COASTAL OBSERVER

DeBordieu and the Baruch Foundation said this week they have reached an agreement in a lawsuit over the ownership of tidal property in North Inlet. If approved by the court, the agreement will preserve public access to the estuary while protecting areas that are used by researchers at Hobcaw Barony.

“This is a significant step toward protecting the environment and ensuring public access for recreational activities that the public has enjoyed for many years,” Karen Licciardello, president of the DeBordieu Colony Community Association, said in a statement.

Bud Watts, chairman of the Belle W. Baruch Foundation, called it “a reasonable compromise.”

The agreement stems from a suit brought by the Baruch Foundation against the state in 2019 seeking a ruling that it had a king’s grant title to 8,000 acres of marsh adjacent to Hobcaw Barony, home to research facilities for the University of South Carolina, Clemson University and the federal North Inlet-Winyah Bay Estuarine Research Reserve.

The foundation said in court filings and hearings that the suit followed discussions with the state Department of Natural Resources and that they were surprised when the state argued that the area between the high and low water marks was public land. If the court decided otherwise, the state argued that the public has a prescriptive easement to use those areas.

The foundation said traditional public uses would not change since it wasn’t claiming ownership of the navigable waters. The question of ownership was important to maintaining the foundation’s mission of research, it argued.

DeBordieu, which borders the estuary, sought to intervene in the suit, saying it had invested $3 million in canal dredging and maintenance to increase access to North Inlet and over $1 million in private docks. It argued that the state wasn’t able to adequately represent DeBordieu’s economic interest.

A Circuit Court judge’s ruling against DeBordieu was overturned last year by the state Court of Appeals. Soon after DeBordieu filed a response and counterclaim that its owners had a prescriptive easement to the marsh, the community association and the foundation asked the court to stay the proceedings while they negotiated.

The state is not a party to the agreement announced this week. But if the Baruch Foundation prevails in affirming its claim to the marshes of North Inlet, it agrees that a maximum of 500 acres will be limited to research, according to this week’s announcement.

The foundation will post maps of those areas.

The agreement acknowledges the importance of the research and the foundation’s mission.

“Our 16,000 acres encompass a rich diversity of every common ecosystem on the South Carolina coast, making this an unparalleled site for research in environmental sciences,” said Watts, who is also the owner of 1,065 acres at Prince George that he placed in a conservation easement.

The settlement also acknowledges the public’s use of North Inlet for recreation, including uses that involve setting foot on the tidal marsh, such as oyster harvesting and fishing.

“This agreement provides a fair and lasting way to maintain the natural beauty and marine resources of the North Inlet estuary,” Licciardello said. “Once approved by the court, this settlement will be a lasting benefit to everyone who cares about the estuary and its resources.”

A trial date in the case  has not been scheduled.