People fish as boaters pass at Pitch Landing near Conway on Sunday, Aug. 13, 2023. Photo by Janet Morgan / janet.morgan@myhorrynews.com
A bird lands on the bank at Pitch Landing near Conway on Sunday, Aug. 13, 2023. Photo by Janet Morgan / janet.morgan@myhorrynews.com
People fish as boaters pass at Pitch Landing near Conway on Sunday, Aug. 13, 2023. Photo by Janet Morgan / janet.morgan@myhorrynews.com
Boaters pass at Pitch Landing near Conway on Sunday, Aug. 13, 2023. Photo by Janet Morgan / janet.morgan@myhorrynews.com
Executive Editor
People fish as boaters pass at Pitch Landing near Conway on Sunday, Aug. 13, 2023. Photo by Janet Morgan / janet.morgan@myhorrynews.com
A bird lands on the bank at Pitch Landing near Conway on Sunday, Aug. 13, 2023. Photo by Janet Morgan / janet.morgan@myhorrynews.com
People fish as boaters pass at Pitch Landing near Conway on Sunday, Aug. 13, 2023. Photo by Janet Morgan / janet.morgan@myhorrynews.com
Boaters pass at Pitch Landing near Conway on Sunday, Aug. 13, 2023. Photo by Janet Morgan / janet.morgan@myhorrynews.com
Two large-scale projects — which are moving through the formal process of potentially being annexed — could come to the city of Conway, bringing hundreds of residential units.
The separate projects include more than 480 acres at U.S. 378 and Juniper Bay Road, as well as the Warden Station project that the city has been working with developers on since last year.
While the U.S. 378 proposed project hasn’t gone before city leaders at this point, the Warden Station project has caught the attention of nearby neighbors who fear the development will cause flooding and say the area’s infrastructure can’t handle more traffic.
But developers, who have worked with city staff to draft a development agreement, say the agreement is similar to a conservation subdivision or a type of subdivision meant to preserve land by creating smaller clusters of lots and smaller lots to conserve more open spaces.
“It’s not [a] conservation subdivision, but we took many of the aspects of the conservation subdivision regulations and incorporated those into our planned development district that we are proposing,” said Felix Pitts, an engineer with G3 Engineering who is representing the developer.
Some city council members have said the project’s outcome may be better than if it were located within unincorporated Horry County, citing the city’s design standards.
“People need to understand the growth is coming, and if it’s going to happen anyway, it’s better to happen in the city of Conway where design guideline standards are exponentially higher than that of Horry County,” said councilman William Goldfinch. “It’s better than what it otherwise may be.”
Goldfinch added that the longtime residents should not have to bear the cost of infrastructure improvements and new residents should be sharing those costs.
This week, the city council also unanimously approved an incentive application for a new hotel, the Holiday Inn at the University. The proposed 94- room hotel could be built at the corner of Highway 544 and Buccaneers Cove near Coastal Carolina University. City documents state the application is eligible for a seven-year reimbursement for the hospitality fees and property taxes.
The two residential development projects are the projects over 150 acres that have been formally submitted to the city recently, officials said.
Here’s a detailed look at those projects.
The proposed project could bring 1,763 acres of property into the city near Highway 701 South and Pitch Landing Road. Developers initially proposed 3,200 units that include both houses and multifamily dwellings.
The applicants deferred the project at the city’s last planning commission meeting to give staff more time to review the applicants’ responses to staff comments, Pitts said.
After going back and forth hearing opinions from the public as well as city staff, Pitts said the applicants are pursuing a planned development district incorporating aspects that may be seen in a conservation subdivision. Those include no residential development within areas designated as flood zones, “significant” open space contribution to the city of Conway with 150 acres of upland for parks and outdoor recreation in addition to 300 acres of wetlands, perimeter buffers around the entire project similar to conservation subdivision regulations, and voluntarily buffering existing wetlands, Pitts said.
City documents state the property includes nearly 724 acres of wetlands and 507 acres within a flood zone. Some of these overlap.
Pitts said the plans will allow for intersection improvements and other benefits.
“We’re never going to be able to do anything to stop development, but the question is: Does this property get developed with no master planning, helter skelter overtime and then the city of Conway gets all of the deficits really and none of the benefits? … That’s sort of what this is about, being able to control their own destiny,” he said.
Nearby residents say they are concerned about flooding and more traffic. A traffic study was conducted, recommending offsite road improvements at different signalized intersections.
Debbie Kepley, who lives on Pitch Landing Drive, said she’s concerned about runoff onto her property and believes Highway 701 South is not prepared.
“We’ve gone down so many rabbit holes about all of the problems that this would cause,” she said.
“We’re not against it, per se, we want to be sure they are taking on all and getting professional opinions. This is not an area in which we can afford for it not to be done right.”
As the proposal progresses, local advocacy group Horry County Rising gave their input, requesting the developers create wider wetland buffers and help mitigate historical flooding.
The group’s leader April O’Leary said overall, her group’s concerns were addressed by the developers.
“From a riverine standpoint, riverine flooding, I’m really not too concerned with the riverine flooding,” she said. “It’ll actually hold more water than what the parcel currently holds.”
However, O’Leary said she is concerned about flash flooding and the possibility of Pitch Landing not being able to handle more people and boats.
The public’s chance to talk about the annexation and rezoning for this project has passed, but there is still a chance for those to express their opinions about the development agreement.
A second public hearing is scheduled to be held during the city council’s Sept. 18 meeting.
The rezoning and annexation request is required to receive a recommendation from planning commission. From there, it must have two favorable readings from city council before being finalized. The same is true for the development agreement.
Both of the proposals could appear on the next planning commission meeting agenda Sept. 7.
An annexation and rezoning application was submitted to city officials, proposing to bring in multiple parcels that make up roughly 486 acres, mostly along U.S. 378 and Juniper Bay Road.
The applicants — Lennar Carolinas and Thomas and Hutton — are requesting a land development agreement that would allow for the properties to be annexed and rezoned for single-family detached dwellings, single-family attached dwellings, townhomes and commercial uses.
The proposal was deferred to the Oct. 5 planning commission meeting.
Reach Hannah Strong Oskin at 843-488-7242 or hannah.oskin@myhorrynews.com. Follow her on X @HannahSOskin.
Executive Editor
{{description}}
Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.
Your comment has been submitted.
Reported
There was a problem reporting this.
Log In
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.
Your browser is out of date and potentially vulnerable to security risks.
We recommend switching to one of the following browsers:
Recent Comments