Community Enrichment Plan: IOPThrives!
Milestone timeline:
The City of Isle of Palms, in collaboration with Explore Charleston, the College of Charleston, and The McNair Group, is pursuing the development of a Community Enrichment Plan (CEP) using residents’ voices as the main driver of the process. The travel and hospitality industries are vital to the island's identity and economy.
Improving quality of life for residents is one of the main priorities anchoring the city’s Strategic Plan. Residents’ quality of life also plays a significant role in tourism’s success, and it is critical to the community's overall well-being. The city aims to maintain an equilibrium of these key elements for the longevity and prosperity of Isle of Palms.
With the guidance of The McNair Group and city staff, the Community Enrichment Plan will be constructed by the Community Enrichment Task Force. The Task Force, nominated by City Council, include various community members, including residents, business owners and tourism experts. The committee is responsible for developing recommendations to address livability and tourism management and facilitate community enrichment that will benefit the city continuously.
Substantial community input and data will be collected to guide the city on how to productively deal with the complexities and challenges of regional population growth while ensuring Isle of Palms thrives as the most sustainable, family-friendly beach community in South Carolina. Data will be collected through surveys, focus groups and large listening sessions.
All collected data and insight will be used to outline recommendations for an ongoing plan that will create improvements that foster livability, sustainability and responsible economic development.
Community Listening Sessions
Date: May 29, 2024
Time: 10 a.m.
Location: Recreation Center (Magnolia Room)
Date: June 5, 2024
Time: 5:30 p.m.
Location: Recreation Center (Magnolia Room)
Questions about the Listening Sessions? Text "Hello" to (877) 607-6467 to get connected to a city staff member, or call (843) 886-6428.
You can also the City Calendar for upcoming Community Listening Sessions and Focus Groups.
CEP Task Force Members:
| Joe Ready | |
| Beverly Miller | |
| Alex Stone | astone@islandrealty.com |
| Bill Skeens | |
| Paige Grimball | |
| Linda Tucker | |
| Susan Hill Smith | |
| Maryanne Chalmers | |
| Rod Turnage | |
| Hugh Swingle | |
| Patsy Hindman | |
| Sarah Vega | |
| Ben Marks | webmarks@gmail.com |
Project Updates
Safety and Environmental Focus Teams presented drafts of their portion of the Community Enrichment Plan. The group provided feedback on the drafts.
Mr. McNair asked Task Force members to consider more “digestible” ways to share and prioritize the components of each committee’s work so that it becomes more actionable to Council and the public.
Discussion about quality of life continued. Task Force members engaged with Administrator Fragoso for details about the statistics surrounding short-term rentals and the City’s software used to track the rentals. While the statistics may currently indicate a larger percentage of short-term rentals, Mr. Skeen pointed out that when the less active rentals are removed from the calculations, the numbers show more of a balance between residential and rentals. Task Force members discussed the development of a “Good Neighbor” initiative that would inform neighbors of contact information for a short-term rental but also require short-term rental license holders to attend a class about what it means to be a “good neighbor.”
Each Focus Team will continue to work on their drafts and will present them during the next meeting.
Each Focus Team provided an update on their work. McNair directed the Task Force to discuss the Quality of Life recommendations developed earlier in the year. The conversation centered on the enforcement around and communication with short-term rentals. Mr. Turnage (from the Traffic & Parking Focus Team) shared information about the work of a subgroup of the IOP Chamber of Commerce, Family Vacation Rental Group, made up of island property managers who oversee 96% of the island’s vacation rentals. Mr. Swingle noted that recent data shows more complaints to the Police Department about residents than renters.
Each Focus Team will submit the draft of their work to the larger group in early September.
Community Enrichment Task Force Meeting
Focus Teams gave an update on their progress. Teams have been researching current Isle of Palms projects and viewing other cities' plans for inspiration on balancing residents' quality of life and tourism.
To allow more time to gather information and form the draft of the Community Enrichment Plan, the project has been extended to November of 2024. Task Force members discussed at length their desire to create a living document used by this and future City Councils to guide the city’s commitment to community enrichment.
Community Enrichment Task Force Meeting
The Task Force continues to work in small groups outside of the regular meetings to compile the information needed to create the Community Enrichment Plan. Each small group (Focus Team) gave an update on their respective areas- Environmental, Safety, Traffic & Parking. The Task Force then worked in separate groups for the remainder of the meeting.
McNair and several members agreed it was important to remind readers of the final plan that the Isle of Palms is a small, finite space that needs good stewards of both residents and visitors.
Community Enrichment Task Force Meeting
McNair shared the proposed meeting structure and agendas with the group. The Task Force has formed subgroups to focus on key areas – Environmental, Safety, Seasonal Visitation. The subgroups will return to the large group with their findings and suggestions. The groups will meet during regularly scheduled meetings in the Council Chambers and on their own as needed.
McNair reminded Task Force members that their work product will guide stewardship direction for the next 10-15 years and they do not need to come up with all the solutions. The purpose statement of each group should define what success looks like in each area. He provided suggestions on how to bring together the purpose statement, strategies, and recommendations.