FOLLY BEACH, S.C. (WCSC) - Some Folly Beach residents are noticing a new face to the island’s central business district.

With Snapper Jacks up for sale, St. James Gate turning into Coconut Joes and a new Revelry Brewing location opening this week, the makeup of Center Street is changing.

Toni Catoe, who’s resided on the island for more than 46 years, says throughout all this change, she has one ask for Center Street businesses.

“We would like to see more community involvement,” she says.

Community involvement is an element Folly Beach Mayor Tim Goodwin says is an essential component for the success of businesses on Folly.

“If you want to stay in business for a long time, you need to think about the people that live here. Because in the winter, most of those tourists aren’t here,” Goodwin says.

And an element Coconut Joe’s General Manager, Chirs Galloway, says they plan to invest in.

“If you tie yourself into the community, the community will do well for you,” Galloway says.

It’s not only community involvement Goodwin says is essential to Center Street’s success.

He says with the cost of business going up, businesses that fare the best tend to have some sort of corporate backing.

“I’ve heard as much as $20,000 for rent. If you have to pay that much for rent and you haven’t bought the water, the alcohol, the lights,” Goodwin says.

He says Center Street has always been changing and evolving.

“When people come to me and say, ‘I want Folly Beach to be like it was.’ I look at them and say, ‘What do you remember Folly Beach being?’” he says.

Moving forward, he wants to maintain a strong central business district on Center Street, while balancing the needs of residents and tourists.

Most importantly, he says he wants to maintain a close-knit community.

“It’s a wonderful community, people look out for each other, neighbors step in to help each other without even being asked,” Catoe says.

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FOLLY BEACH — It’s been an expensive task for this beach city to keep its head above water in recent years.

Fresh loads of sand have been dumped five times on Folly Beach in the last three decades, a feat totaling $77 million in federal tax dollars and local funds arranged from the city, according to data from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The federal government has allocated another $27 million for the emergency replacement of the equivalent of 90,000 dump truck loads of sand here in early 2024.

A number of factors have contributed to the frequent erosion seen on the beach. Scientists believe climate change, sea level rise and increasing storminess is at play.

But Folly Beach is a special in the eyes of the federal government because it is located down drift of the Charleston Harbor and its federally created jetties. These underwater rock walls span three miles into the water from the shorelines of Sullivan’s and Morris islands. They trap sand around Sullivan’s Island which prohibits the sand from flowing naturally down to Folly Beach, said Nicole Elko, president of Elko Coastal Consulting.

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“For that reason, the only addition of sand that Folly receives is from renourishment,” said Elko, who is working as a consultant for Folly Beach.

The last few coastal storms to reach South Carolina took a toll on Folly Beach, too. Emergency renourishments were done in 2005 because of destruction from Hurricane Ophelia and in 2018 because of hurricanes Irma and Matthew.

Folly Beach lost a good bit of sand during Ian last year, too. And the city had already hit its renourishment triggers prior to the storm.

How it works

The process for renourishment is tedious and includes several steps. Engineering and design plans need to be on par before crews begin the work.

But once ready, contractors use a vacuum-like drill to agitate sand down at the seabed of a body of water. The sand then makes its way through the dredge itself. And depending on the distance from the selected seabed to the shore, the sand can be pumped directly on the beach.

Earthmoving equipment, primarily bulldozers, are then used to settle and shape the sand based on the desired design, said Jeff Livasy, the head of civil works for the Army Corps’ Charleston District.

Sand can come from several “borrow areas,” but it has to be compatible with the beach. The Folly River has been used in the past for Folly Beach.

There have been hiccups with this, though.

Rocks or cemented sands were deposited on the beach during a previous renorishment. It is unclear what year it happened.

“We assessed it and it looked like the right type of material,” Livasy said. “But how much of it was cemented together and how, yes, it can come through in large chunks like it did in that renourishment cycle, was unfortunate.”

The next renourishment project is now in the design phase, and Livasy said the Corps will try to avoid a repeat of the last mishap.

“But at the end of the day, we have the borrow sites that we have, and we will make use of them the best we can,” Livasy said.

Preserving new sand

Renourishment projects are part of the bigger beach preservation plan on Folly Beach, Elko said. Putting the sand back on the beach is the most important part.

“But then dune restoration, which includes sand fencing and native vegetation planting, is another piece of that preservation project,” Elko said.

Another important method is land management, or not building structures on the beach. This pertains to homes built on super beachfront lots that sit further out toward the shore than others.

“You want to build your houses behind the dunes,” Elko said. “You don’t want them out, exposed to wave energy, and you don’t want the environment to be affected in that way.”

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Elko said the city is currently trying to stop such construction.

After the 2018 renourishment, the South Carolina Environmental Law Project filed a lawsuit challenging the ownership of newly created land on behalf of the city, Coastal Conservation League, Save Folly Beach and a group of homeowners.

The law project said a group of homeowners of super beachfront property claimed ownership of the new dry ground and took steps to pursue development there before the property reverted back to beach and ocean.

Houses on these super beachfront lots have been condemned repeatedly and add to the erosion issues.

“Are we really okay with people building houses that we know are going to be underwater within a year or two after a renourishment?” asked Amy Armstrong, an attorney with the law project. “Is that a good policy for the state?”

Folly Beach Mayor Tim Goodwin said although the case is very involved, it’s meant to protect the city’s natural resources.

Oral argument for the case were heard before the S.C. Court of Appeals on May 11.

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FOLLY BEACH — Driving down a darkened Ashley Avenue, there is a sudden, bright and funky oasis near 6th Street East that pops out. Welcome to Christmas at Folly Beach, courtesy of resident Kevin Hodges.

His eclectic yard art and lights, with a tall grass hut near the front door of his rambling shack, and signs everywhere declaring the High Life, are well known around town.

“It’s really amazing how many people know this house,” Hodges said, standing under the illuminated tree. “If I walk into a place, they won’t know who I am. If I say, ‘I live in the High Life house,’ they know exactly who I am. The house is famous.”

It caught the eye of producers for the “Outer Banks” television series that has been filmed in Charleston the last few years. The house and yard served as the backdrop for part of an episode in the third season.

“They fell in love with the house,” Hodges said. “The whole crew piled in here.”

He thinks it was portrayed as an artist’s house at the beach, and in a way it is.

“I do pest control for a living,” Hodges said, but his passion is woodworking.

“Everything in here, I’ve made,” he said, gesturing around the shack. “Except for the couch.”

A lot of it is surfboard-themed or surfboard-shaped, like a cabinet in the living room. Outside, a wooden surfer peeks out from behind a tree wearing a Santa hat and clutching a bright yellow surfboard. Another blue surfer sits out front on a blue board, but a visitor doesn’t recognize him.

“That’s Jack Frost,” Hodges said, and he is, apparently, hanging ten.

It all started with the big palm tree out front about 15 years ago, and Hodges said that is still the first thing people notice, with its rings of lights and oversized ornaments. One is a plaque that reads, “Have a Jolly Folly Christmas,” while others are glittery balls.

“You really don’t see too many people hang ornaments from them,” Hodges said. In fact, all of his Christmas trees are in the yard.

“We tried to put a Christmas tree in here,” he said, gesturing around the shack, “but it’s too small.”

He isn’t the only artist on display — an ex-girlfriend painted a striking mural of Santa in his sleigh with the reindeer flying high over a stand of palm trees.

It takes about three days to get it set up, and Hodges thinks there are probably 200 strings of lights spread throughout the yard. Every year, he adds something to it.

Hodges walks out of the front door holding a surprisingly heavy shark carved out of teak that he has been working on and adds it atop a bench. Things get destroyed by the elements, so they need to be replaced. The grass hut used to be held up only by large bamboo poles before a buddy ran his truck into it, so now all of the poles are reinforced with two-by-fours inside. The hut’s roof gets refreshed with new palm fronds Hodges just throws up there, and somehow they stay, even in high winds.

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In the house, in the yard, are things he created.

“I definitely like making stuff a lot more than buying it,” Hodges said.

And it all has a theme.

“It’s Folly Christmas,” Hodges said. “Just a laid-back Christmas. It’s old-style Folly.”

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FOLLY BEACH — A Folly Beach city councilman with just under two years left in his term his calling it quits. His reasoning?

That four-letter word called love.

Councilman Eddie Ellis will leave behind his seat on the barrier island’s governing body on March 30, the City of Folly Beach announced Jan. 2 on Facebook.

Ellis told The Post and Courier in a written statement the sudden resignation is because of love — he plans to move to Missouri to be with his long-distance girlfriend.

He plans to deliver a formal statement at the Feb. 13 council meeting, a date significant for its proximity to Valentine’s Day.

“I thought Feb. 13, the day before Valentine’s Day, would be a great time to tell the public my reason for resigning, but my announcement has created quite the stirring of the pot. So I will comment in short — I am resigning in the name of love,” Ellis said.

The pair met on the Fourth of July 2018, Ellis said. His girlfriend, an insurance broker named Diane Finnestead based in St. Louis, spent 14 months on the island throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Ellis has served on the Cty Council for a combined 16 years. He ran for reelection in 2020 but did not win.

In 2022, he chose to run again, a move he said Finnestead supported, as Ellis was not ready to leave the community he’s served for years, nor the landscaping business he’s owned and operated on Folly Beach for the past 28 years.

Ellis secured another term in the 2022 election, though following the 2023 election cycle he made up his mind to resign. He cited witnessing a division in the community erupt over limiting short-term rental licenses on the island as a catalyst.

“As the campaigns proceeded in our past election, I witnessed a continuation of political ugliness in a community divided over the short-term rental issue. It wasn’t the same in my election of 2022,” Ellis said.

Folly Beach Municipal Clerk Wes Graham said Ellis notified the city he was considering resigning but did not provide a formal notice or timeline until Jan. 2 when he officially submitted his letter of resignation.

Folly Beach Mayor Tim Goodwin said the resignation came with little explanation.

“I didn’t expect him to resign,” Goodwin said. “He’s worked hard for the citizens of Folly Beach and he’s always done what he thought was the best for the citizens of Folly Beach, so you know, I hate to see him go.”

Ellis will stay on council until March 30. According to the Charleston County Board of Voter Registration and Elections, a signed letter of resignation from Ellis is needed before information on a special election will be released.

“We will be updating the community with more information as soon as it is available. We do know that Charleston County will run the election and can answer all election-related questions,” Graham said.

Several municipalities in the Lowcountry, including Folly Beach, underwent an election cycle in November. Folly Beach elected one new face to the council in the November 2023 election, Chris Bizzell.

Folly Beach’s roughly 2,100-person population is expected to head back to the polls in April to elect another council member to fill Ellis’s seat for the rest of the term, which expires in November 2025.

Goodwin said he’s not looking forward to the city going through another election season.

“We just went through the election. I hate to go through another one,” Goodwin said. “It creates so much tension, like every election does everywhere,” Goodwin said.

One of South Carolina’s rascally alligators rattled tourists when it showed up on the second-story deck of a vacation home in Folly Beach.

Videos posted Oct. 27 on Facebook show the alligator was discovered after it reached the top of the stairs.

“Having a house (at) Folly Beach SC for 11 years we have never seen or heard of alligators on the island because there are no ponds,” Greg Bayer wrote.

“That all changed today when the guests at my neighbor’s house pointed out that they had a visitor on the second floor porch. He climbed 16 steps to get there.”

The alligator looks confused in the videos, having realized too late that the stairs led to a wall and railings rather than an exit.

It appeared to be considering a jump from the second floor, until Bayer decided to help. His assistance involved herding the alligator back toward the stairs.

Video shows it teetered precariously at the top for awhile, then appeared to half walk, half slide down the steps. That unexpected move elicited screams from those watching.

“He hissed at me a few times,” Bayer wrote.

The 6-foot alligator eventually exited a gate and went to a marsh near the home, which is on East Erie Avenue, Bayer told WCBD. Folly Beach is about 10 miles south of Charleston.

The videos have been views thousands of times and gotten hundreds of reactions, including a lot of trick-or-treat jokes. Some wondered what the gator expected to find at the top of the stairs, while others say it got lucky to encounter sympathetic tourists.

“One can only imagine the ruckus an inebriated, and disoriented tourist would’ve caused,” John Tucker wrote on Facebook.

“I’ll hand him a beer and some wings,” William Leon said.

“Don’t leave your keys under a planter. They probably know how to unlock a door!” Vicki Owens Sutphin wrote on Facebook.

This story was originally published November 3, 2023, 8:50 AM.