Are Garden City beachfront rentals violating sea turtle ordinance? What law says

An environmental law firm has sent letters to Garden City beachfront rental companies notifying them they are violating a Georgetown County lighting ordinance designed to protect sea turtles during nesting season.

Volunteers for South Carolina United Turtle Enthusiasts in Surfside and Garden City have counted numerous occasions where sea turtles have been harmed by beachfront rentals disregarding specific lighting requirements.

On behalf of Surfside and Garden City SCUTE, the South Carolina Environmental Law Project sent letters to nine beachfront rental companies comprising a majority of units in Garden City to address recurring violations of the ordinance before nesting season begins on May 1.

“While many beaches across the Southeast, including others in South Carolina, have taken meaningful steps to control beachfront lighting and protect critical nesting habitat, Garden City continues to lag behind,” the letter said.

Georgetown County’s ordinance, created in 1989, bans floodlights and requires shielding of permanent lighting fixtures so they do not shine on the shore. Structures with a building permit prior to the creation of the ordinance must turn lights off after 10 p.m. between May 1 and Oct. 31 each year.

Formal violations of the ordinance are given a 30-day notice to come into compliance, or they could face a $50 to $100 fine per each day of continued violation.

Over several years, SCUTE volunteers have noticed violations specifically in Garden City that have not been enforced.

“This is not a problem of one or two stray bulbs; it is a systemic issue that requires coordinated, intentional action to meaningfully resolve,” the letter said.

Georgetown County’s ordinance is relatively modest compared to more rigorous provisions in the Southeast, according to SCELP Attorney Monica Whalen, but even so, violations remain widespread.

Despite a strong Lights Out education campaign, Horry County does not have a lighting ordinance, and Surfside SCUTE volunteers hope to bring awareness of the issue to develop a future county provision, Whalen said.

How have lighting violations harmed sea turtles?

According to the letter, SCUTE volunteers have documented several occasions in Garden City where beachfront lighting has caused disorientation for sea turtles leading them away from the ocean.

Volunteers have said a nesting female came within 15 feet of being struck on Waccamaw Drive due to excessive lighting from a beachfront home.

Floodlights mounted on a beachfront home in Garden City prevented about 95 hatchlings from locating the ocean. Without the intervention of SCUTE volunteers, they would not have survived, but other occasions have killed hatchlings before they were able to be saved, attorneys said in the letter.

“Every year, we see the devastating impact of unchecked lighting on sea turtles,” Michael Corley, SCELP deputy director, said in a press release. “This doesn’t have to be the case. There are straightforward solutions, and the time to act is now before the nesting season begins.”

Will beach renourishment impact sea turtle nesting?

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ renourishment project began in North Myrtle Beach and is making its way down the Grand Strand coast.

Renourishment is expected to get to Garden City in April where it will conclude. By the time crews get there it will already be into nesting season. Beach renourishment work is conducted 24/7, but the Corps’ $72 million project has strict requirements to protect sea turtles.

Project Manager Sonja Carter said Fish and Wildlife standards require an environmental plan that needs to be approved and followed by both the Corps and South Carolina Department of Natural Resources in regard to sea turtles.

A third party was hired specifically to monitor beaches from dusk to dawn surrounding the 1,000-foot sections in progress to watch for sea turtles coming ashore. If a sea turtle is spotted within 500 feet of the work zone, work stops until the turtle is relocated or finished nesting.

Construction equipment lighting is limited to the active work area and will not span the entire 1,000-foot zone.

Carter said they do not expect significant pauses during nesting season.