Talk to Edisto Beach Property Owners Association
At the 25 th Annual Meeting
Highlights of our First 25 Years

By Joe Mole
[Parenthetical notes added by D.C.Cannon]

Thank you to the Board of the EBPOA for inviting me to do this.  Going through the old minutes brought back lots of memories of people who are no longer with us, either moved away or passed on.  I also want to ask any of you who may have copies of old annual meeting or board meeting memos to share them with the present Board.  We are missing information on several years in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

To get to our history, in the 1980s there was a concern about building and zoning violations and Marion Sams led an effort to file complaints about known violations.  This led to a push for an improved building department and the town Building Department has grown from one part time employee to three full time people.  That same year (1985), the EBPOA also objected to the proposed sale of a waterfront lot on Yacht Club Road for $15,000.  This property now has a beach access, well and pump on it.  The EBPOA requested a DHEC public meeting on proposals to downgrade portions of the South Edisto River.  After the meeting, the classification was left unchanged and Governor Campbell upgraded the South Edisto the next year.  The EBPOA also forced a reduction in height of Bay Creek Villas by two feet to meet the 40 foot zoning regulations. (The chimneys may still be a little high.)

Moving to the 1990s:
In 1990 the EBPOA opposed a zoning change that would have allowed construction of a 40 unit motel and retail space on Dock Site Road. 
There was a Duke University study of beach erosion commissioned by the  EBPOA in 1994. 
At the 1995 annual meeting, survey questions were distributed.  The first concern was maintaining a family atmosphere at Edisto, including controlling development, providing recreational areas and preventing over commercialization.  The second concern was litter and garbage. 
In 1995 we also sponsored a candidates forum and committed $5,000 to the town for beach front protection. [ The offer was rejected by Town Hall]
In 1996 expenditures were made of $1,000 for the Lion’s Club renovation and $9,350 to the effort to prevent motel construction.
In 1999, the focus had shifted to water quality. An expert was brought in to discuss nano-filtration systems and reverse osmosis.  On July 10, 1999 the EBPOA Board, in cooperation with the Edisto Island Community Association, took a position opposing a Charleston Public Works water line to Edisto “not because of the quality of the water, because of the anticipated acceleration of Island development.”
Around the turn of the century, for a number of years the EBPOA sponsored two events: one was a fall social so the members could get to know each other better.  This was held for several years and discontinued because the bar traffic didn’t support the proprietor’s cost for staff and hor d’oeuvres.  And second was a spring tour of homes on Edisto Beach.  The major purpose of the tour was to show people the variety of houses in which permanent residents lived, and hopefully to encourage them to move to Edisto.  A secondary reason was to raise money for local projects including the Edisto Beach School, its PTO and the Edisto Island Historic Preservation Society.  Mickey Van Metre was the leader of this project.  After a few years, the effort was discontinued due to the difficulty of obtaining different homes for the tour.

21st Century   Beginning in 2001, taxes became a bigger concern due to increasing property taxes.
In 2001, EBPOA members met with a representative of Colleton County to propose a 15% tax cap (over 5 years) or a special tax district.
In 2002 the 15% tax cap passed the state legislature.  Taxes remained a major concern and $40,000 was spent for lobbyist activities in 2005 [in favor of a bill providing for a tax cap}.  The bill passed the legislature but was vetoed by the Governor..
In 2005 an additional $5,000 was authorized to go to the lobbyist fund of the NoHomeTax organization on Jan. 8, 2006.  [A further donation of $11,000 was made to NoHomeTax in 2006].   Property tax relief was passed and Edisto Beach was a major contributor to this effort, both the Edisto Beach government and the EBPOA.
[The school operating portion of property taxes was eliminated for owner occupied homes statewide in exchange for a one cent increase in state sales tax. This resulted in an average of 50% reduction in property tax statewide but only a 30% reduction in Colleton County due to  the issue of a school construction bond].
In addition to giving money, President Cannon led a group of volunteers to attend many meetings and to meet with decision makers to press our points.  This was a large effort, but you can be proud of the EBPOA contribution.

Other issues in ths Century include:
In 2002  the EBPOA sent out two surveys.  The first concerned limiting house size to 3,800 sq. ft. of living area.  69% of the members responded with 79% in favor and 21%  opposed..  The  second survey had two parts; 54% responded with 92% in favor of eliminating new duplexes in the R-2 district and 8% against and 95% in favor of prohibiting multi-family structures in the C-3 business districts and 5% opposed.
Also, in 2002 the EBPOA sponsored a biology camp at the State Park.
In 2003 we supported limiting time shares to the PUD.
In 2006 we opposed the gambling boat venture.
In 2007 we supported sand fencing on the beach and the Bell Buoy clean-up effort with volunteer labor.
Also, the EBPOA appealed a height variance.  This led to modifying the law to adjust for flood height changes, thus preserving the height ordinance free of variances.
In 2008 we added a website (EBPOA.org) for better communication.
In 2009, joined Seabrook and Kiawah in pressing for an investigation of the S.C.Wind & Hail Underwriters Association.  You will hear more of this later.
Going forward:  The major issue on the table today is the question of whether Edisto Beach should stay in Colleton County or move to Charleston County.  There may be major tax savings for all property owners on Edisto Beach if we do this but there are several obstacles that must be overcome and a careful study is needed before a decision is made.

Future study:  Cards will be passed out, don’t fill them in now, but carefully and I may I say prayerfully consider what you want Edisto Beach to look like 20 to 40 years from now.  Mail them back in envelopes.

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