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SEABROOK ISLAND, S.C. (WCSC) - What many thought could be the final chapter in a long saga of debating and creating Seabrook Island’s short-term rental ordinance, was instead a discussion that led to a few changes that will now be reviewed by town planners.

At a special meeting called Wednesday, the town council decided to strike a few things from the wording, but their changes leave the main numbers of the cap unchanged. The overall proposal is still to create two zones with caps. In one area including townhomes, cluster homes, condos and single-family homes closest to the beach, the cap would be 540 short-term rentals. In all the other single-family areas, the cap would be 105.

The council’s main change is getting rid of the Class B or limited short-term rental clause. It would have allowed a temporary exception for legal residents of the island to short-term rent for 72 days or less per year, outside the cap number, with a different application. The thought was to create an option in case a person had financial hardship or had to be away for some time, but leaders thought it might be taken advantage of and scrapped the entire limited short-term rental section. The mayor noted there are about 50 properties where this could have applied.

Other changes the council made include removing some regulations in the short-term ordinance about trash, since it is covered in other town rules, and adjusting the point system for violations to short-term rentals, making some violations carry a larger potential risk for losing the license.

Leaders acknowledged there is likely no way to make everyone happy with the ordinance, but are doing their best to create a balanced and logical system.

While the special meeting was much more scarcely attended than prior public hearings, those there remained passionate about the topic.

“I guess the fear is now we are in competition with other communities that have large numbers of rentals and that wasn’t why most of us came to build or buy here and live here and I think that the future is pretty damned if the current bill stands and if it’s not substantially changed to improve and limit the number of rentals,” resident Paul McLaughlin said.

“I do feel like this is provoking fear with buyers and has very much slowed our market. We are putting too much pressure on our market with mandatory club membership at $25,000. A $6,000 amenity fee to allow your renters to have club access. Higher insurance, and higher regime fees due to insurance and taxes will be higher in 2025 as well. So this is one of the highest carrying cost communities in Charleton so we do need to give our buyers the opportunity to rent and make up for some of those costs,” resident and realtor Emery McPherson said.

Despite the divide that may persist in people’s thoughts on the ordinance, the work to iron out the details and pass something continues. The planning committee will review the changes at its Dec. 11th meeting and the ordinance will come back before the town council for a vote at its regular Dec. 17th meeting.

Read more about the study here.

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