The Kiawah Island Community Association board has been working to establish guidelines for managing the dunes habitat on its beachfront common property since February of 2004. Several extensive initiatives were explored and these were met with a wide range of member opinions about the objectives of the pruning, the extent of or limitations on pruning, and the 2005 pruning approval process. The board then established a Dunes Management Group as an ad hoc body to produce a workable set of guidelines that recognized and addressed all concerns where feasible while protecting the dunes.

The Dunes Management Group was composed of Association members (both those who owned and did not own beachfront property), Association staff members, a certified arborist, an Architectural Review Board representative, and Directors. After four months of work, the Group’s consensus draft is available below.

A town-hall style meeting was held on May 25. At its June 5 meeting, the Board of Directors approved the document.