9 NEWS IslandVibesIOP.com From Page 3 SPREADING Good Vibes ABOUT ISLE OF PALMS The only publication exclusively focused on Isle of Palms with regional distribution through the state Welcome Centers and mailed to island homes. For distribution or marketing information, email Publisher@IslandVibesIOP.com or 843-530-0403. South Carolina Welcome Centers population would easily exceed 4,600 – which would mean fitting at least 300 more people into the same amount of current livable space. And these projections don’t include daily and yearly visitors. "The amount of regional growth we've experienced in the past five-10 years has had a significant impact on the number of day visitors to the island," said Kathryn Basha, planning director with the Berkeley-Charleston-Dorchester Council of Governments. "And this is an issue that city leaders are already grappling with in terms of parking and traffic." At the height of IOP’s summer tourist season, vacationers number as high as 20,000 per day – more than four times the number of permanent residents. And these numbers are expected to keep rising. “Our day visitors are going to be the real issue,” Hahn said. “TheCharleston metro area is fast approaching 1 million people and expected to keep rising. With this regional growth, IOP will have more and more day visitors, and we are going to have to deal with this in a way that benefits residents and visitors alike.” Which means the big question for IOP residents and leaders may soon become: What are our limits on daily and permanent populations and how will we control them? “From my standpoint, I think we have to balance what we have,” Turnage added. “And going forward, we will have to look at what is sustainable for the island and its residents.” The IOP County Park Beach public beach access draws many day visitors, but numbers may soon become too \big for island space and resources to handle without controls. Photo Provided
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