Eroding State Mandate Effectiveness in the Land ofLucas

Abstract

With population growth in Southeastern coastal areas, and impending threats of both gradual and punctuated hazards from climate change, this article examines the effectiveness of one of the most stringent and celebrated state coastal management laws; namely, South Carolina's Beachfront Management Act of 1988 (BMA). The BMA's efficacy is gauged using a comprehensive mixed methodology, including: mandate assessment; plan quality evaluation; external conditions for plan creation and implementation; and post-regulatory conformance-based plan implementation assessment in two barrier island communities, the Towns of Hilton Head Island and Pawleys Island. This unique synthesis of policy analysis approaches reveals that a substantial volume of development has circumvented the BMA's policies, particularly the setback lines based on a forty-year erosion record, and the retreat objective. It exposes a classic challenge of minimal state implementation, prompted by timidity from the specter of Lucas v. South Carolina Coastal Council, and a need for improved institutional coordination.

Building back bigger in hurricane strike zones

“…The development pattern we show across the locations in Fig. 1 surely arose from a number of mechanisms 3,5,[7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] . However, the aggregate effect of those mechanisms -including the tendency to "build back bigger" in hurricane corridors and demarcated coastal flood-risk zones -appears insensitive to their particulars.…”

“…Parcel-scale studies of policy effects in high-risk zones indicate that even places with progressive land-use plans can have idiosyncratic development patterns, typically stemming from local variances that circumvent newer planning rules 11 . Practices of assessment, appraisal, compliance, and enforcement hinge on local and individual discretion and interpretation [10][11][12] . The development pattern we show across the locations in Fig.…”

Realizing managed retreat and innovation in state-level coastal management planning

“…The authors are examining the linkage between the coastal states' SLR incorporation and actual threat in a separate but complimentary article. (Dyckman and Wood, 2013). This explains the popularity of beach nourishment and vegetation in their relative ease of implementation.…”

“…South Carolina created the Blue Ribbon Commission and adopted its Beach Front Management Act (BMA) in 1988, which established conservative setback lines for the entire state shoreline. But the SC setbacks are perceived to have failed, as property rights interests often prevail through variances granted by state or local governments (Dyckman and Wood, 2013), and 30-or even 40-year erosion rates are considered too short a timeframe.…”

Building back bigger in hurricane strike zones

“…Comparing planview footprints of individual residential buildings prior to and long after major hurricane strikes, we find a systematic pattern of "building back bigger" among renovated and new properties.Storm impacts on developed coastlines are expected to increase with climate change 1 . In coastal counties around the United States, policies intended to mitigate coastal risk are competing with population growth and development pressures 1-5 that render places more vulnerable and less resilient to major storm events.Research into the repercussions of hurricane impacts has examined regional-and localscale socioeconomics and demographics [6][7][8] , housing stock and types 8,9 , planning and design requirements (and variances from them) [10][11][12][13] , tax and insurance policy 3 , and real-estate market recovery 14 . But one indicator of increasing vulnerability in hurricane zones is especially enigmatic: residential footprints are growing even in places with legacies of past impacts, including a systematic pattern of "building back bigger" among renovated and new properties.Here, we investigate broad development trends in hurricane alleys.…”