COASTAL OBSERVER

The town of Pawleys Island will ask the state to hold a public hearing on a proposal to dredge sand from Midway Inlet to renourish a portion of Litchfield Beach.

The Peninsula Property Owners Association is seeking federal and state permits to dig sand from the inlet to repair erosion damage along 3,600  feet of beach in front of the gated community. A project in 2022 placed 400,000 cubic yards of offshore sand along that area on the southern end of Litchfield Beach.

The permits under review by the Army Corps of Engineers and the state Department of Environmental Services would allow 75,000 cubic yards of sand to be dug from the north side of the inlet if the volume of sand in the original renourishment project falls below 200,000 cubic yards.

The Peninsula would be able to conduct two such projects at least 20 months apart within a five year period, if the permits are approved.

The project could also be triggered if “there is evidence that sand from the nourishment may be impacting Pawleys Island,” according to the application.

Town officials and property owners met over Zoom with state officials and Steven Traynum, president of Coastal Science and Engineering, which designed the project. Coastal Science also did a study for the town to determine the status of a rock jetty that borders Midway Inlet on the north end of Pawleys Island.

Traynum said the proposed project at Litchfield Beach “could mitigate the strain on the north end of Pawleys Island,” Mayor Brian Henry said.

But he wants to make sure that dredging in the shoal on the ocean side of the inlet doesn’t reduce the protection that shoal provides for Pawleys Island.

“Some of the areas that they’ll be harvesting are in that shoal,” Henry said.

 Getting the project approved doesn’t mean it will be carried out, Traynum said. Having the approval would be better than trying to get emergency permits following a storm.

The permits would allow sand to be dug or scraped from the low tide shoals to a depth of 4 feet. It also includes a provision to dig a new channel up to 200 feet wide and 5 feet deep  across the shoal.

“This will reduce erosion pressure on the northern jetty of Pawleys Island and create additional subtidal habitat of shorebird use,” according to the application. 

Aerial photos included in the application show how the inlet and its shoals have migrated north and south in the last 30 years. “The proposed project seeks to mimic the natural changes occurring in the inlet,” the application states.

“I would really like to see some commitment on their part that they wouldn’t take anything south of the midline of that channel,” Council Member Rocky Holliday said.

Henry said a public hearing would allow others to raise questions that didn’t come up in the town’s Zoom meeting.

“We should have a public hearing,” he said.

The council agreed unanimously.