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Homeowner, staff and board split over bulkhead; decision deferred pending OCRM/DHEC reflagging
Summary
A Beaufort County shoreline stabilization request was deferred after staff and the board questioned whether the shoreline loss is erosional and said OCRM/DHEC must reflag the critical line; the homeowner said removing illegal sandbags cost about $16,000 and that recent storms threaten his yard.
A Beaufort County hearing on a proposed bulkhead and shoreline stabilization ended with board members directing the applicant to seek re-surveying and reflagging from state coastal regulators before the county takes action.
Board members and staff opened the discussion by identifying bank-to-marsh height differences of roughly 2.5 to 3 feet at several points and examining survey lines labeled “top of bank” and “bottom of bank.” County staff repeated the county’s 50-foot buffer policy and said the property currently had only a 30-foot buffer in places and that the goal was to restore and protect that buffer through plantings and, if appropriate, a bulkhead.
But several board members said the Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management (OCRM) had denied the applicant’s permit application on the grounds that the agency did not find the work necessary. Members noted that OCRM’s jurisdiction is tied to the critical line and that the shoreline can naturally erode and accrete over time. A county representative said the county relies on OCRM to establish whether the shoreline has eroded past the critical line and that, if OCRM does not find erosion, the feature would be treated as a non-erosional “garden wall.”
Homeowner Robert Aldridge testified that he purchased the house last June and subsequently discovered sandbags on the shore that he said were not permitted. "I removed them. It was about $16,000 to remove them," Aldridge said, adding that storms had begun to undercut the hillside and that he had already lost yard space. Aldridge said he paid roughly $2,100,000 for the home and wanted to protect the property and restore a usable backyard.
Board members and staff discussed alternatives including riprap and noted engineering constraints and site conditions. Several members urged the applicant to ask OCRM (and DHEC, which handles some coastal functions locally) to reflag the critical line; staff identified a prior survey dated Sept. 30, 2024, and the group noted that the line may have moved in the intervening months.
The board did not take a formal roll-call vote on the permit at the hearing. Instead, members agreed to defer final action and to request that the applicant obtain re-surveying/reflagging from OCRM/DHEC so the county can verify whether the work addresses erosion and whether a bulkhead permit is appropriate. The public comment period for the item was closed.
