, hefty
holly and lavender butterfly bushes enhance these beds.
Camellias and red and orange calla lilies thrive with purple
Mexican petunias, wandering Jew and hydrangeas are
along the left bed. Pots replete with yellow daisies sit with
others hosting red and purple petunias among white
impatiens along the far right side. Preparing the flower
pots is Albert's expertise.
Pauline Ray (843) 588-9580
Green Team
We have several Community Garden plots available for
interested gardeners. Contact Teresa Marshall at 828-5534670 or teresa.marshall56@hotmail.com for information.
Green Team members are replenishing the mutt mitt
containers as needed. If you see an empty one, please
email us at gofollygreen@gmail.com.
The beauty and bounty of their garden is accented with
their latest addition, star-like solar lighting. Witnessing the
beauty and change has been Jerry's joy, while caring for
their plants keeps him outside.
We meet the first Thursday of every month, 6 pm at the
Community Center. Everyone is welcome.
Penny Travis (843) 259-1143
pennybtravis@yahoo.com
Congrats to Jerry and Albert. The heartiness of their
garden is witness to its constant care.
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From the Desk of the Mayor
your own family plan. As the recent disaster in Louisiana
proves once again, help can be delayed and slow to reach
victims in wide-scale natural disasters.
With the end of summer, we have already seen stirrings in
the tropics: those nasty visitors from the African coast
called tropical depressions, named tropical storms, all the
way to Hurricanes. It’s time to make all your preparations
just in case the worst happens. Remember, a lot of extra
people have moved into the area and live between us and
a “safe” location, so if you think you will need to evacuate,
do it early. Don’t wait to the last possible minute, because
you could get stuck in a quagmire of traffic.
If you have questions or need help, we are here for you.
Andrew Gilreath 843-588-7003
agilreath@cityoffollybeach.com
….. from the City
….. The City won a $330,000 grant for milling, repaving,
and restriping work on Center Street to create a single
travel lane in each direction with a shared left turn lane in
the middle. The project is also updating many curbs and
creating pedestrian “bump outs” at the Indian and Erie
crosswalks.
September also brings with it a storm of a different kind;
Football Season! Whether it is the football teams of the
youngest players on the playground, high school or college
teams, here’s to a successful year for them all.
….. Over $20,000 has been raised for bricks on Center
Street. Bricks have been installed in the median between
Rita’s and the Sand Dollar. The fundraiser is ongoing:
https://www.bricksrus.com/order/follybeachcenterstreet/
Speaking of success, on Thursday August 25th, Folly Beach
experienced another Great Day in her history! It was the
day of another wonderful, spectacular, I don’t have the
words to adequately describe the day, successful Surfers
Healing Camp! Our thanks go out to Izzy Paskowitz, and his
band of professional surfers, Nancy Hussey, and her crew
of hard working volunteers, families of the participants,
and last, but not at all least, the hundreds of young
participating surfers themselves! Although it is always
good to see Izzy and his band of surfers, and it is
miraculous how Nancy and her volunteers pull off these
successful events. Nothing compares to the heartwarming, tear-jerking feeling you get as each young
participant comes out of the water with a grin on their face
that could melt a block of steel. If you have not
experienced this at Folly, next year in August you will have
another chance. Whether you enlist as a volunteer or just
come to watch, I promise you will be infected. Coming
back is the only cure!
….. Public Works has been working jointly with SCDOT and
Chas County Public Worksi on drainage improvements,
including vacuum-clearing the Center Street drainage
system, and a new tidal check at the end of the system.
….. Private no parking signs in the public right-of-way are
not allowed on Folly, but have been left temporarily while
Council considers if some properties should be given an
exception under certain circumstances to have a sign.
….. City Council passed first reading of an ordinance
prohibiting businesses in Folly Beach (including Bert’s and
Harris Teeter) from using or distributing plastic bags, or
styrofoam coolers, cups and takeout containers. If it
passes, businesses will have until January 2017 to switch.
….. The City is developing a Youth Services directory for our
webpage. The goal is to create a portal that links youthoriented activities, job training opportunities, and sports. If
you know something in the Greater Charleston area that
should be featured, email apope@cityoffollybeach.com
with YOUTH SERVICES in the subject line.
As always, you know where to find me: (843) 792-0298 or
tgoodwin@cityoffollybeach.com.
Mayor Tim
The Chief’s Corner
Letter to the Editor
August was another busy month with just shy of 1,500 calls
for service, 162 citations issued, 44 arrests, and 745
parking tickets issued. Officer Cavallaro graduated from
the Police Academy and joins a growing list of officers who
are completely dual-certified between police and fire.
There are still issues with Folly Road traffic backing up in
the left lane just before the first bridge. Regulars stay in
the left lane to cross the bridge with its single lane. The
right lane is empty. If a stray car dares to drive in the right
lane up to the merging area, drivers in the left lane inch
closer to keep the driver from merging.
September doesn’t slow down very much, starting off with
a literal bang. Labor Day weekend will be fireworks on the
4th at approximately 9 pm. September will see an increase
in training as the calls for service begin to slow. That being
said, we are right in the middle of Hurricane season so
your men and women of Public Safety have been working
hard to ensure that we are as prepared as possible for any
scenario. This year’s season is predicted to be busy, and
early months have proven that accurate. Please look at
the city website and all of its resources in order to make
We need a sign just past Sol Legare that reads, “KEEP
MOVING - CHANGE LANES LATER,” like the sign at the
Cosgrove exit from I-26. We should use both lanes, drive
all the way to the merging area, be courteous to each
other, and merge alternately, one car at a time. That
would remove the dangerous backup of cars in the left
lane all the way to Fort Johnson Road and beyond.
Andie Weathers 843-729-9196
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Folly Fun Stuff!
The Folly Association of Business is sponsoring fireworks at 9 pm
Sunday, September 4th at West 3rd St. and the beach. July 4th
fireworks had to be cancelled because of King tides, leaving too
little beach to set them off safely.
☼ ☼ ☼
Patriot Day, a National Day of Service and Remembrance, is Sunday,
September 11th. The Folly Association of Business and the Exchange
Club will honor that day with a litter sweep of the island from 2-4 pm.
Meet in the Folly River Park for bags and team assignments, then
sweep designated areas. Afterwards, participants are invited to
Loggerhead's for a cookout and football. The Exchange Club will
collect discarded flags for proper disposal by the American Legion.
☼ ☼ ☼
The United Methodist Church plans a service at 10 am Sunday,
September 11th to commemorate the 9/11 attacks. Folly First
Responders will be honored at the service. All are welcome.
☼ ☼ ☼
The United Methodist Church’s second "Shag and Snack" event is
Wednesday, September 21st at 6:30 pm. All are welcome for fun,
fellowship, and lessons on our state dance, the shag!
Sandwiches and snacks will be served.
☼ ☼ ☼
Billy Noel will sign copies of his latest book in the Folly Beach mystery
series, Silent Night, on Thursday, September 29th at the Lost Dog Cafe,
7:30 am–1 pm, and at the Grill and Island Bar, 6–9 pm.
☼ ☼ ☼
The 28th annual Beach Sweep/River Sweep event will occur Saturday,
September 17th from 9 am-noon. This is the largest one-day volunteer
clean-up event in the state. To sign up yourself and/or a group, email
ev.bell@scseagrant.org. “Headquarters” is underneath the Folly Beach
Pier to check in, pick up supplies, and be assigned a sections of beach.
☼
☼
☼
Save the Light is hosting a ceremony at the beach overlooking the Morris
Island lighthouse on Saturday October 1st at 7 pm, the 140th anniversary
of the first lighting October 1, 1876. Thanks to generous SCE&G
engineers, lighthouse windows and the lantern room will be lit by remote
control at 7:30 pm for four hours. The gates will be closed, but there may
be a golf cart shuttle. Plan to end your day at the East end at sunset to
see our lighthouse sending light into the night sky like she did between
1876 and 1962. See www.savethelight.org for more information on the
lighting, and on efforts to save the lighthouse.
FOLLY BEACH LIBRARY
We have Story time and a craft on Mondays at 10:30 am except for
Monday, September 5th (closed for Labor Day). On Wednesdays at 6
pm, we have Knitting on the Edge. We will be open Saturday,
September 10th from 10 am–2 pm; at 11 am we will show The Lego
Movie and make a fun craft. The Book Club will meet Wednesday,
September 14th at 2:30 pm to discuss Lawrence in Arabia by Scott
Anderson. For more information, give us a call or like us on Facebook.
Mary Bushkar 843-588-2001
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Publisher: Folly Beach Civic Club
PO BOX 884 – FOLLY BEACH, SC 29439
www.facebook.com/Folly Beach Civic Club
Printer: Print Shop of West Ashley
City web page: www.cityoffollybeach.com
City Radio Station: 1610 AM
LIBRARY HOURS OF OPERATION
MONDAY 10-6
WEDNESDAY 12-8
FRIDAY 10-6
2nd SATURDAY 10-2
CLOSED MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 5th
CALENDAR FOR SEPTEMBER
Council Chambers
12th Planning Commission
13th Council meeting
19th Design Review Board
7pm
7pm
6pm
Clubs, Organizations & Committees
1st
1st
1st
7th
8th
8th
15th
20th
Senior Citizens
Exchange Club Board
Green Team
Save the Light
Surfrider Foundation
Folly Association of Business
Exchange Club
Civic Club
11am
7pm
6pm
7pm
6:30pm
6pm
7pm
7pm
Library
Closed Monday, September 5th for Labor Day.
12th, 19th, 26th Story Time, craft
10:30am
7th, 14th, 21st, 28th Knitting on the Edge
6pm
14th Book Club, Lawrence in Arabia 2:30pm
10th Open Saturday
10am-2pm
The Lego Movie, craft
11am
Recycling Mondays
EVERY Monday on Folly Island during summer
(ends 9/12; next pick-up is 9/26)
Off Folly Island: 12th and 26th
Volunteer Fire Fighters
1st, 8th, 15st, 22nd,29th
6pm
County Parks on Folly
1st, 6th, 8th, 13th, 15th, 20th, 22nd, 27th, 29th:
HIIT the Beach, Park
5:45-6:45pm
7th, 14th, 19th, 21st, 26th, 28th Yoga 5:45-6:45
7th SUP the Surf Zone, Park
8am-noon
9th Lighthouse Bird Walk
8:30-10:30am
10th Cast Off Fishing Tourn., Pier
7am-3pm
19th Moonlight Mixer, Fishing Pier
7-11pm
Special Events
4th
5th
11th
19th
Fireworks, 3rd block West
9pm
Labor Day
Patriot Day (Litter Sweep 2pm)
Moonlight Mixer, Fishing Pier
7-11pm
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