Edisto Beach closed after much confusion

Edisto Beach residents had an eventful time last week, complete with protesters.
Mayor Jane Darby and the Town Council voted on Sunday March 29 to reinstate a local state of emergency, passed Wednesday March 25 for the Town of Edisto Beach for 60 days, closing the beach to the public. The Sunday vote hopefully will conclude what became a seesaw of confusion over the last few days over who had the authority to do what — complete with protesters.

The Original Proposal
The town’s state of emergency passed on March 25 closed the beach to everyone except town and island residents. Barricades on the roads were installed and short-term rentals canceled.
The council hoped to lessen the intensity and duration of the crisis, reduce the stress of the first responders and health care system, and prevent unnecessary deaths by issuing regulations regarding businesses and tourism.

Then on Friday
But after Darby and the town council issued their first emergency ordinance on March 25, they received a March 27 response from Solicitor General Robert Cook in a letter to the Hon. Jeff Bradley, District House representative, that basically said only the governor could close a municipality.
The four-page letter said, in part, “Each provision [of Home Rule] makes clear that the grant of power is subject to the general law of the state ... The empowering of any government or officials with the authority to order and compel an evacuation, thereby forcibly separating its citizens from their homes, businesses, property and even families is clearly at odds with the fundamental rights, freedoms and privileges which are the bedrock of our nation ... This conclusion that the governor’s emergency powers preempt those of counties and municipalities is equally affirmed and is provided as guidance to counties and municipalities.”
So, Edisto and Folly Beach (which had also closed with a similar ordinance) both rescinded Wednesday’s ordinance, opening the beach back up on Saturday. Columbia and Charleston, which have both state-at-home ordinances in place, ignored the letter.
Mayor Darby and the council decided to reopen the beaches because of that information. But on Saturday, a huge influx of people came to the beach, swelling the population to a significant number in a short time.
Some rental homes had 10 cars parked at one residence. The local grocery store was packed with visitors, and residents were fearful to leave their homes to go into the community. A game of touch football involving dozens of teens was being conducted, in spite of the social distancing mandates, and the beach crowd was continuing to grow.
“People who want to flee from their virus hotspot states or who own homes here and live in other states want to come here to vacation at the beach, but we can’t take the chance that they aren’t bringing the virus with them,” said Darby. In 2010, the average age of Edisto Beach residents was 65. That was 10 years ago, and the people have aged since then.

And on Saturday
Then on Saturday, S.C. Attorney General Alan Wilson stated that although the towns had the power to initiate and enforce the ordinance, the governor’s mandates preempt any local ordinances.
Robert Kettle, spokesman for the Attorney General’s office, said, “We do not make the laws, we just follow them. We do not want to take control away from the local governments, but we do want to let them know what the law says. If Edisto wants to continue to keep the beaches closed, they have that right; however, we wanted them to know that since the governor has not issued the same mandate, then the town of Edisto Beach is liable for any lawsuits that may arise from that decision.”

The protestors
Residents of the beach, fearful of the spread of the virus, took to the streets with signs protesting against visitors coming to the town.
“Picketers were some of our younger people who own businesses. They are hurting financially, but they wanted to cooperate to protect people of the island. The young people’s hearts were in the right place; don’t blame them. We all love our community, and the citizens’ protests were peaceful. The signs were not bad, but respectful. Most of the protestors indicated that visitors were welcome after this pandemic is over. Please stay away until then,” said Darby.

On Sunday
Concerned that the potential for conflict between residents and visitors was a possibility, the Town Council met again Sunday and discussed the situation.
“You are never going to please everyone,” said Darby. “We understand that people are disappointed that there are no vacation rentals. We know that this is spring break time and we hate canceling reservations, but we have tried to do this in a timely manner so that people can know ahead of time and make plans.
“Right now, Charleston has the fastest growing virus rate in the state. Many of those people like to come to our beach, and visitors who are staying here enjoy traveling to Charleston. That increases the risk for residents here,” Darby said.
So Sunday afternoon, the decision was made by council to once again close the beaches to visitors.
Council cited the following reasons:
 The town does not have the manpower to control traffic.
 The governor stated that no more than three people may be together in a group, and beach visitation makes that too difficult to control with limited manpower.
 The governor’s executive order “authorizes any and all law enforcement officers of the state, or any political subdivision thereof, to do whatever may be deemed necessary to maintain peace and good order during the State of Emergency and to enforce the provisions of any order.” Closing the beaches will ensure there is no conflict between residents and visitors.
 Visitors from states where the virus has had substantial community spread have to be quarantined for 14 days. Town authorities have no ability to assess whether visitors were previously quarantined.

 The re-opening of the town has caused serious impediment to the town’s ability to enforce the executive orders of the governor, to maintain peace, to prevent the spread of the virus and to provide services to the residents.
“During vacation months, our population grows from 700 to 10,000 a week which greatly increases our risk of the virus spreading and puts a tremendous strain on our resources,” said Darby. “We are seriously concerned about the number of retirees and elderly people who live here. We have numerous individuals who have compromised immunity due to diabetes, COPD and heart issues. We do not want people from outside our community bringing in the virus to the residents who live here,” Darby said.
Darby indicated that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, stricter measures needed to be implemented for Edisto, as social distancing and other precautions have not been successful.

The current ordinance
The previous fine-tuned ordinances re-instated on Sunday afternoon. They are as follows:
 No short-term rentals, no new check-ins and no long-term rentals will be permitted until April 30. At that time, the situation will be reevaluated.
 Businesses must meet federal Center for Disease Control (CDC) guidelines. Only essential employees are permitted to work.
 The grocery store and gas station will remain open.
 Restaurants may stay open for delivery only.
 All boat charters are canceled.
 Parks and playgrounds are closed.
 The golf course is also closed to outside golfers who are not residents.
 A police checkpoint is set up 24 hours a day.
 Entrance is limited to homeowners, who must show two forms of identification (ID) along with proof of residency. The following may also be admitted with proof of family relationship to homeowner and ID: spouse, children, parents and grandparents.
 Amazon, UPS, pharmacy, medical personnel and caregivers with credentials and Fedex may pass the check point with proof of delivery to residence.
 Construction may continue but the number of workers should be limited, and employees must stay on the job site except to pick up food. Construction employers are responsible for their workers and need to provide proof of construction by showing a valid business license and building permits. Workers need to enter the checkpoints as a group with the employer and must stay on site.
 Business employees may enter with passes as determined by law enforcement. Businesses may serve people via window or delivery only.
 The elderly or those who have compromised immune systems and no outlet for help for essentials such as groceries may contact the fire department which will shop for them. This measure is for critically ill people only, and they must make arrangements to pay for their purchases with the fire department.

Council’s thoughts
Councilmember Patti Smyer explained that the virus had accelerated, and time was of the essence in stopping unnecessary traffic and visitors from coming into town and spreading the virus.
“If the beaches stay open, we are allowing more of the population in to bring the virus. This is what we are trying to avoid. This is a health crisis, and we have people here who won’t survive this. We must stop it now and protect our elderly residents and property owners,” said Darby. “This is their home.”
Mayor Pro Tem Crawford Moore agreed with Darby. “This is hard to fathom, but this is not a game; this is real and we have to use our common sense.”
The council stated that as the virus eases up, they will ease up on their restrictions and possibly make adjustments. They also encouraged businesses to apply for federal funds to help them through this crisis.
DNR is working closely together with SLED and local police to control the beaches. According to Lt. Michael Thomas of DNR, “We are making beach patrols by ATV at the request of the Edisto Police Department. If we see large groups together, we are asking them to disperse and explaining the executive order of social distancing. We are checking on state-owned properties, too. We are also participating in boat patrols by patrolling the sand bars for large groups or boats that are joined together with more than three people,” said Thomas.
Councilman Jerome Kizer remarked that everyone in town had to work together to stay safe. Councilwoman Susan Hornsby agreed. “This is a dangerous time and we must do what we can.”
Darby reiterated that these measures and restrictions were temporary and would be revisited April 30.
“I never thought in my wildest dreams that I would ever be calling a meeting for something like this,” said Darby. “This is sad. But we must transition from saying ‘I’ to saying ‘we’ and ‘us’. We care about each other, and we can meet this challenge, stay strong and safe,” she added. “We will prevail and continue to be a community of friends.”

And then on Monday
Gov. McMaster issued an order to close beaches, piers, boat landings, etc. The council reconvened and has been attempting to ascertain the wording and connotation of the order.
“According to what we are reading in this order,” said Mayor Darby, “the beaches are to be closed to everyone except homeowners whose homes are actually situated on the beachfront. But that would mean that no one else who lives here could go to the beach. We want to abide by this order, but we are trying to understand the problematic logistics of this. Until we get clarification, no one is allowed on the beach except beachfront homeowners.”
Darby indicated that all beach accesses had been roped off as law enforcement and DNR patrol the beaches to let citizens know that the beaches are closed to anyone who does not have a beachfront home.