For the average person, dealing with technology issues is often limited to dropped phone calls and lousy wi-fi connections. These solutions are easy enough to fix - it only takes a few seconds to re-start a router or re-boot your phone. But trying to find a solution to problems like server implementation or network installation is another ballgame entirely. Without the help of a professional, fixing these problems is like trying to walk home with a blindfold. There's a slight chance you might make it, but you're probably going to do more harm than good.
If you're a homeowner or business owner trying to wrap your head around a nuanced issue like network design, it's best to trust a company that specializes in managed IT services in cityname, state. That's where Atlantic Computer Services comes to the rescue.
For more than seven years, ACS has served the Lowcountry with the highest quality IT support and computer services in the game. Unlike other computer services companies, our team works as your partner to provide you with a full range of personalized IT computer services. From network IT support and cloud hosting to computer repair and disaster planning for important data, ACS exists to cater to your IT needs.
Our comprehensive list of IT services brings innate value to our clients. As a full-service IT support company, we serve businesses in various industries, from healthcare and finance to legal and education. Our team acts as an extension of your business, propelling you toward efficient, streamlined, worry-free IT solutions that let you focus on growing your company. That way, our team can work hard in the background while you focus on your day-to-day responsibilities.
Some of the most common IT support services we offer include:

Malware Removal and Prevention

Managed IT Services

Network Management

Business Continuity

Network Security

Data Cabling

Data Backup

Managed Services Help Desk

Router Management

Cloud Hosting
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Our Services
- Managed IT services in Isle of Palms, SC
- The ACS Difference
- Serving Your Business with Trustworthy Computer Services in Isle of Palms, SC
- Remain Competitive with Managed IT Services in Isle of Palms, SC
- Network Installation and Support from ACS
- Protect the Business You've Built with Ongoing Network Security
- Atlantic Computer Services: An IT Provider You Can Trust
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The ACS Difference
At Atlantic Computer Services, we offer trustworthy, expert IT support in cityname, state. Unlike other IT support companies, our goal isn't to upsell you on unnecessary products or trick you with fine print. Our goal is to keep your business productive, profitable, and secure through the innovative use of technology.
With 24/7 availability, extensive cloud and hybrid hosting services, remote monitoring, and onsite support, ACS acts as your personal IT department without having to create, hire, and manage a team of professionals. And while our IT technicians hold many national certifications, we're proud to say we're Lowcountry locals.
Because we understand no two clients are the same, we keep our managed IT services customizable and personalized to your business, not someone else's. That way, you get the most value for your money without worrying about cookie-cutter solutions or mediocre service.
Businesses of all sizes trust Atlantic Computer Services because we provide:


Full-Service Help Desk Assistance
When an issue arises, our seasoned IT advisors are here to help 24/7.

Strategic Guidance
ACS wants to see you succeed. Our smart IT solutions are modern, effective, and fortified with experience.

Expert IT Technicians
We offer a full team of diversified IT experts that solve many modern IT problems.

Proactive Solutions
Instead of being reactive, our technicians are proactive and monitor your systems 24-hours a day to troubleshoot and resolve issues.

Serving Your Business with Trustworthy Computer Services in Isle of Palms, SC
South Carolina's Lowcountry is home to many successful businesses, from small mom-and-pop shops to large, multi-national companies with hundreds of employees. And while every business has its niche, products, and customers, each relies on technology to keep its doors open.
Technology runs behind the scenes silently, giving you the means to achieve your business dreams and reach the customers who will get you there. However, business tech is constantly evolving. What was once a viable solution today might be an outdated tactic tomorrow. That's why, at ACS, we focus on understanding your company's culture, challenges, and needs so we can deliver the IT solutions your business truly needs.
Having a reliable IT solutions company to implement, maintain, and protect that technology is crucial to your business's growth and success. Whether it's migrating data to a new location, overseeing a new system roll-out, or implementing essential security upgrades, IT projects and tasks can be exceedingly complex. ACS exists to shoulder that burden and save our clients time and money by acting as their partner, offering specialized IT support catered to their budget and needs.
With Atlantic Computer Solutions by your company's side, you never have to stress about tech again. With ACS as your partner, you have the opportunity to:
- Get an expert IT support consultant without overspending on in-house IT help
- Keep your most sensitive business data secure and backed up
- Create scalable technology infrastructure
- Streamline your business transactions and processes
- Boost business productivity
- Minimize network system downtime
Curious about what kind of IT support ACS offers? Keep reading to learn more about some of our most common services.

Remain Competitive with Managed IT Services in Isle of Palms, SC
In today's fast-paced, ultra-competitive business world, modern companies must be nimble and responsive to remain competitive. Often, you must leverage your current tech to maximize your business's performance, protect sensitive data, and streamline your costs. To help your business stay successful and safe as we progress through the 2020s, ACS steps in to provide:
Preventative IT Services
Our team monitors your systems remotely to identify potential problems and breaches before your operations are disrupted.
Proactive IT Services
Our team helps implement scalability and flexibility with strategic evaluations and tactical IT planning.
Responsive IT Services
Our local team of ultra-talented IT experts can help with your IT issues onsite and remotely.
Why choose Atlantic Computer Services as your managed services helpdesk? From automated network maintenance to around-the-clock monitoring and IT support, we remove all the stress associated with IT. That way, you can focus on doing what you do best: satisfying your customers and building your business.

Helping Your Dreams Turn Into Reality
Technology doesn't only help companies perform quicker and more efficiently. It provides security against hackers, viruses, malicious actors, and human errors. It saves you money and time through streamlined processes. But it can also be a huge distraction from your business goals and dreams. That's especially true when you try to solve complicated IT issues on your own. As your IT management company, ACS supplements your business with real-deal expertise, so you don't stray from your ultimate vision.

Your Answer to Full-Time IT Support
If you find that your company needs IT support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, it's time to contact ACS. We provide cost-effective, pragmatic IT outsourcing solutions customized to your business needs. That way, you don't have to take out another line of credit just to keep your data safe and your business up-to-date.
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Elite IT Skills
If you're looking for an IT support company with the kind of diverse skillsets to address complex business challenges, look no further than ACS. From cloud hosting and VOIP help to computer repair and new business technologies, Atlantic Computer Services combines national-level know-how with reliable local service.


Network Installation and Support from ACS
Behind the scenes, your company's network acts as the unseen superhero in your universe, working day and night to ensure your data gets to where it needs to go. As the hub of your business, system downtime is both frustrating and worrisome from a financial standpoint. One minute, it's working just fine. But like the car you drive, your network needs maintenance and will one day need to be overhauled.
At ACS, we employ a proactive approach to network and server management to help eliminate network downtime as much as possible. Additionally, our team of managed IT services experts works with you to ensure your network and server design are appropriate for the tasks you're trying to complete.
From on-premises server maintenance to enterprise-level network systems that must accommodate huge demand spikes, we've got your back. Our team works extra hard to ensure your system delivers the speed and security you need.
Free EstimateA few of our network installation and support services include:

Performance Optimization
With years of network IT support experience, we've learned to spot performance issues early so our team can resolve them before they affect your business. As part of our cyclical performance audits, we evaluate benchmark tests, resource-usage trends, and capacity analysis to measure your server's ability to handle traffic and any projected spikes or lulls in productivity.

Infrastructure Monitoring
Detecting issues with servers and networks early on minimizes threats to your network's performance and protects your business data. That's why we're monitoring your network 24/7. We're looking for problems with your connectivity, system performance, database response time, access speeds, and network utilization. To put it simply, we keep track of every aspect of your network, so you get the most out of your infrastructure.

Swift Emergency Support
By monitoring your networks every day and night of the year, we can detect issues swiftly and implement an equally fast response and solution. That way, your systems get back online ASAP.

Troubleshooting
Servers and networks fail all the time, whether it's from hardware problems or software incompatibility. When that happens, your services often come to a halt. ACS relies on our years of experience to quickly discover network issues so that we can apply a permanent fix.
Protect the Business You've Built with Ongoing Network Security
By now, you're probably familiar with terms like hackers, scammers, spoofers, malware, and ransomware. While you're putting in overtime hours to serve your customers and grow your business, malicious actors are working just as hard to wreck your business and steal your profits. Because of hackers, none of us can have nice things. Worst of all, these highly-sophisticated individuals and groups don't sleep.
Fortunately for your business, neither does ACS' network security services.



What is Network Security from Atlantic Computer Services?
You know the adage that says, "A chain is only as strong as its weakest link?" The same can be said for computer networks. In today's digitally-dominant world, your network computers are only as secure as their most vulnerable entry point. Unfortunately, modern scammers and hackers only need one hole in your defenses to ruin everything you've worked so hard to create.
From ransomware and Trojan horse strategies to viruses and malware, cyberattacks are usually destructive by nature and can wreak havoc on your company's sensitive data, processes, privacy, and productivity.
Network security services from ACS are designed to provide your business with iron-clad protection. We accomplish that mission by using innovative tools and best practices to predict, monitor, and prevent network breaches that expose privileged data to hackers.
At ACS, we understand that true network security isn't something that you can just "set and forget." It's not a series of random solutions - it's robust, proactive, and carefully tailored to your company. Our ongoing network security services in Isle of Palms act as castle walls rather than rickety old fences, giving you peace of mind knowing your business has a professionally-designed security infrastructure.
When you trust ACS with your network security, you benefit from:
- Customized, Extensive, Proactive Network Defense Strategies
- Secure Data Transfers
- Full-Service Security Solutions
- PCI and HIPPA Compliance
- Enhanced Network Stability
- Reduced Risk of Cyberattacks


Free Consultation
Atlantic Computer Services: An IT Provider You Can Trust
If you're searching for the capabilities of an IT department but don't have the time to manage such an undertaking, Atlantic Computer Services is the perfect fit for your business. ACS provides a flexible computer services support team to augment your daily and ongoing IT needs. Unlike some companies, our onsite and remote IT support exceeds service-level agreements with on-call, local live helpdesk support.
Instead of one-and-done engagements, we prefer to nurture long-term business relationships built on trust and hard work. If you're looking for reliable IT help at cost-conscious prices, look no further than Atlantic Computer Services. Contact our office today to learn more about how we can help your business stay successful and secure.
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Latest News in Isle of Palms, SC
Isle of Palms council discussing limiting development in Wild Dunes
Emilie Zuhowskihttps://www.live5news.com/2022/10/18/isle-palms-council-discussing-limiting-development-wild-dunes/
The City of Isle of Palms is holding the first of two public hearings to discuss limiting future development and protecting the golf courses in the Wild Dunes pISLE OF PALMS, S.C. (WCSC) - The City of Isle of Palms is holding the first of two public hearings to discuss limiting future development and protecting the golf courses in the Wild Dunes planned development district on Tuesday.The discussion stemmed from a 1975 agreement that would make it possible for there to be over 300 more rooms built in the Wild Dunes between hote...
The City of Isle of Palms is holding the first of two public hearings to discuss limiting future development and protecting the golf courses in the Wild Dunes p
ISLE OF PALMS, S.C. (WCSC) - The City of Isle of Palms is holding the first of two public hearings to discuss limiting future development and protecting the golf courses in the Wild Dunes planned development district on Tuesday.
The discussion stemmed from a 1975 agreement that would make it possible for there to be over 300 more rooms built in the Wild Dunes between hotels and condos.
According to Mayor Phillip Pounds, it all started back in February when a group of residents asked the council to take a look at the decades-old agreement to see if they could make some changes. Anthony Santiago says he was one of those residents.
“We thought we were developed already after The Sweetgrass Inn,” Santiago said. “We don’t even have parking for that. And then through the due diligence we discovered the capacity to expand this more than double.”
Santiago and others who are against future development in Wild Dunes say that more development would overwhelm public safety and public works resources, cause more drainage and sewage issues, and make traffic and parking on the island more of a nightmare.
“Every city municipality has the right to rezone as you develop,” Santiago said. “This is almost fifty years ago when we did this. Nobody thought we’d be as big as we are.”
The Isle of Palms City Council now has five ordinances up for discussion that would preserve public and private facilities and put a cap on density in the planned development district.
Beverly Miller is the executive director of the Barrier Island Preservation Alliance, a nonprofit formed to address challenges unique to the barrier islands. She said she wanted to show support for the ordinances through a petition. It now has over 750 signatures.
“When that was written, this island was erratically different, and it’s so different now that we need to amend those zoning ordinances so that we are up to today and the demands that are on the island today that were not here in 1975,” Miller said.
Pounds said the Wild Dunes agreement was one of the first of its type in the country.
“Unusual maybe, but as areas get built out there’s certainly an opportunity for cities to revisit the zoning and the density and the future development,” Pounds said.
Pounds said the city has received many phone calls and emails from concerned residents worried how much the island could take. He says there’s confusion about the slow process, but he says with the public hearing, that will stop development even though they aren’t completely through the process.
“When you’re on an island where you have such little landmass to develop anything, the ability to put 300 plus units in Wild Dunes today, I don’t even know where they would put them because there’s not that kind of landmass,” Pounds said. “But some of the concern was, could they do something on the golf courses, could they do something on the tennis courts. That’s some of the ordinance that we’re looking at during this process is protecting those areas.”
Tuesday’s public hearing will take place at Isle of Palms city hall at 5 p.m. Another public hearing will take place Nov. 1 at 5 p.m. at the city’s recreation center. The city’s planning commission will take a look at the ordinances and give feedback to city council. Then, it will be up to city council to schedule a second reading which would solidify the ordinances.
Copyright 2022 WCSC. All rights reserved.
Isle of Palms residents learn how to coexist with coyotes, several dens found on island
Shamira McCrayhttps://www.postandcourier.com/environment/isle-of-palms-residents-learn-how-to-coexist-with-coyotes-several-dens-found-on-island/article_8a40b318-b2c2-11ed-95ae-a3fa23dc7abd.html
ISLE OF PALMS — Islanders here may have to learn to live with the resident coyotes as shooting the species is illegal on the island, and trapping is the only other option.Officials don’t know exactly how many coyotes live on Isle of Palms, but most of them linger near the Wild Dunes area.Twelve sightings were documented so far this year. And 59 were counted in 2022, according to Ryan Warren, an animal control officer on the island.But the invasive predators have a presence in each of the state’s countie...
ISLE OF PALMS — Islanders here may have to learn to live with the resident coyotes as shooting the species is illegal on the island, and trapping is the only other option.
Officials don’t know exactly how many coyotes live on Isle of Palms, but most of them linger near the Wild Dunes area.
Twelve sightings were documented so far this year. And 59 were counted in 2022, according to Ryan Warren, an animal control officer on the island.
But the invasive predators have a presence in each of the state’s counties. The species is extremely adaptable and detrimental to deer, turkey and other native animals.
Between 20,000-25,000 coyotes are taken annually in the state.
Summertime is when Isle of Palms animal control officers get the most calls about coyote sightings. Visitors often report the coyotes because they don’t realize the animals are residents on the island, Warren said Feb. 22 at a meeting on how to deal with the animals.
“We’re definitely pushing for people to call more,” Warren said. “So maybe that might be why we have more sightings or maybe there’s more out there.”
The city tries to alert residents and visitors of the animals through its website and occasionally on Facebook. And Warren said they will consider adding signs in the area, too.
Coyote dens might be spotted in a number of locations.
In flat areas like Isle of Palms, it is common to see a den dug up under roots of a fallen tree, in brush areas and on the sides of banks, according to Jay Butfiloski, the furbearer coordinator for the state Department of Natural Resources.
The animals are also known to wander in the dunes on the beach here.
In 2021, a 2-year-old Boykin Spaniel was attacked by four coyotes in the sand dunes on Isle of Palms.
Also in 2021, a Mount Pleasant man said coyotes were to blame for the death of two of his cats in the fenced Sandpiper Point II neighborhood.
Missing or deceased pets are good indicators that coyotes could be nearby.
Officials believe the coyotes on Isle of Palms could be coming from Mount Pleasant and other areas.
The Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway between Mount Pleasant and Isle of Palms is not a barrier for the animals, as they can easily cross it, Butfiloski said.
He recommends people do a number of things to protect themselves and their pets from coyotes.
First, people should keep pets on short leashes and don’t leave them unattended outside where coyotes are known to roam the area.
Habitat management can be considered as a control method, too, Butfiloski said.
Clearing out brush in areas that are highly traveled, like in parks and even yards, could prove beneficial. It will reduce the habitat for the small mammals that coyotes prey on and also prevent them from hiding.
The biggest issues with coyotes in developed areas is typically food and trash-related, though. People are encouraged not to leave food outdoors for feral cats, pets or other wild animals.
“That allows a free meal, it allows them (coyotes) to kind of get habituated to people, and that’s where things get to be a problem,” he said.
While more calls come in about coyote sightings on the Isle of Palms during tourist season, statewide coyote sightings are typically higher in the wintertime, partly due to vegetation, lost foliage and increased breeding activities and movements.
There tends to be a decrease in sightings in the summer when the animals are pup rearing.
“When the pups are young, they’re like kids. They don’t care if they’re very visible whenever a den is nearby,” Butfiloski said. “But it might not be an indicator (that) you’ve got a whole bunch more.”
No hunting license or permit is required in South Carolina for people to shoot coyotes on their property within 100 yards of the home. But local municipalities may have other regulations.
Night hunting is permitted on registered properties or with a depredation permit. Trapped coyotes may not be relocated.
Editorial: Isle of Palms officials have given no good reason to shrink council. Vote no.
THE EDITORIAL STAFFhttps://www.postandcourier.com/opinion/editorials/editorial-isle-of-palms-officials-have-given-no-good-reason-to-shrink-council-vote-no/article_9bb437c0-44cf-11ed-9e8c-c36c4f03bea7.html
Ever since the Isle of Palms incorporated in the 1950s, voters have elected eight at-large council members and a mayor. In the coming month, these city voters will decide if that’s two council members too many.We don’t think it is. More specifically, we don’t see any big advantage that shrinking City Council would provide to residents, and we see a few disadvantages.The idea of reducing council’s size has been batted around quietly for several years, Mayor Phillip Pounds tells us, partly because the city...
Ever since the Isle of Palms incorporated in the 1950s, voters have elected eight at-large council members and a mayor. In the coming month, these city voters will decide if that’s two council members too many.
We don’t think it is. More specifically, we don’t see any big advantage that shrinking City Council would provide to residents, and we see a few disadvantages.
The idea of reducing council’s size has been batted around quietly for several years, Mayor Phillip Pounds tells us, partly because the city does seem to have a rather large council for its size, about 4,400 residents. Only about 4% of South Carolina municipalities have more than seven council seats, and most of them are much larger. For instance, Charleston, North Charleston and Mount Pleasant have 12, 10 and 8 council seats, respectively.
The debate has remained fairly quiet, even as the council added it to the Nov. 8 ballot, and with less than three weeks remaining before early voting starts, no one has offered a compelling reason to vote “yes.” The conservative approach to any referendum question is to maintain the status quo unless there’s a compelling reason to make a change.
The primary upside of shrinking the Isle of Palms council apparently is saving a little time for council members and staff. Not to knock efforts to improve efficiency, but that strikes us as pretty thin gruel. It’s true that voters still would have six council members representing them (all seats are at-large), but who’s to say that the seventh or eighth council member wouldn’t be the one who listens to particular voters’ concerns most closely — and does the best job representing them?
Because of the way the reduction is planned, if voters approve it in the referendum, the City Council would be a mess for two years. The slim-down would be phased in with voters electing just three rather than four seats in the 2023 city election and then doing the same thing in the 2025 election. That would leave the council with an even number of votes (including the mayor’s) for two years. That might make a big difference, delaying important action on an important issue. Or not. But why take the risk?
This issue seems to be important mainly inside City Hall. While Mayor Pounds tells us he supports the idea, he acknowledges that the average Isle of Palms resident seems to have little skin in this game: “I can’t imagine they would notice a blip if we have five council members or seven or nine.”
If City Council members believe the current city governance is inefficient, then perhaps they should come up with changes that don’t affect the voters’ ability to elect council members. And if council members believe the job requires too much work — about 10 hours of work a week, on average — for too little pay (council members make $1,500 a year, but do qualify for health insurance benefits), perhaps they should either reexamine their work schedule or step aside for someone else to serve.
The council’s relative size might make the job of its members more time-consuming, but that also might work to ensure that their consensus, once they arrive at one, will better stand the test of time.
The city is grappling with big decisions, from the future of its marina to possible adjustments in its short-term rental rules to the logistical headaches involved in managing summertime crowds. We’re unconvinced City Council would make better decisions with fewer council members.
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Isle of Palms City Council votes against short-term rental moratorium
Melissa Rademakerhttps://www.live5news.com/2022/12/07/isle-palms-city-council-votes-against-short-term-rental-moratorium/
Isle of Palms City Council members will hear the first reading of a plan to temporarily block short-term rentals in a special meeting Tuesday afternoon.ISLE OF PALMS, S.C. (WCSC) - The Isle of Palms City Council did not support a moratorium or pause on issuing new short-term rental licenses. The agenda item at a Dec. 6 special meeting garnered a lot of attention.Many people spoke, both for and against the moratorium, at the meeting. One person presented a petition with more than 600 signatures she said was ‘mostly from re...
Isle of Palms City Council members will hear the first reading of a plan to temporarily block short-term rentals in a special meeting Tuesday afternoon.
ISLE OF PALMS, S.C. (WCSC) - The Isle of Palms City Council did not support a moratorium or pause on issuing new short-term rental licenses. The agenda item at a Dec. 6 special meeting garnered a lot of attention.
Many people spoke, both for and against the moratorium, at the meeting. One person presented a petition with more than 600 signatures she said was ‘mostly from residents’ against the pause. The property owner of Wild Dunes also spoke on behalf of some residents against the ordinance.
But Beverly Miller is one of many who said they wanted to see the moratorium pass. She has also owned a short-term rental on the island.
“Speaking for myself, I don’t want our city to be the last city who puts together any kind of restriction -- and I call it a restriction -- in order to find some balance between the residents and the short-term rental operators. Because having been on both sides, we’re not saying you don’t have any. You do want to accommodate the vacationers and the rental market. But you also need to find that quality of life for the residents,” Miller said.
Council member Blair Hahn voted against the moratorium.
“It appears to me that the issue is not so much short-term rentals as it is an explosion of traffic in noise and chaos on certain through freeways on our on our island. So if we can control that, I think we can control the concerns and the short-term rental issue will take care of itself,” Hahn said.
He said going forward the council will work hard to enforce speed limits, noise ordinances and other issues to protect the quality of life.
According to the council as of Dec. 5, 2022 there are 1678 licenses with 211 applications coming in since June.
Council member Jan Anderson says the more than 1600 licenses make up more than a third of the island. She voted in favor of the moratorium. “We don’t want to kill the rental market. We just want to manage it. We are now the only beach community in the Charleston area with an unlimited short-term rental opportunity.”
She goes on to say only 50 of the current short-term rental licenses are to residents. Council member Scott Peirce also expressed support for the moratorium as a short opportunity to evaluate the situation.
The council overall voted against the moratorium. For now, there won’t be a pause on issuing new licenses or a cap on how many are allowed.
City council asked staff members at its Nov. 15 regular meeting to prepare a 6-month moratorium for the council to consider at Tuesday afternoon’s meeting.
The agenda states the moratorium would “allow city council to evaluate the short-term rental regulations recommended by the planning commission.”
The document also says over the last few months the city received “several hundred new business license applications for short-term rentals which represents an exponentiation increase in applications.”
After Tuesday’s first reading, the moratorium must go through a public hearing and second reading before it could be ratified.
Copyright 2022 WCSC. All rights reserved.
Wild Dunes suing IOP over development restrictions
Chase Laudenslagerhttps://www.counton2.com/lowcountry-beaches/wild-dunes-suing-iop-over-development-restrictions/
ISLE OF PALMS, S.C. (WCBD) – Wild Dunes Resort on Thursday filed a lawsuit against the Isle of Palms (IOP) for enacting ordinances which limit the resort’s development.Five ordinances were passed in November which proponents said protected the city’s greenspaces. The ordinances amend stipulations of a Planned Residential Development (PRD) zoning district contract created in 1975 when the development of the resort began. It was previously amended in 2016 to reduce the number of units permitted. ...
ISLE OF PALMS, S.C. (WCBD) – Wild Dunes Resort on Thursday filed a lawsuit against the Isle of Palms (IOP) for enacting ordinances which limit the resort’s development.
Five ordinances were passed in November which proponents said protected the city’s greenspaces. The ordinances amend stipulations of a Planned Residential Development (PRD) zoning district contract created in 1975 when the development of the resort began. It was previously amended in 2016 to reduce the number of units permitted.
The most recent changes were brought about amid fears that Wild Dunes was planning to build additional condos/hotels where current golf courses and recreation spaces exist. However, in a statement to News 2, a representative for the developer said “the developer did not propose to build on existing golf courses/green spaces.”
In a series of public meetings, residents expressed concern about the overpopulation that the additional development could bring as well as the damage it could cause to the environment.
Despite initial worries about how long the process could take, councilmembers acted quickly to pass the amendments, which Wild Dunes claims violated the city’s own protocol.
“The City failed to comply with the requisite procedure. As detailed above, the Planning Commission reviewed and recommended the Subject Ordinances on or around November 9, 2022, which was after the public hearings on the Subject Ordinances had already been held on October 18 and November 1, 2022. Thus, the City violated the procedural requirements of Section 5-4-39 of the City’s Code for amending PDD zoning districts.”
Likewise, Wild Dunes claims the city failed to meaningfully engage with stakeholders — despite a representative publicly appealing to council members at a November 15 meeting — and left them no option but to take legal action.
The lawsuit also argues that the city’s reasoning for passing the ordinances is misguided, stating that Wild Dunes has brought “measured and positive growth to the City for decades,” and would continue to do so with any new development.
It cites the many rehabilitation and renovation projects undertaken by Wild Dunes over the years — sometimes in partnership with the city — to improve the shoreline, golf courses, and other recreation facilities.
Regarding overpopulation, Wild Dunes noted that the existing PRD allowed for another 330 dwelling units and 53 inn units to be built, but Wild Dunes had no plans to build them all at once. Instead, developers said they would be “completed over time based upon real estate market conditions and other factors.” The lawsuit goes on to claim that individual rental properties bring far more traffic to the island, and that taking away property rights should not be used as a solution to regulate traffic.
Ultimately, the lawsuit claims that the ordinances prevent “economically viable and productive uses of [Wild Dunes’] property,” which effectively amounts to “the regulatory taking of [the] property.” Thus, according to the lawsuit, the city should compensate Wild Dunes for the land it took, or return the property rights to the owners.
News 2 has reached out to IOP for comment.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include a statement from the developer.
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