A(nother) Letter from Larry Movshin
CSA Board Chairman
April 1, 2020
2:15 PM
When my Chairmanship started, I planned to send the Community a Letter update about once a month; with the onset of COVID19, it seems I am writing to you more like twice a week. But circumstances and government proclamations are changing that rapidly, and so CSA must also adapt to the new environment on a rolling basis.
On Monday, Governor McMaster issued an
Executive Order
closing (among other facilities)
public
access to our state’s beaches. The Order expressly states that it “
does not impact the rights of private property owners living on beaches
.” In light of this Executive Order, our Town Council voted to close all public parking lots at Town owned public parks and asked all gated communities to voluntarily close private access to beaches. Based on this request, The Sea Pines Resort has closed the Beach Club parking lot and all facilities at the Beach Club and will not allow beach parking at the Plantation Club. Since these parking areas are not limited to Sea Pines property owners, the Resort believes that they constitute the type of public parking that the Town has asked to be closed and has complied with that request. The Resort will allow walkers or bikers to access the beach through the Beach Club walkway. For additional information on The Sea Pines Resort operations due to COVID-19, please visit their website by clicking
here
.
After careful consideration, CSA has decided
not
to close the CSA managed private beach access points to the Sea Pines beaches, including the Tower Beach Parking lot. I am writing today to explain how we came to this decision.
As a starting point, the overwhelming sentiment of our Sea Pines property owners who have written to me on this subject over the last few weeks strongly favored keeping access to our beaches available. They discussed their use of the beach for daily walks, bike rides, exercising pets, and just plain calming the anxiety in the open, fresh salt air of our beaches. We’ve also read many studies that recognize the vital importance of exercise and meditation in maintaining a healthy immune system. With COVID19 creating mandatory closures of health and fitness clubs, our beaches are a primary resource for both activities. And our beaches offer, even in high tide, a much wider “path” for social distancing than our leisure trails and narrow roadways.
This is a particularly important time for everyone to be a “good neighbor” in accessing our beaches.
If you are going to the beach, be particularly mindful of the social distancing mandates and the need to limit groupings to no more than 3 people (other than in family groups)(please, no beach parties during this crisis). We strongly encourage you to limit use of the beach to exercising (including pets) and quiet relaxation; we expect our community to be mindful of the need for quietude on the beach by avoiding games and loud music that will disturb others who are seeking the beach for rest and meditation. And when entering and exiting the beach, be particularly sensitive to your distance to others using our narrow beach access pathways – please don’t crowd, but instead “give way” to those coming in the opposite direction.
Currently, we are keeping the Tower Beach parking lot open, it is only available to property owners and their accompanied guests (i.e. not public). It will be the only parking available to those Sea Pines property owners who live a significant distance from the beach or for whom walking or biking is simply not an option.
Given the limited parking available at Tower Beach, if you can bike or walk to the beach, please do so
. Effective today (April 1), we will only allow one car per property owner to park at Tower Beach at any given time – please don’t “game” the system by bringing a second car with your owner ID. We suggest that property owners limit time parked at Tower Beach to no more than two hours so that we can maximize the opportunity to access the beach for as many property owners as possible. Please be patient as we know there will be times when the lot will be full; exercising at “off hours” may provide an easier experience.
We are confident in our understanding of the needs of our Sea Pines community for private access to our beaches. We are also confident in our Sea Pines community’s ability to be respectful of each other in the way that our beaches are used during this pandemic.
Finally, just as CSA will continue to employ best practices in complying with all CDC, SCDHEC directives and government mandates, we urge all of our property owners, guests and renters to do the same
. We will all be safer if we limit trips outside the home to essential business (groceries, food, prescription drugs), exercising, and practicing social distancing when you are out of your residence. If you are required or requested to self-quarantine, use common sense and good judgment in avoiding all contact with others in our community (e.g., use delivery services for food and prescription drugs and exercise away from others, in or near your residence).
The entire CSA Board and Staff are convinced that if we all act like “good neighbors” during this COVID19 crisis, Sea Pines will come through this pandemic well, and we will soon be able to continue our “new normal” lives in the Sea Pines “paradise” we all love.
