Flickr user Frank Kehren

Our area and state are well-known for their gorgeous beaches. However, it's lately become clear that our coast needs more protection from development, which may lead to more serious building guidelines and restrictions.

What types of rules could we be talking about? Oceanfront homeowners paying higher insurance rates, the banning of new seawalls in some areas, making more intense development, such as high-rise hotels more difficult to build, and more.

The Blue Ribbon Committee on Shoreline Development voted to recommend these tougher building restrictions, something that will need legislative approval before being put into place. Not surprisingly, this action has been met with quite a bit of resistance from private property owners and those in the real estate industry.

These new rules would affect the coastline in North Myrtle Beach, Pawleys Island, and Isle of Palms.

Get the whole story over at The State.