‘The big picture impact’: Growing pains felt along Hwy. 90 with talk of new homes

There was a time when Horry County Council member Johnny Vaught could drive down Highway 90 and know nearly every person who lived on the road.

That’s no longer possible as there are too many homes now on the road, he said. The area near Highway 90 is growing, as is the traffic between North Myrtle Beach and Conway.

“There is a lot of development out there already,” said Mike Wooten, president of DDC Engineer. “Ninety is the next belt out from Myrtle Beach.”

This rapid development creates a challenge for county commissioners. Constituents reached out to Vaught with concerns over public safety, especially with the increased traffic from the developments. But many projects already are approved, which could bring more people, cars and strains on the two-lane highway.

“It’s coming this way, there is no doubt about it,” Vaught said.

Requires a vote

On Thursday, Horry County Planning Commission was presented with two housing complexes looking to be rezoned along the road: a project near the mouth of International Drive and a second on Old Highway 90. Both projects have Wooten as the agent acting on behalf of the property owners.

Together the housing projects could bring over 1,700 homes within a four-mile stretch near International Drive, if approved by planning commission and ultimately county council.

The Wildhorse-adjacent complex is planning to build 233 single-family homes, coming in three different sizes. Two hundred and seven of the homes will be on 7,000 square-foot lots while, 17 will be on 8,500 square-foot lots and nine “estate lots” will sit on an acre of land.

The larger lots will act as a buffer between the higher density new development and the larger, 40,000 square-foot lot sizes of the original Wildhorse. Wooten previously met with concerned residents of the area to make sure that the needs of the people already living there were met with the project, including the construction of a buffer between the two properties.

“We can’t make everyone happy, but I did my best,” Wooten said.

Commissioner Chuck Rhome commended Wooten for meeting with people and seeking the best solution for every one.

The other project Wooten presented has sparked concerned letters from local and state organizations, like the Horry County Parks and Open Spaces Board and the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources.

The “Bear Tracts” complex on Old Highway 90 is a part of the retirement package for a Myrtle Beach law firm that purchased the land in the 1990s, before Envision 2025 land-use map was adopted. Wooten said his clients were not given enough notice to know that the land they bought would have certain environmental protections placed on it in the new land-use maps.

The complex neighbors the Lewis Ocean Bay Heritage Preserve, sharing a Carolina Bay. DNR is worried about the ecological impacts the development would have on the wildlife in the preserve.

The advantage of the commission approving the Bear tracts is that they are planned and offer an agreement to pay $1,000 per unit to cover some of the services the county will have to provide, Wooten said. This money would cover some of those costs.

Access through Old Highway 90 is a concern, given some of the road is not paved. There also is concern that Highway 90 itself will need improvements. Wooten said his clients are aware of these concerns, that’s why they proposed the development agreement and plans for improvements in the area around the Bear Tracts.

Erin Pate, with the Coastal Conservation League, said in a opposition letter written in September that said thinks the $1,000 fee is not enough to cover the burden such a large complex would create. This agreement needs to be approved separate from the development rezoning.

The public, including the organizations that wrote letters in opposition, will have a chance to comment on these project on Nov. 1 at the next planning commission meeting. Wooten said he is willing to meet with people concerned if it will help get correct information out there.

The future of the road

Regardless of the decision, Wooten said something will be built on these properties. As it stands both developments presented could have homes built on them right now, just not as planned or as many as the proposed plans.

“This property will be developed,” Wooten said in reference to the Bear Tracts project. “The question is how will it be developed.”

As it stands, the Bear Tracts project could have nearly 480 homes built there. Wildhorse also could have single-family homes built on it, just at a larger lot size than what currently is requested.

Vaught agreed that people have an inalienable right to private property, but people also have a right to a quality of life. It’s on council to take time to make sure that the law is upheld and that citizens enjoy a high quality of life. He also understood why developers are eying Highway 90.

For the Wildhorse communities and others nearby, the proximity to the recently opened International Drive could increase the value of homes in the area, Vaught said.

The new Imagine 2040 Comprehensive Plan, if approved by county council at the onset of next year, would make most of Highway 90 a rural community. There will be space to encourage some businesses, public services and recreational offerings to be placed in the area.

Leigh Kane, the principal planner for Horry County, said while some changes will be coming to Highway 90, the recommendations in the 2040 plan will not be inclusive to the road becoming the next Carolina Forest Boulevard.

“It will accommodate some new growth,” Kane said. “It is really intended to preserve some of the rural lifestyle.”

An opportunity for the public to comment on the 2040 Plan will be held Dec. 6.

Until Imagine 2040 is adopted in the near future, planning commission will make its decisions based off the Envision 2025, map which was created in 2008.

Vaught said that if Highway 90 is going to be the next band of development in the distant future, discussions of widening the road would need to happen. If there is to be a Ride IV project, Highway 90 could be considered to be a part of it.

“That isn’t even on the radar yet,” he said.

For now, however, Vaught thinks the process of getting developments approved is moving too fast and council needs to take its time in weighing all the factors of a complex.

One of the key factors is flood prevention. During Florence flooding, a few locations along Highway 90 closed. Vaught said he is worried about people getting cut-off during another storm.

“I’m not anti-development, I am pro-smart development,” he said. “We have to look at the big picture impact.”

This story was originally published October 26, 2018 at 5:37 PM.