Almost every month, the Beaufort County Zoning Board of Appeals hears a variance request to build within a waterfront buffer. Many applicants don't understand the intent and importance of riparian buffers.
A riparian buffer is the land bordering a waterway, covered with naturally occurring vegetation such as trees, shrubs, and native grasses.
What a Buffer Does
The benefits of a riparian buffer include:
Preventing erosion
Reducing flood and storm damage
Providing wildlife habitat
Improving the appearance of water corridors, which can increase property values
Maintaining water quality and the overall health of the ecosystem by filtering pollutants from runoff. According to the EPA, riparian buffers "act as natural filters of nonpoint source pollutants, including sediment, nutrients, pathogens, and metals to water bodies."
Why It Matters in Beaufort County
Protecting water quality is especially important here: 222,080 of Beaufort County's 590,720 acres, about 38 percent, are covered by water.
Beaufort County first adopted river buffer protections in 1999, in its Zoning and Development Standards Ordinance. Those standards now live in the county's Community Development Code, adopted in 2014, which sets the river buffer requirements in Section 5.11.60. The buffer supports the values in the county's comprehensive plan: preserving natural systems, ensuring clean water, and pursuing environmentally responsible development.
Best Practices for Riparian Land
The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources recommends these best management practices for riparian land:
Establish and maintain a buffer at least 50 to 100 feet wide along both sides of the waterway.
Minimize disturbance of the natural ground cover, and keep the buffer in native vegetation. Some new native plantings may be needed.
Keep lawn outside the buffer, at least 50 feet from the water.
Locate new buildings outside the 100-year floodplain and at least 100 feet from the water.
To protect the scenic quality of river corridors, limit thinning in the buffer to 75 feet or one-third of the lot width, whichever is less.
Know the Buffer Before You Buy
Beaufort County and each municipality within it have riparian buffer requirements that set the minimum buffer width, vegetation requirements, and what is allowed inside it. The buffer is measured from the critical line, which the state's coastal management office sets. Long known as OCRM, that office is now the Bureau of Coastal Management within the South Carolina Department of Environmental Services, which took over DHEC's environmental programs in 2024.
Requirements vary by zoning district and can greatly reduce a lot's buildable area. Before buying waterfront property, have a surveyor, landscape architect, or architect review the zoning requirements to determine what the site can actually hold.