Spinal Decompression Therapy in Pawley's Island, SC

PAWLEYS ISLAND — More than two months after Hurricane Ian swept along the South Carolina coast, the beach of the tiny Georgetown County tourist island has been cleared of the remains of Pawleys Island Pier, but plenty of storm-related work is still to be done.

The town has already removed enough debris from the beach to fill about 70 garbage trucks but still needs to clean Pawleys Creek, littered with damaged docks, and replace a sizable amount of sand fencing washed away in the Category 1 storm.

Town Administrator Daniel Newquist said he doesn’t know yet how much Pawleys Island will request from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for the island’s recovery from Hurricane Ian. He said the town has spent $69,000 on sand dune repair and beach cleanup, for which it should be eligible for 75 percent reimbursement from the federal relief money.

Ian took nearly direct aim at Pawleys Island on Sept. 30, collapsing a privately owned pier and washing sand and water beneath the raised houses that make the island a popular spot for rental and vacation homes.

“I don’t want to speak too soon, but I think we’ll get it back sooner than we have in years past,” Newquist told the Pawleys Island Town Council on Dec. 12.

Removal of creek debris also is eligible for federal reimbursement, Newquist said, but will require some coordination with other government agencies. FEMA will only reimburse “the entity, the town, the agency” that is legally responsible for work in a particular location, Newquist said, and some creek debris fell on Georgetown County’s side of the island’s north causeway.

Discussions with the county on creek debris cleanup are preliminary, Newquist said.

Though homes and businesses in various unincorporated areas south of Murrells Inlet and north of Georgetown have Pawleys Island postal addresses, Pawleys Creek comprises most of the town’s western boundary. In some cases, the boundary crosses though the marsh that docks fell into on Sept. 30.

FEMA also indicated debris that fell into navigable channel of Pawleys Creek, which Newquist said is of main concern to the town, should be the responsibility of a state agency. Newquist said he is not sure if this would fall to the state Department of Health and Environmental Control or Department of Natural Resources.

In this case, Newquist said, FEMA would be willing to accept an agreement for the state to allow the town to do the work itself, which would allow the town to be reimbursed directly.

“We wouldn’t have to wait until the state actually mobilizes and performs that work,” Newquist said.

Finding a contractor for creek cleanup is still another matter, however. Newquist told the council that correspondence with contractors resulted in only one response.

“Based on what they were telling me, it’d probably take them within three or four days to complete the work,” Newquist said, adding that he hopes to have the work completed within a month.

Newquist said he’s also hoping for clarity from FEMA as to the town’s eligibility for reimbursement of work on sand fencing and dune vegetation that was damaged by the storm on the town’s beach. He told Town Council in November that about 7 percent of beach debris hauled off the island derived from sand fencing.

“I think it makes a lot of sense to get our beach, as much as possible, back to kind of a pre-storm state,” Newquist said.

But the town also has to be mindful of working with other federal agencies in the area, such as the Army Corps of Engineers, which received a town request for emergency beach rehabilitation assistance. An October assessment by Columbia-based engineering consultant Coastal Science and Engineering found that dunes near the island’s south end “completely eroded” during Ian.

The assessment also suggested that beach renourishment undertaken on the island in 2020 limited damage to area homes from Ian.

When it comes to sand fencing, though, some property boundaries extend into the beach, Newquist said, and the town can’t be reimbursed for work on private property.

Ultimately, Newquist said, he plans to solicit interest from property owners and contractors for sand fencing work before going forward in later winter or spring.

“I think a lot of people would just go ahead and do it (themselves),” Town Councilman Guerry Green said Dec. 12 of sand fencing repair.

For individual assistance from FEMA, property owners can visit the agency’s Disaster Recovery Assistance center at Waccamaw Regional Recreation Center in Pawleys Island. The center is open 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m.-noon Saturday.

PAWLEYS ISLAND — A mat designed for beach accessibility is planned as a replacement for the wooden walkway at Pawleys Island’s First Street beach access which was damaged by Hurricane Ian in September.

Dubbed Mobi-Mats, the polyester mats have been used by other coastal South Carolina towns, including Surfside Beach and Hilton Head Island, to allow better beach access for the disabled.

The First Street access is one of nine on the barrier island and the only one yet to recover from Ian, which made landfall near Georgetown and caused millions of dollars of damage along the Georgetown County coast.

“The thought process is, ‘Hey, these types of (mats) do not generate debris, necessarily,’ ” Pawleys Island Town Administrator Dan Newquist said. “You can actually take them up if a storm is going to be bad enough.”

The mats also can be on standby if another beach access is damaged, he said.

The mat that Newquist was authorized to order by the Town Council spans 50 feet by 10 feet and is expected to cost about $6,000.

“The goal is, as long as it’s functioning properly and lasts in terms of weathering and everything else, and indications are that they do, then yeah, our long-term plan is to have one installed there,” Newquist said.

The wooden walkway at the First Street access is no longer in place, since being removed to allow equipment to reach the island’s northern end for debris removal following Ian. There is now only a direct walkway to the beach through the sand, Newquist said.

“We want some type of system in there because over time, more foot traffic, the foot traffic will start eroding that section of the beach,” Newquist said. “So these systems kind of dissipate the foot traffic energy. It kind of keeps the dimensions of the dune itself intact.”

The mat also allows easier emergency access to the northern section of the island, he said.

“It’s not like we can get a fire truck onto the beach or anything like that, but they can get a four-wheeler, a vehicle onto the beach, some of the (John Deere) Gators they have,” Newquist said.

Police Chief Mike Fanning said his department is open to the mat as a long-term solution, though he’s not yet sure of its durability.

At the very least, Fanning said, the mat will better accommodate the stretcher-carrying rescue vehicles used by Midway Fire Rescue.

“They were not able to get over any of our ramps because of the way they just either eroded away from storms or the way they were rebuilt, they had steps on them, so they couldn’t get up and down,” Fanning said. “So this will really accommodate them well.”

Elsewhere on the island, Georgetown County is pursuing a federal grant to renovate the parking lot at the island’s south end, which was used as a staging area for debris removed from the beach following Ian.

Much of that debris derived from the private Pawleys Island Pier, which collapsed the same day Ian made landfall in South Carolina.

Think, “Midsommar.” Or “Shaun of the Dead.” Or, “The Wicker Man.”

These are some of the movies that have inspired 21-year-old film director Mathew Epp in a latest film project that takes place in Pawleys Island.

Epp, a Charlotte, North Carolina, resident, graduated from University of North Carolina at Charlotte recently and is working on a new project, “Eden Avenue.”

Pawleys Island has the perfect small town nature to it, Epp said. He had been visiting a friend — the lead actor — for the past five or six months and decided it was a perfect setting for the film.

“I just realized like the more and more I go down there, you know, it’s a small town,” Epp said. “It’s a local community. And it’s beautiful.”

“Eden Avenue” follows a group of recent college graduates — Michael, Allie, Nick and Brandon, as they decide to take one last vacation together.

The beach town they end up at is inviting at first, Epp said. The town name “Eden Avenue” is supposed to give the area a motherly, inviting feeling.

But there’s a darker side.

The people of Eden Avenue are infected by the algae in the waters. It turns them into a cult-like group of people bent on infecting the protagonists, Epp explained.

It takes on a theme of “group of kids versus everyone else,” he said.

All of this occurs as the protagonists face internal struggles about change. The movie is character driven, and is much more about personal conflicts, such as accepting change than the cult, he said.

With about 20 working on the project, including a crew of 10 and around five to 10 actors, it’s still a while before local residents can see Pawleys Island on the screen.

Epp said that “Eden Avenue” was still in a pre-production stage, but filming is set to begin this month and will take a few days. The crew is still working on getting permits to film in specific areas.

Local viewers can expect to see a recognizable area in Pawleys Island, including the Pawleys Inlet toward the south end of the beach. Epp said he was working with Clam Bake Cove or Oakley as possible settings as well.

He anticipates a spring 2024 release, with “Eden Avenue” distributed on public platforms and then premiering locally in theaters.

The project members are asking for donations to help with production.

And “Eden Avenue” still has some spots left for extras in some scenes, he said.

Those interested can email Fortis Fortuna Films, the production company, at Fortisfortunafilm@gmail.com.

This story was originally published August 11, 2023, 5:00 AM.

When Linwood Altman opened Pawleys Island Realty in 1962, the number of island residents was so small, it didn’t warrant a mention in the South Carolina census. The population remains small, hovering around 130-150, but the 60-year-old real estate company is still thriving. It’s still family-owned and has been instrumental in making Pawleys Island and the surrounding stretch of the “Hammock Coast” a premier place for vacationers.

“We just celebrated our 60th anniversary,” said Betsy Altman, owner and broker-in-charge with Pawleys Island Realty. “While the majority of our guests are still from the Southeast, as they have been since 1962, there are a lot more of them now — and a lot more homes for them to buy or rent.”

Pawleys Island Realty has the lion’s share of that choice. When Linwood Altman started PIR, he took over 50 rentals from another company and rented them for $500 per week. Now, of the island’s 450 total rentals, PIR manages 240 of them — and the price tags keep growing.

“Some homes here now rent for $10,000 per week,” Altman said. “And during the height of the vacation season in June, July and August each year, our three-mile-long island community grows to 5,000 people. We still have some homes that rent for $1,500 and up, so there is still a home for everyone.”

While island prices have skyrocketed recently, Altman added that one element has remained the same. Since the company’s beginning, customer commitment has been key. It’s the main reason for the company’s longevity.

“We believe building long-term relationships is the most important part of our business,” she said. “We try to provide a high level of service and rely on our knowledge of our community and the market.”

If trends are any indication, that market will be thriving for a long time to come. PIR’s client list now includes people from New York, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, California and Canada in addition to the most popular states of South Carolina, North Carolina, Kentucky and Tennessee. Since 2018, the company’s home sales have risen 4% per year — which means current annual sales of around $28 million.

“Pawleys Island is home to the oldest coastal community in the South,” Altman said. “Second homes, vacation homes and investment homes comprise a huge part of our annual sales.”

Regardless of the market, Altman said her PIR team will deliver the best possible option for each client.

“Our agents are trained in all sales areas, with expertise and specialty training in resort property,” she said. “We listen closely to the goals of our clients and then guide them through the process.”

It’s a lot to look forward to if you’re in the market for a Pawleys Island getaway —especially with the real estate company that helped put this stretch on the map.

“Coastal real estate is attractive to most buyers,” Altman said. “And maintaining close relationships with our owners and clients for over 60 years has allowed us to become a trusted name.”

By L.C. Leach III

An Ode to Arthur Ravenel I’On in Mount Pleasant with John Bell of Southern Bell Living Stephanie Kelley, Executive Director of East Cooper Community Outreach The Mount Pleasant Lifestyle: Meet Real Estate Agent Robyn Jones Hall

Two Georgetown County destinations were named two of Southern Living’s 25 best fall beach spots for 2023.

Huntington Beach (ranked number 10) and Pawleys Island (number 18) were joined by fellow South Carolina destination Sullivan’s Island at number 23.

The magazine praised Huntington Beach’s annual Atalaya Arts and Crafts festival in September and Pawleys Island’s kayaking and oceanfront cottages.

Both of these places are located in what’s called the Hammock Coast, named after Pawleys Island Hammocks.

Mark Stevens, Director of Tourism Development for the Georgetown County Chamber of Commerce, said the area has beaches and history like neighboring Myrtle Beach and Charleston, while being “totally unique.”

With balmy temperatures continuing through the fall months, “the fall is one of the best times that you can be here on the Hammock Coast,” Stevens said.

Southern Living had this to say about Sullivan’s Island.

“This tranquil South Carolina getaway is located on a two and a half-mile long barrier island near the mouth of Charleston Harbor. It’s quiet and charming with a few restaurants you just can’t miss. Edgar Allan Poe was stationed at the fort there—make a stop at Poe’s Tavern and pay homage to the Gothic novelist.”

In March, Southern Living named Huntington Beach State Park the 2023 best state park in South Carolina.