By Patrick Phillips and Paola Tristan Arruda | May 1, 2020 at 10:55 AM EDT - Updated May 1 at 2:57 PM
MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. (WCSC) - Mount Pleasant Town Council passed a resolution Friday afternoon that requested two municipalities reopen their beaches to the public.
The resolution urges Sullivan’s Island and the Isle of Palms to allow non-island residents onto their beaches.
“We have to work with them to come up with a COVID-19 minded safe way to have safe access to and from the beach," said Mt. Pleasant Mayor Will Haynie. "There are some ideas and I think after this resolution, will sit down and will work with them positively and come up with something.”
“The meeting they’re having, I think it is a overreaction based on social media," said Isle of Palms Mayor Jimmy Carroll. "I think it’s a shame that we cannot open up our beaches, we would love to open up our beaches, we want this pandemic event to be gone.”
Mount Pleasant town council member Jake Rambo is one of a few council members who pushed for the resolution.
“They have created their own private island and it is not right and our citizens are demanding that we take action against that,” Rambo said Thursday. “If we’re all paying for that public beach to be there then we should all have that access.”
Rambo says the beaches should be reopened to allow people to exercise on the beach.
Isle of Palms Mayor Jimmy Carroll sent a letter to the town of Mount Pleasant Thursday afternoon in response to news of the planned meeting.
“We will not disregard the medical evidence and put our residents, staff, and any beachgoer, regardless of where they call home, at risk,” Carroll’s letter read in part. “The beaches we all love will still be here when this crisis is over, until then, all are welcome to exercise on the beach before 8:00 a.m. and after 5:00 p.m.”
Starting Friday, the Isle of Palms is restricting visitors to the beach between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., a lessening of previous restrictions there.
Sullivan’s Island recently voted to continue restricting access from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. through May 12. Mayor Patrick O’Neil said Thursday he did not have a comment about what might take place.
The Mount Pleasant Town Council meeting is set to begin at 1 p.m.
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