Kiawah development debate back on as DHEC rejects permit

Image by Friends of the Kiawah River The debated spit of land is a recent outgrowth built by currents -- and detractors of the plan say a hurricane would easily obliterate the land.

S.C. DHEC has rejected a permit that would prove instrumental in building dozens of homes on a presently unstable spit of land at the south end of Kiawah.

That's the infamous Sam's Spit.

The State has the story on what happened.

If you're just tuning into this debate, the spit of land, just south of Charleston County's Beachwalker Park, shares a unique relationship with Seabrook Island, over the decades the spit is joined only to Seabrook, or disappears completely, or becomes its own island.

Hurricane Hugo showed how this can play out on spits of land when it ruptured a spit on Pawleys Island similar to the one on Kiawah Island. A very similar thing also happened in 1954.

You can check out our Sam's Spit topic page to learn loads more on the debate.