Environment
Corps takes comments on plan to move Pawleys Inlet
The Army Corps of Engineers is taking comments from the public and other agencies on a request to move Pawleys Inlet and repair erosion damage along the beach at Prince George.
Permit application from PG Inlet Partners follows the settlement earlier this year of lawsuits filed by Prince George property owners against the town of Pawleys Island, its contractors and the state that claimed the town’s 2020 renourishment project caused the inlet to migrate over half a mile to the south.
The settlement provided $4 million for the work, which included the purchase by PG Inlet Partners of 16 acres south of public parking lot for $1.3 million. The partnership granted an easement to the town for access to the inlet.
PG Inlet Partners want to dredge a new inlet across the south end of Pawleys Island about 1,000 feet south of the parking lot, according to the permit application. The new inlet will be 350 feet wide and about 8 feet deep.
Up to 300,000 cubic yards of sand will be excavated from the spit to form the new inlet and from shoals around the current inlet, according to the application, which was prepared by Coastal Science and Engineering, the firm that designed the town’s renourishment project. In addition to sharing the cost of the settlement, the firm agreed to do the permitting for the Prince George project.
The plan calls for 25,000 cubic yards of sand to be used to build a dike that will close the current inlet. The remaining sand will be used to rebuild the dunes on the Prince George beachfront.
The inlet had migrated about 300 feet south toward Prince George when the first lawsuit was filed in 2022. Bud Watts, who owns the northern most house and lot on the Prince George beach, filed the suit with his wife. He is the principal in PG Inlet Partners.
As the inlet continued to move, other property owners and the Prince George Community Association filed suit. Several beachfront owners received emergency permits from the state to install sandbags to protect the dune in front of their houses from being eroded by Pawleys Creek.
The settlement didn’t assign blame for the erosion. The permit application only cites the migration of the inlet as the reason for the project.
Pawleys Island Mayor Brian Henry said last week the town will write a letter in support of the project.
If approved, the work is expected to take 30-45 days. No time frame is given for the project.
The settlement agreement called for the creation of an “inlet management zone” and set triggers for future relocation of the inlet.
The permit application and drawings show the proposed zone, but don’t include plans for future inlet management.
Comments can be sent online at rrs.usace.army.mil/rrs or to robert.c.huff@usace.army.mil. The deadline for comments is April 10.
