Editing South Bethany, Delaware (section)

===Incorporation and expansion===
====1960s through 1990s====
Although Iggie Hall of the South Bethany Corporation tried to have South Bethany [[Municipal corporation|incorporated]] as a town even in its early years in order to improve services in the community, she had no success. Meanwhile, a group of South Bethany residents formed the South Bethany Association to address community services and needs.<ref name="Walter34">Walter, Laura, "Past," ''The Story of South Bethany, Delaware'', Ocean View, Delaware: Coastal Point LLC, 2015, p. 22.</ref>

A destructive [[nor'easter]] known as the [[Ash Wednesday Storm of 1962]] struck the area from March 6 to 8, 1962. Delaware's Atlantic coast experienced severe damage from very high tides and waves more than {{convert|40|ft|m|abbr=off|sp=us}} high breaking on its beaches. In South Bethany, the storm destroyed 37 oceanfront homes.<ref>Walter, Laura, "Past," ''The Story of South Bethany, Delaware'', Ocean View, Delaware: Coastal Point LLC, 2015; p. 29.</ref> The 1962 storm gave a new impetus to incorporation, because as an unincorporated community South Bethany could not receive federal funding to recover from the disaster. The [[Delaware General Assembly]] rebuffed the initial efforts to incorporate the community after the storm, claiming that its tiny year-round population disqualified it from incorporation.<ref name="Walter34"/> The assembly eventually did pass an incorporation bill, which the [[governor of Delaware]], [[Charles L. Terry, Jr.]], signed in December 1965.<ref name="townhistory"/> In the first public referendum in South Bethany on incorporation, held in June 1966, voters decisively rejected it.<ref name="Walter34"/><ref name="townhistory"/> But in 1969 another referendum on the matter won, and on June 18, 1969, Governor [[Russell W. Peterson]] signed a bill providing for incorporation of the community as the Town of South Bethany.<ref name="townhistory"/> Elections for town offices soon took place, and James "Jim" Cleveland was elected as the town's first mayor.<ref name="townhistory"/> At the time, South Bethany had 240 houses and 496 property owners, although its year-round population consisted of just 15 families.<ref name="Walter34"/>

Plans for a beach and tennis community, [[Sea Colony]], centered on nine high-rise condominiums situated on a private beach between South Bethany and Bethany Beach, began in 1969; these buildings, the area's first and only high-rises, opened in the early 1970s. The 1,200-[[townhome]] Sea Colony West low-rise beach and [[tennis]] resort development later was added just inland.<ref name="Meehan, p. 93, 155">{{cite book|title=Bethany Beach Memoirs: A Long Look Back|year=1998|publisher=Harold E. Dukes|author=James D. Meehan|edition=Fourth Printing|author2=Harold E. Dukes|pages=93, 155}}</ref> Plans for Sea Colony met bitter opposition from longtime South Bethany and Bethany Beach residents, who were dismayed at the thought of high-rises and large crowds in the area.<ref name="Meehan, p. 96">{{cite book|title=Bethany Beach Memoirs: A Long Look Back|year=1998|publisher=Harold E. Dukes|author=James D. Meehan|edition=Fourth Printing|author2=Harold E. Dukes|page=96}}</ref> Opponents of Sea Colony marched in protest and engaged in protracted legal efforts to block construction of the resort, but the property lay outside the town limits of both South Bethany and Bethany Beach, and their efforts to block the construction of Sea Colony failed.<ref name="Meehan, p. 96"/> Sea Colony went on to become a very successful resort.<ref name="Meehan, p. 155">{{cite book|title=Bethany Beach Memoirs: A Long Look Back|year=1998|publisher=Harold E. Dukes|author=James D. Meehan|edition=Fourth Printing|author2=Harold E. Dukes|page=155}}</ref>

In 1971, South Bethany hired its first police officer. On June 18, 1971, its first lifeguards went to work to ensure safety on the town's Atlantic beach.<ref>Walter, Laura, "Past," ''The Story of South Bethany, Delaware'', Ocean View, Delaware: Coastal Point LLC, 2015; p. 33.</ref>

In 1972, South Bethany expanded southward, annexing the York Beach community – a plot of land known from 1812 to 1946 as "Derickson's Venture"  – and the Paradise Shores community adjacent to and to the west of York Beach. The annexation of York Beach brought York Beach Mall – opened in 1959 and expanded in 1965 – into South Bethany, giving the town its first and only commercial area.<ref>Walter, Laura, "Past," ''The Story of South Bethany, Delaware'', Ocean View, Delaware: Coastal Point LLC, 2015; pp. 21-22.</ref> In the same year, South Bethany began installing a central [[sewer system]],<ref name="Walter34"/> and Sussex County prohibited construction in the town within {{convert|1,000|ft|m|abbr=off|sp=us}} of the ocean in the hope of restoring the main [[dune]].<ref name="townhistory"/>

In 1977, South Bethany's sewer system was completed, and the community installed its first two traffic signals, located on Coastal Highway at the north and south ends of the town.<ref name="townhistory"/> Also in that year, South Bethany received a federal grant to construct its first town hall, located on land Iggie Hall had donated for that purpose;<ref name="townhistory"/> the town hall opened in 1978.<ref>Walter, Laura, "Past," ''The Story of South Bethany, Delaware'', Ocean View, Delaware: Coastal Point LLC, 2015, p. 34.</ref> In January 1981, the [[Delaware Supreme Court]] lifted Sussex County's ban on construction on the dune, and development of the beach area resumed.<ref name="townhistory"/>

In August 1983, property owners formed the South Bethany Property Owners Association,<ref name="townhistory"/> and that year the town annexed the neighboring Sand Piper Pines community. At the time South Bethany consisted of 1,282 separate properties, 748 houses, and 105 year-round residents.<ref>Walter, Laura, "Past," ''The Story of South Bethany, Delaware'', Ocean View, Delaware: Coastal Point LLC, 2015, pp. 35-36.</ref> During the mid-1980s, a [[beach nourishment|beach replenishment]] project took place along the town's Atlantic coast to recover sand lost during major storms.<ref>Walter, Laura, "Past," ''The Story of South Bethany, Delaware'', Ocean View, Delaware: Coastal Point LLC, 2015, p. 30.</ref> On November 19, 1987, South Bethany expanded its boundary westward by annexing the Cat Hill community, and on March 22, 1992, Cat Hill conveyed {{convert|22|acre|ha|abbr=off}} of [[wetland]]s to the town.<ref name="townhistory"/>

In 1998, South Bethany voted for the installation of a [[water tower]] and central [[water system]].<ref name="Walter23"/> Also in that year, the installation of [[propane]] lines began in South Bethany;<ref name="Walter23">Walter, Laura, "Past," ''The Story of South Bethany, Delaware'', Ocean View, Delaware: Coastal Point LLC, 2015; p. 23.</ref> the town began installation of an underground [[propane]] storage tank behind the town hall to feed the system in October 2003,<ref name="townhistory"/> and the system began supplying propane to residents and businesses in the early 2000s.<ref name="Walter23"/>

====Since 2000====
In 2000, South Bethany's Community Enhancement Committee launched the town's Adopt-A-Canal/Road-End Program, in which community volunteers renovate and maintain the landscaping at the ends of canals and roads in South Bethany; by October 2015, volunteers had adopted 32 of the town's 48 canal ends and road ends.<ref>Counts, Maria, "A Community Growing For the Better," ''The Story of South Bethany, Delaware'', Ocean View, Delaware: Coastal Point LLC, 2015; p. 42.</ref> In 2007, South Bethany demolished its original town hall and replaced it with a new town hall and police building.<ref name="Walter34"/> Around this time period, the community became famous for its nudist beaches.<ref name="townhistory" />

[[File:Beach, South Bethany, 2007.jpg|thumb|South Bethany beach in 2007, prior to the construction of sand dunes.]]
In 2008, the [[State of Delaware]] and [[United States Army Corps of Engineers]] constructed {{convert|16|ft|m|abbr=off|sp=us|adj=on}} sand dunes along South Bethany's beach to protect the town from high tides and large waves during [[hurricane]]s and nor'easters.<ref>Walter, Laura, "Past," ''The Story of South Bethany, Delaware'', Ocean View, Delaware: Coastal Point LLC, 2015; pp. 29-30.</ref> The State of Delaware issued a mandatory evacuation order for beachfront residents and visitors in the town when [[Hurricane Sandy]] threatened the area on October 28 and 29, 2012.<ref>Walter, Laura, "Past," ''The Story of South Bethany, Delaware'', Ocean View, Delaware: Coastal Point LLC, 2015; p. 32.</ref>

In 2014, South Bethany's Community Enhancement Committee created the Art Board initiative, which invited artists from the area to submit artwork with a coastal theme for display on outdoor trash receptacles along Ocean Drive and Seaside Drive.<ref>Counts, Maria, "A Community Growing For the Better," ''The Story of South Bethany, Delaware'', Ocean View, Delaware: Coastal Point LLC, 2015; p. 45.</ref> By 2015, the town consisted of approximately 1,387 properties with fewer than 175 vacant lots remaining, and its year-round population was 600.<ref name="townhistory"/>

A [[October 2015 North American storm complex|nor'easter]] hit the Delaware coast from October 2 to 4, 2015, and severely eroded South Bethany's beach and dune.<ref>[http://www.bestofbethany.com/blog/october-2015-noreaster.html Anonymous, "October 2015 Nor'easter," Leslie Kopp Group, November 12, 2015.]</ref> The beach and dune suffered additional damage during a [[January 2016 United States blizzard|winter storm]] that struck the area from January 22 to 24, 2016.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20160624182903/http://www.delaware1059.com/story/21737-bethany-beach-dunes-take-a-hit-from-winter-storm Fowser, Mark, "Bethany Beach Dunes Take A Hit from Winter Storm," delaware1059.com, January 25, 2016, 3:01 a.m EST.]</ref> In February 2016, officials announced that there was no funding available for replenishment of South Bethany's beach and dune during 2016, and that replenishment would not take place until 2017, in accordance with the schedule established before the two storms hit.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.coastalpoint.com/content/poststorm_beach_repair_not_cards_present_02_26_2016 |title=Magill, Kevin, "Post-storm beach repair not in the cards at present," coastalpoint.com, February 26, 2016. |access-date=May 30, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160529035008/http://www.coastalpoint.com/content/poststorm_beach_repair_not_cards_present_02_26_2016 |archive-date=May 29, 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 2020, the [[United States Army Corps of Engineers]] awarded a contract to a local developer to maintain the beach and dunes damaged in the storms.<ref>{{Cite web|author=Staff Writer|date=September 25, 2020|title=Army Corps Awards Contract For $11 Million Bethany, South Bethany Beach Projects|url=http://firststateupdate.com/2020/09/army-corps-awards-contract-for-11-million-bethany-south-bethany-beach-projects/|access-date=October 20, 2020|website=First State Update|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Steele|first=Kelli|title=Contract awarded for nourishment of Bethany & South Bethany Beaches|url=https://www.delawarepublic.org/post/contract-awarded-nourishment-bethany-south-bethany-beaches|access-date=October 20, 2020|website=Delaware Republic}}</ref>