By Paul Gable
The ongoing debate about overdevelopment in Horry County often pits citizens against developers with Horry County Council in the middle.
The public desire to slow down development when developers request a property rezoning and the complication of underlying zoning in most areas of the county could be described in Winston Churchill’s words as “a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.”
Such a rezoning request is currently in the works in Horry County with respect to a proposed rezoning of what is known as the Bumgardner Tract off of Hwy 707 between St. James High School and Blackmoor Golf Club.
The property owners, the Wall family of Horry County, are asking Horry County Council to rezone approximately 721 acres (none of which is wetlands) of a 1,421 total acre tract from Commercial Forest Agriculture (CFA) to basically single-family zoning with a little multi-family and commercial zoning included.
If the rezoning request is approved, the development agreement shows approximately 3,700 housing units at final buildout, approximately 80 percent single family homes.
The possibility of 3,700 new homes replacing what is now mostly trees immediately set some citizens’ heads spinning with a desire to stop the rezoning.
What those opposing the rezoning apparently do not understand is that development of the property cannot be stopped. The current CFA zoning already allows for the construction of approximately 4,300 multi-family units.
I have spoken to representatives of the property owner and have been assured the multi-family units will be constructed if the rezoning request to single family is not approved. In today’s housing market in Horry County, the developers are confident 4,300 multi-family units could be sold as easily as single family homes in the area in which the property is located.
The enigma, if you will, is not how development on the property can be stopped, but rather what type of development will be constructed.
The development agreement associated with the rezoning request includes sidewalks on the streets, 122 acres of open space, a multi-purpose path running through the property for biking, jogging or walking, an additional as yet to be determined fee per unit to be collected by the county for improvement of the Holmestown Road/Hwy 707 intersection and land donated for a new fire station if the county determines one will be required. The property is already covered by the county fire station on Scipio Lane and the Garden City/Murrells Inlet fire station, both of which are approximately 3 ½ miles from the property.
All of the above additional elements go away if the rezoning request is denied because all that would be required to commence construction of 4,300 multi-family units is approval of design under current zoning regulations.
The developer’s representatives said the new sub-division, if approved, will be much like the Prince Creek sub-division already located near Blackmoor Golf Club.
Hamlet’s “to be or not to be” (developed) does not apply here. Only how the tract will be developed and how many improvements are to be made to the property and surrounding area are the questions to be answered.
Local community leaders may prefer this property not to be developed, but they realize it is going to be and the proposed rezoning development agreement would enhance the area more than current zoning.
County council members often talk of smart growth and development. Of the many projects requesting rezoning in recent months, this project looks like the smartest growth proposed.
It is county council’s responsibility to consider the alternatives on any rezoning request and to act in the best interests of the citizens the members represent. It is also council member’s responsibility to educate constituents about the choices which are available to be made and why the one they are making is best for the community.
Speak Up…