The State — Senator’s rise in SC politics coincides with help for wealthy seaside property owners

South Carolina's beaches face a growing crisis as rising sea levels and erosion endanger coastal properties. Ocean waters are undermining beachfront homes, making structures unsafe for residents. By Loumay Alesali

Oct 16, 2024

By Sammy Fretwell — GEORGETOWN, SC — About eight years ago, with then-state Rep. Stephen Goldfinch seeking election to the S.C. Senate, a wealthy property owner agreed to hold a fund-raising reception in a grand beach house along Georgetown County’s eroding seashore.

The handsome stucco home, a 6,000-square-foot structure with a tiled roof and sweeping views of the Atlantic Ocean, was being threatened by the rising sea. A wall built long ago on the beach shielded the house and about two dozen others from the relentless waves.

But the seawall had begun to crumble. And property owners in the exclusive Debordieu community worried that their homes would flood if the government did not let them rebuild the structure, even though a new seawall could worsen erosion of the public beach and send damaging ocean water perilously close to unprotected homes hundreds of yards away.

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