Pool Repair in Kiawah Island, SC

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A South Carolina beach ranks among the nation’s best places for sand and surf — again.

Beachwalker Park on Kiawah Island is No. 6 on a list of the top 10 coastal destinations in the United States. The results were published Thursday, May 22, the Naples Daily News reported.

The list comes from coastal scientist Stephen P. Leatherman, also known as Dr. Beach. To determine the top shorelines across the country, he studied 650 public beaches for several factors, including sand texture, water temperature, rip currents and pollution, according to his website and a news release.

“50 (criteria) with a sliding scale from 1 to 5 are used to measure beach quality,” Dr. Beach wrote. “The survey was primarily designed for swimming beaches, but this information is also used to determine the best beaches for walking, scenery, sports, and other activities.”

Beachwalker Park was the only place in South Carolina to land on the national list. The destination, a roughly 25-mile drive south from the popular travel spot of Charleston, was praised for offering visitors clean water that “provides fantastic seafood.”

“This is a nature-lovers coast so visitors can bring their canoes and kayaks to paddle through the tidal inlets,” Dr. Beach wrote. “It is also fun to walk or bicycle down the fine-grained sand beach to Captain Sam’s Inlet to see thousands of birds.”

The park — which said it has seasonal lifeguards, a boardwalk and other amenities — isn’t a stranger to receiving praise. Last year, it landed in the No. 5 spot on Dr. Beach’s list, The Sun News reported.

This time around, Dr. Beach said the nation’s No. 1 coastal destination was Coopers Beach on New York’s Long Island. Rounding out the top five:

A South Carolina beach community is among 15 places for best summer vacations named by U.S. News and World Report.

The 10-mile-long Kiawah Island made the list due to its beaches, 30-plus miles of bike trails and five championship golf courses, the magazine said.

Southern Living also recently selected Kiawah as one of eight most beautiful places in South Carolina.

Development as a resort on the barrier island about 25 miles southwest of Charleston began in the 1970s. About 2,000 people live there year-round with the population growing to as many as 10,000 in the summer.

U.S. News considered affordability, weather and variety of things to do, plus traveler and expert sentiment.

Eight of the 15 locations are national parks.

“Although temperatures can reach sweltering highs in the 80s and 90s and the humidity is bound to make you sweat, you can cool off while swimming or boogie boarding at Kiawah Beachwalker Park,” U.S. News said.

The magazine also mentioned Freshfields Village, a shopping and dining area, and seasonal events like dive-in movie and music nights and oyster roasts. Freshfields also has a boutique hotel and spa.

Kiawah ranked ninth.

The other locations are No. 1 Mackinac Island between Michigan’s Upper and Lower Peninsulas in Lake Huron.

2. Glacier National Park in Montana.

3. Mammoth Lakes in California’s Sierra Nevada mountain range.

4. Zion National Park, Utah’s first national park.

5. Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, Montana and Idaho.

6. Mount Rainier National Park in Washington state.

7. Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona.

8. Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming.

10. Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah.

11. Great Smoky Mountains National Park on the Tennessee-North Carolina border.

12. Bar Harbor, a maritime town on the Atlantic coast in Maine.

13. Cannon Beach in Oregon.

14. Outer Banks in North Carolina.

15. Adirondacks in New York.

JOHNS ISLAND — A revised plan to create a 933-acre members-only golf course subdivision on Johns Island calls for the developers to pay more than $2.1 million toward affordable housing efforts and emergency vehicles.

The Orange Hill investment group is offering those and other incentives as it seeks a 10-year development contract with Charleston County, which would lock in zoning and fee rules for a decade.

Such agreements give builders certainty about regulations and costs — that wouldn't change during the life of a contract — and usually offer public benefits in return. Land, money and minor road improvements are the most common concessions offered.

“It was a long negotiation with the (county) staff," said Jordan Phillips, a managing partner at South Street Partners.

South Street in 2013 acquired Kiawah Partners, master developer of Kiawah Island. The nearby Orange Hill development on Johns Island would include a private golf course with up to 120 homes and 68 guest cottages.

Development plans for the former farm date back to 2005, and what was previously approved would have allowed 181 homes. Updated plans with the golf course were rolled out in 2022.

County Councilman Joe Boykin of Johns Island said the plan now on the table "is about as good as it gets" because compared to the previously approved plan it calls for fewer houses and fewer miles of internal roads. It further shifts the entrance path from Bohicket Road to River Road.

The money the developers are offering is also a plus, Boykin said.

"It wouldn't call it 'impact fees' but it's sort of like that with a development agreement," he said. "It's good to have these contributions."

The county does not collect impact fees when new homes and businesses are built, but it has negotiated multiple contracts for large-scale developments, and those have resulted in contributions of land or money for public purposes.

The nearby Kiawah River development, for example, has an agreement with the county that requires construction of up to 117 units of "housing for the workforce" as part of the 1,428-acre project.

“It just has to conform to the state law on development agreements, then it’s up to council," said Andrea Melocik, the county's deputy director of zoning and planning.

Boykin noted that at a May 12 Planning Commission meeting no one spoke in opposition to the Orange Hill plan and that comments submitted by the public were running 10-to-1 in favor. The commission voted unanimously to recommend approval.

The Orange Hill developers are offering:

Phillips of South Street said it made sense to direct some of the affordable housing money to the Sea Island Habitat group because "something like 60 percent of our employees are from Johns Island or Wadmalaw."

The developers are seeking:

Plans submitted to the county say there are 3,125 grand or protected trees on the property, 418 of which would be removed. Phillips said the development group will be "setting up the first Johns Island-specific tree fund" for mitigation efforts, which would involve planting trees to replace those cut down "on an inch-by-inch basis."

Of the 933 acres in the development plan, 305 are wetlands. A 212-acre portion of the property, 90 acres of which are high ground, would be left undeveloped and protected with a conservation easement.

The development schedule calls for the golf course to be constructed first, potentially opening in the fall of 2027, before any homes. The property is currently used as a sporting club, with activities such as skeet shooting.

As an exclusive club, property ownership is required in order to buy a Kiawah Island Club membership. That could be one of the new homes, one of the guest cottages or a share in a portion of undeveloped land that won't be built upon.

The guest cottages are "only for members and sponsored guests of the club," said Phillips, and won't be available to rent by the general public.

The Kiawah Club also operates the River Course, Cassique and other club amenities on Kiawah Island.