A wealthy Isle of Palms man accused of having a seawall built illegally on the beach at his home must tear out the wall, a judge ruled Thursday in an order that supports the state’s right to protect beaches from encroaching development.

Judge Ralph K. Anderson III said removal of Rom Reddy’s seawall “is warranted’’ under the state’s beach protection law.

The ruling was seen as a victory for advocates of preserving state beaches for the public, but it was not a resounding affirmation of the S.C. Department of Environmental Services’ efforts to fine people who break the law.

In his ruling, Anderson tossed out a whopping $289,000 fine against the Isle of Palms property owner, saying it was not warranted. The judge said Reddy made a good faith effort to protect his land, even though building a seawall on the beach hurts the public’s use and enjoyment of the shore.

At issue is whether the outspoken Reddy followed state law when contractors built a seawall in front of his house following bad weather and pounding surf that threatened his home. Reddy’s beach house is at the lower end of the Isle of Palms across an inlet from Sullivans Island in Charleston County.

While Reddy says he has a right to protect his property and did the work outside of state jurisdiction, coastal regulators say the seawall is in state jurisdiction and violates the state coastal management law that banned new seawalls in 1988. Reddy represented himself in a trial before Anderson five months ago.

The Reddy case, filled with accusations of government overreach, has simmered for several years, and its outcome could help guide South Carolina on how tightly it enforces the state’s decades-old beachfront management law. The law banned new seawalls on the beach more than 30 years ago because the structures can worsen beach erosion and block public access to the shore.

Anderson’s ruling drew praise from both the S.C. Department of Environmental Services and the S.C. Environmental Law Project, a non-profit legal service that supported state action against Reddy. Environment department officials were not made available for an interview but the agency issued a statement late Thursday afternoon.

“Judge Anderson’s October 23 ruling supports SC DES’s position that the Coastal Tidelands and Wetlands Act, as enacted by the General Assembly, prioritizes the protection of South Carolina’s coast for the benefit of all,’’’ according to the statement from SC DES spokeswoman Laura Renwick. “The ruling upholds the agency’s determination that this particular seawall must be removed.’’

Seawalls are a concern in South Carolina and other places because, while they protect valuable oceanfront homes and hotels, they worsen erosion when pounded by waves. That narrows the public beach, giving people less dry sand to walk and play on. Walls also can jut out so far that they block access for people walking down the seashore.

Amy Armstrong and Leslie Lenhardt, law project attorneys involved in the case, said they were disappointed the fine had been tossed out, but the key was upholding the right of the state to require Reddy to tear out the seawall. The ruling helps protect state beaches from further attempts to build erosion-worsening seawalls, Armstrong said.

They noted that Anderson’s order said the Reddy seawall had “accelerated erosion’’ of the beach at Isle of Palms. The ruling did not give a timeline for tearing out the wall, but said a plan must be developed to do so. The order is notable because South Carolina courts don’t often tell property owners to tear down illegal structures they’ve built. Reddy has said he may appeal the decision to a higher court.

Reddy declined to be interviewed. He sent a text to The State expressing satisfaction that the $289,000 fine was tossed out, but said the ruling did not go far enough. Reddy’s text said Anderson “vacated an unjust penalty against me and raised legitimate, long-overdue questions about the ability of state bureaucrats to impose their will on private property owners.

“There is still much work to be done, however, as the judge’s ruling is unfortunately not a full and complete vindication of private property rights — meaning those who do not have the means to defend themselves against the bureaucratic state remain in danger of its oppressive action,’’ Reddy’s text said, noting that “if citizens don’t stand up, if we don’t push back against this weaponized government, that is how tyranny takes root.’’

Anderson agreed that while Reddy was wrong to construct the seawall, he did not do so with “willful’ intent because the state had sent mixed messages on whether the construction was legal. State regulators dispute that.

Specifically, the case centered on whether seawalls can be constructed beyond state building restriction lines on the beach. The lines were set up in the late 1980s and have been used in an attempt to prevent building too far on to the shore. But in recent years, beaches have eroded landward of the building restriction lines — known as setbacks — and turned vegetated land that had not been regulated into sandy beach. In Reddy’s case, state officials argued the area where he built the seawall had become sandy beach subject to state jurisdiction.

Rising sea levels and more intense storms have exposed multiple places along the state’s coastline that regulators say are now jurisdictional, but were not in the past.

Anderson wrote that “the department has permitting authority since it could not otherwise protect the entirety of the coastal zone if it were unable to exercise regulatory authority over the beaches, irrespective of the location of the setback line.’’

The judge said Reddy must “submit a corrective action plan for the removal of the hard erosion control structure.’’

Reddy, who bought his house at Isle of Palms just over a decade ago, is an affluent businessman who owns several small newspapers in the Charleston area. He says he has a litany of experience in other fields. He has said he is an engineer and the one-time owner of an artificial turf company that sold the synthetic grass for 270 stadiums nationally one year.

An ardent supporter of President Donald Trump, Reddy has started a political action committee to help candidates who want to cut state regulations and reduce the size of government.

His disdain for the government has been evident throughout the heated seawall dispute. He’s accused regulators of targeting him and trying to limit his freedoms. At one point, he said the state was using Gestapo-like tactics, a reference to the sadistic Nazi military force of World War II. Anderson had refused to toss the case out, resulting in the trial.

This story has been updated with comments from Reddy, state regulators and environmentalists

ISLE OF PALMS — The controversial seawall built by a wealthy homeowner must be torn down, a judge ruled Oct. 23.

The order came down from S.C. Administrative Law Court Chief Justice Ralph K. Anderson III. Anderson mandated that Rom and Renee Reddy remove the hard erosion control structure built behind their home near Isle of Palm’s Breach Inlet.

Anderson wrote in his order that the wall has “accelerated erosion of the adjacent beach and, in doing so, adversely affected the public.”

At the same time, the judge threw out the $289,000 civil penalties levied against the homeowners. Anderson ruled that the Reddys’ construction of the wall were done in a '“good faith effort” to protect their home from further erosion, and believed that the state Department of Environmental Services’ permitting authority did not apply to where the wall was located.

The Reddys’ home is situated on the south end of the island, an area that has experienced significant erosion in recent years. Rom Reddy contended that he built the wall to protect his multi-million dollar property from these impacts— and felt he was well within his rights to do so.

The state disagreed, issuing several stop-work orders in late 2023 and early 2024 to the homeowners as they repaired the structure from storm-related damage. The wall was in the beach’s critical area, state agents said, a protected portion of the coast that requires permitting for any construction to occur. Reddy had not obtained these permits from DES before beginning work on the wall, believing that the where the wall was built fell outside the agency’s permitting scope.

The state, joined later by the Coastal Conservation League, took the couple to court over the structure. Rom Reddy represented himself in the matter in May, going head-to-head with the state agency.

In a written statement, Reddy said the court vacated “an unjust penalty” and raised legitimate questions about state overreach.

“These are critical victories for the citizens of this state — and a clear sign that the days of environmental bureaucrats exercising unchecked power over the people are at an end,” he said.

Reddy will have 30 days to appeal the ruling.

“There is still much work to be done, however, as the judge's ruling is unfortunately not a full and complete vindication of private property rights,” Reddy said.

A DES spokesperson said the agency appreciated Anderson’s “meticulous review” of the case.

“Judge Anderson’s October 23 ruling supports SCDES’s position that the Coastal Tidelands and Wetlands Act, as enacted by the General Assembly, prioritizes the protection of South Carolina’s coast for the benefit of all. The ruling upholds the agency’s determination that this particular seawall must be removed,” the agency spokesperson said in a written statement.

ISLE OF PALMS, S.C. (WCSC) - Leaders on the Isle of Palms heard from dozens of residents on its island mobility at an open house on Monday night.

The city is partnering with the Berkeley-Charleston-Dorchester Council of Governments for an ongoing mobility study to evaluate existing bike and pedestrian infrastructure on the island. The study is designed to identify gaps and deficiencies that create safety, connectivity and maintenance concerns.

“The purpose of the mobility study is to really help us identify areas of the island that we can have that connectivity, so that we can get from point A to point B around the island, much more safely,” Isle of Palms Councilman Rusty Streetman says.

Officials say another goal of the study is to identify mobility needs and improvements for the Isle of Palms. As residents came to the open house, they heard more about the study, had the opportunity to ask questions and shared feedback to help shape the future of mobility on the island.

Mary Anne Chalmers, an Isle of Palms resident, says being able to interact with city officials in person helped her better understand what feedback they’re looking for. Her main concerns are walkability and signage.

“Since the population has grown in the area all around and there’s just way more people coming to the beach when you’re trying to walk around,” Chalmers says. “I walk my dogs on the beach and I walk them around in the town and sometimes you almost get hit crossing Palm Boulevard or on some of the streets.”

Potential projects to improve mobility include new sidewalks, protected bike lanes, improved wayfinding and signage, additional shade from trees and protection from weather, traffic calming, improved lighting and security and additional pedestrian amenities.

“My hope is between golf carts, bikes and mopeds, we will provide an easier way to traverse the island,” Isle of Palms Mayor Phillip Pounds says. “I think there’s interconnectivity and infrastructure that we can put up that would help folks get around.”

Reisdents who did not have the opportunity to attend the open house can fill out an online survey by Oct. 31. The survey asks questions about what modes of transit are most popular, what they are used for, future connectivity improvements residents would like for the city to prioritize and safety issues.

Streetman says it’s good to see so many Isle of Palms residents get involved with the study and hopes to continue to see that effort with the online survey.

“Our residents are concerned about the safety of the island and being able to get around much more effectively and efficiently,” Streetman says. “I think they’re very interested seeing improvements on the island, on the sidewalks, the streets, bike paths, areas like that so that we can have a better, safer environment for our residents and our visitors that come here also.”

ISLE OF PALMS — A combination of king tide cycles and a nor’easter pummeled each end of the island, severely eroding an already-weakened beach.

At the island’s northern tip, the Ocean Club Villas stood tall, undergoing another facelift. Cloaked in vibrant blue netting and scaffolding, the Wild Dunes condominiums were bearing the brunt of some of the worst erosion.

The four-day stretch of tides, storm surge and rain pushed back the dune system at the Ocean Club and nearby properties about 15 feet, according to a post-storm report from the city’s contracted coastal engineering firm. At the king tide’s highest point, a roughly 8.5-foot swell, waves lapped at the base of the scaffolding. Water undermined the concrete slab.

Since the building’s construction in the 1980s, the tide has crept closer and closer to the condos. The dry, sandy beach has shrunk with each passing year. Despite this, renovations at the Ocean Club Villas press on.

Crews with Hill Construction are currently replacing exterior doors, windows and balconies to make the condos watertight. They’re adding more insulation, too, and an extra water-resistant layer on the outside of the building.

But at times, protecting the building and the people who stay there has come at the expense of the beach the condos stand upon. The renovations highlight the complexities—and risks—of maintaining property so close to the water.

Construction debris did reach beach, dunes

Portions of the Ocean Club stand in the critical area of the beach, a protected portion of the shore that requires approval from the state Department of Environmental Services before it can be altered in any way.

The environmental agency has the final authority on what takes place in the beach’s critical area, and issued Charleston-based construction firm Hill Construction a conditional approval to begin renovations in June.

Before work could begin, the building needed to be surrounded with scaffolding and netting to prevent loose debris from entering the water or beach environment during construction, along with other measures to keep the site clean.

“Any area of dry sand beach and/or dune vegetation impacted by the construction must be restored to pre- project conditions,” the June 25 notice to Hill Construction stated.

At the city level, Isle of Palms Administrator Douglas Kerr said the project was permitted without any special stipulations or added oversight, despite its proximity to the ocean.

But debris from the construction has not been wholly contained, concerning nearby residents who routinely walk along the beach. The state environmental agency confirmed construction-related material has been escaping the blue netting surrounding the building since at least June, and has worsened over time.

Styrofoam pieces, light as air, flittered from the construction site and into the marsh grass, dunes and water around the site, photos reviewed by The Post and Courier show. Sheetrock and spray foam insulation were strewn about near the work site as well.

In late September, countless foam pieces were reported on the Isle of Palms. The white, pea-sized pieces dotted the wrack line for blocks, nestled in the area where driftwood and reeds are deposited by the tide.

Shortly after the foam balls were discovered, the agency notified Hill Construction it had violated the terms of the maintenance agreement. Similar Styrofoam debris found at the work site were found stretching about four miles down the coastline, the agency said in the notice on Sept. 25.

“As time progressed, the blue netting was damaged, and the department believes that the debris that was being contained by the netting was released into the beach environment,” Adam Gantt, a coastal enforcement project manager wrote in an email to the Ocean Club board on Oct. 9.

“Every effort should be made to immediately clean-up/remove all unauthorized debris/materials found within the beach environment and adjacent waters, to prevent the further spread of these materials,” Gantt wrote.

The litter, particularly the foam, can be detrimental to a marine environment, Charleston Waterkeeper Andrew Wunderley told The Post and Courier after the foam balls were discovered.

“They're going to continue to degrade and into smaller and smaller bits,” Wunderley said. “It's impossible to clean up once they've been spilled. You can make your best efforts, but once they scatter in the wind and the rain and the tide and the current, the waves, it's impossible to clean it up.”

An Ocean Club representative overseeing the renovation denied that the round foam pieces originated from the construction site, though agreed that some debris had escaped it previously. Measures to better address the litter were put in place, like a trash chute and more netting.

After the state notified Hill Construction about the documented litter and subsequent violation, the Ocean Club board sent a newsletter to owners updating them on the status of the renovations. The unsigned note also referenced the litter, stating that the project was now “under a microscope” following a Post and Courier report.

“May we suggest to any owners concerned that rather than taking steps that cost everyone time and money, that they organize and volunteer to walk the beach regularly and just pick up any errant items that escape containment. This would be to everyone’s benefit," the letter stated.

Board members assured the agency after a site visit on Oct. 6 that crews had made significant progress on picking up the site; DES confirmed the agency has not issued any penalties or fines for the litter, either.

Fighting fleeting sand

The waterfront condos are situated in a precarious area on the northern end of the Isle of Palms. Extreme erosion has plagued this part of the island for years, and will continue to, according to reports coastal engineering firms prepared for the city.

Without frequent large-scale renourishment projects, the sand supporting many of the Wild Dunes developments closest to the beach will continue to disappear. The last time the Isle of Palms saw one of these projects was in 2018, and likely won’t be ready for another one until next year, at the earliest.

In 2018, the city spent roughly $15 million, with the help of some federal funding, to restore the beach. The upcoming project is poised to cost more than $16 million.

Both Wild Dunes and the city have undertaken efforts to fight against the fleeting sand. The renovations, however, have come under scrutiny for leaving a mess behind on the beach and in the dunes.

Ocean Club owners tried in 2016 to install removable wave dissipation devices to stave off erosion. A few years before that, a buried wall hidden beneath piles of sandbags was uncovered.

The state ordered the removal of both structures.

Isle of Palms has historically deployed emergency sandbags to the area after storms, including Hurricane Erin in August and again after the October nor’easter.

Soon those sandbags will be placed along the beach and the base of the building—another attempt to protect the property against the water, as crews continue work to keep the condos themselves watertight.

The fortifications serve as an example of responding to the impacts of coastal living, taking place throughout hurricane season and through tide cycles that are routinely higher than they’ve ever been.

In the meantime, the hum of construction machinery continues to mix with the dull roar from the crashing waves, the water inching toward the condos that jut out onto the sand.

ISLE OF PALMS — A Mexican restaurant on the Isle of Palms is preparing to shut down the grill.

Papi’s Taqueria announced on social media that it is closing Nov. 2, hoping to go out with a bang and after Halloween and Day of the Dead celebrations that involve revelry and, often, tequila.

The restaurant at 1012 Ocean Blvd. has operated out of a coastal cottage-style building with views of the Atlantic Ocean since 2018. It was opened by Wyatt Durrette, a songwriting collaborator with the Zac Brown Band who toured with the group for almost 10 years, and the band's executive chef, Rusty Hamlin.

The business posted online that it was “time for us to close this chapter,” stating that a new concept will take its place in the space.

“Although we can’t reveal what’s coming next, believe us when we say that our baby is in very capable hands and there are great things to come. Sometimes the best endings make room for beautiful new beginnings.”

The news comes as Canchita’s Kitchen — which operated the kitchen at Papi’s for the past three years and also runs a Mexican food truck in Mount Pleasant at 1340 Chuck Dawley Blvd. — announced that it plans to open a new brick-and-mortar location at 6 Market St. in downtown Charleston.

It’s backfilling the former home of Tabbuli Restaurant near The Cooper, the forthcoming luxury hotel and waterfront resort.

Tabbuli opened in 2011 and operated for more than a decade before its tumultuous end that involved issues with the city of Charleston’s Livability Court and the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division, which cited the business for 72 violations.