Neighborhoods snarl over dividing fence

A controversial gate blocking traffic along Hunters Trail between The Legacy at Hunters Ridge and The Plantation subdivisions will be locked as of Sunday, topping off years of bickering between its residents about accessibility and speed of traffic.

The Horry County Planning Commission unanimously approved a plan by The Legacy at Hunters Ridge to install a locked gate at its property line intersecting Hunters Trail with The Plantation, which can be unlocked by emergency personnel when needed.

Residents of The Plantation are up in arms about it because they fear the gate, which is one of three ways in and out of their gated community, will hinder emergency response times and re-route school buses. But Jim Georgia, president of The Legacy’s Homeowners Association, said a failed attempt at negotiating with representatives from The Plantation on access in and out of their gated exits and reckless driving has led to the gate being installed.

“This has been going on for 15 years,” Georgia said.

Hunters Trail runs through The Legacy and The Plantation. Residents of The Legacy could not exit on Hunters Trail through The Plantation because that entrance and exit has a gated entry accessed by a swipe card. That gated entry forced delivery drivers, landscapers and anyone who did not live in The Plantation to use Hunters Trail and cut through The Legacy to get to The Plantation.

The increased traffic forced The Legacy to install speed bumps, but that wasn’t effective, Georgia said.

“That slowed some of them down, but the rest of them came through here like a bunch of wild people,” Georgia said. “All the neighbors got ticked off about eight or nine months ago, and they came here screaming that they wanted to do something.”

And that something turned out to be a locked gate, which was installed this week and takes effect Sunday.

Marlowe Ubl, president of The Plantation Homeowners Association, said he has wanted to sit down with Georgia and The Legacy board to talk about road funding options and how to curb traffic.

“We’re basically saying, and The Legacy board refuses to respond to me, what you’re doing just doesn’t make any sense,” Ubl said. “Sit down with me and let’s negotiate how much money you want from us and what kind of access you want, and we’ll reach an agreement. All you got to do is sit down and talk.”

Some residents fear the gate will prevent many from access to and from family, friends, as well as easy access and shortened travel distance to Forestbrook Elementary and middle schools for students, parents and teachers.

“If we can convince someone on the planning commission that there are new facts, relevant things that you all did not know about when you made this decision,” Ubl said. “If we can convince them to re-hear this case, then we have a chance to go back and present our side of the story.”

Steven Neeves, planning commission member who represents the Hunters Ridge area, said he has been in contact with county staff and County Attorney Arrigo Carotti about the issue.

“We’re working now with staff and council to see if there’s information that the commission wasn’t given,” Neeves said. “... now we’re finding out there may have been a developer’s commitment to all the other neighborhoods.”

There are five communities in the Hunters Ridge subdivison: The Legacy, The Village, The Park, The Landing and The Plantation.

Horry County Council Chairman Mark Lazarus said the planning commission voted to allow the gate against staff’s recommendation.

“The staff recommended against it, and all of our police and everybody recommended against it,” Lazarus said. “I do not know why they approved it, and we have no authority or jurisdiction. It’s set up by state statute... County Council has no jurisdiction at all. We cannot intervene. We’re not allowed to.”

Lazarus said one option is for The Plantation to hire a private attorney and ask a judge for a stop order so the case can be heard by a court of law.

Ubl hopes the matter can stay out of court.

“A lot of people bought into this five-community open road concept and that’s been in place for 20 years,” Ubl said. “Don’t grandfather easement provisions enter into this? For 20 years, this is how we operated and this is the concept everybody bought their homes under. You can’t just come around now and, in one community, put up a barrier and say, ‘We don’t like your traffic, so we’re just going to block you off.’ It just seems absolutely ridiculous.”

This story was originally published April 17, 2015 at 5:03 PM with the headline "Neighborhoods snarl over dividing fence."