Tag: developers

Horry County Impact Fee Discussion Moves Forward

Horry County Council is expected Tuesday night to have second reading on an ordinance establishing impact fees on new construction.
Council held a workshop on impact fees Thursday with a view to having some parameters for what the new fee would cost.
There has been discussion about impact fees in Horry County for most of the last two decades. Two years ago, an advisory referendum showed three out of four voters supported establishment of impact fees on new construction.
Predictably those in the development industry have fought establishment of impact fees. To date, that industry has been successful in holding the fees off.
However, a number of cities and counties in South Carolina have established impact fees in the nearly twenty-year interim they have been under periodic discussion in Horry County.
One engineer predicted a $6,000 impact fee would stop half the business currently with his firm. This, however, seems a ridiculous statement when the cost of lumber has quadrupled in the last 12 months and construction hasn’t slowed at all in Horry County due to the increase in cost.
Long time county residents have been remarking recently that new home prices have reached ridiculous levels in the county. But new homes are still selling at record levels.
Any cost to the developer and builder winds up on the final purchase price of the home. Impact fees can be thought of as a tax that will be paid by purchasers of new homes to help fund the increased level of government goods and services additional homes and their residents require.
The question for council is who should pay for these increased demands on county government and how much should be paid.
Council member Harold Worley said during the Thursday discussion that $4,500 (impact fee) is not going to slow down development one bit. He noted failure to pass an impact fee ordinance could result in a tax increase of 13.2 mils to residents of the unincorporated areas of the county in the future. Council will vote on third reading of a budget ordinance that increases taxes 7.6 mils in the unincorporated areas of the county next year with additional rises in stormwater and solid waste fees.

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Decisions by County Government Determined by Who the Voters Elect

Ultimately the type of government we have is a consequence of those we elect to serve in it.

In Horry County, I submit some of our incumbent council members are the wrong choice. These are charlatans who hold elective office for self-aggrandizing, self-enriching or ego boosting reasons, or some combination thereof.

They are happy to serve themselves, their large campaign donors and those they perceive to be power brokers. The needs of the citizens at large are a rare afterthought.

For decades, the development industry in Horry County has held influence over this type of council member, using that influence to get virtually anything it wanted, including developing wetlands, flood plains and areas without the necessary supporting infrastructure, approved by council.

Three council members up for reelection who fit completely into that mold are Dennis Disabato, Cam Crawford and Gary Loftus, in my opinion. Disabato and Crawford each draw over 50% of their campaign contributions from the development industry. Loftus was appointed to the advisory board of a developer funded institute at Coastal Carolina University that the development donors hoped would “tell their side”, as one of the big donors put it, on any study completed by the institute.

Crawford, Loftus and Disabato strongly supported the reelection of Mark Lazarus two years ago. After Lazarus lost the council chairman seat to Johnny Gardner, they bought into the fictitious plot, devised by former administrator Chris Eldridge, in consultation with Lazarus, to attempt to keep Gardner from taking office.

After a SLED investigation concluded there was nothing to the allegations by Eldridge, these three did everything they could to keep Eldridge in his administrator’s position including a bombastic display by Disabato in a special council meeting held to discuss Eldridge’s future.

They continue to support the Lazarus agenda two years after Lazarus lost a primary for reelection. For example, when Lazarus worked behind the scenes to get an area designated scenic and conservation rezoned for development, Crawford, Loftus and Disabato voted for the rezoning regardless of the potential flooding issues associated with the development.

Council will be making important decisions over the next few years regarding land use regulations, impact fees and improvements to the county’s stormwater management plan. Citizens need council members who will consider the welfare of the county as a whole as these important issues are considered, not ones who consider nothing more than what developers want.

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County Council and the I-73 Rush

(Ed. Note – The following was submitted by Grand Strand Daily reader Sharon Pollard. Written in the same meter as the classic Christmas poem, it is a satirical take on the recent propaganda and county council vote for I-73 funding. There is considerable consensus among citizens that the desire for the road among Horry County politicos is only as a development expressway from the western boundary of Horry County to the beach, not an interstate highway.)

Twas the Week Before Christmas

Twas a week before Christmas when all through the council meeting,
not a lobbyist was stirring not even a greeting.

The agendas were placed as you come in the door,
full of information on the meeting and more.

The council were nestled and snug in the chair,
while visions of developments danced  in the air.

I and my friend had just sat in the back,
a long boring meeting good time for a nap.

When up in the front there arose such chatter
I sprang from my chair to see what was the matter.

Up to the front I flew with hope,
Grabbed the mic. took out my note.

The room on the crest of a new fallen deal,
Gave the people a sense this was not real.

What to my wondering eyes did I see,
plans for a new road to be called I-73.

With a call for a vote so lively and quick,
It passed 10-2 which made us all sick.

More rapid than rain from a storm they came,
As they whistled and shouted calling their name.

Now agents now consultants, now planners and all!
on dozers, on trucks, on cranes you can haul!

Now build away , build away, build away all!

As rain that comes from the wild hurricane blow,
Over the land for I-73 it will flow.

When they meet with an obstacle, build to the sky,
So up to the rooftops I-73 will be that high.

The speaker had dirt on his shoes and hair of white,
All knew what he said was not 100% right.

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