South Carolina Coastal Conservation League v. South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control

Summary

The South Carolina Supreme Court reversed the Administrative Law Court's approval of permits for a 2,380-foot steel sheet pile wall on Captain Sam's Spit on Kiawah Island. The Court held that the ALC erred by declining to apply the more rigorous critical-area analysis, relying on protection of Beachwalker Park to justify the entire structure, and treating projected tax revenues and employment as sufficient public benefits. The Court emphasized the public trust doctrine and the protection of coastal resources under South Carolina's Coastal Zone Management Act.

Holdings

1. The ALC erred by declining to apply the more stringent critical-area analysis under S.C. Code Ann. section 48-39-30(D). A structure initially located upland of the critical area requires that analysis when the record establishes that it will ultimately impact the critical area.
2. The ALC erred as a matter of law by relying on protection of Beachwalker Park to justify the entire 2,380-foot wall.
3. Projected tax revenue, job creation, and related economic benefits are insufficient as a matter of law to establish an overriding public interest justifying permanent alteration and elimination of protected coastal resources.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the more rigorous review required by S.C. Code Ann. section 48-39-30(D) applied to a structure designed to be built outside the critical area but certain to affect the critical area as erosion continued.
2. Whether the ALC erred by relying on protection of Beachwalker Park to justify the entire 2,380-foot wall.
3. Whether projected tax revenue and employment constituted a sufficient public benefit to justify permanent alteration and elimination of protected coastal resources.

Disposition

reversed