‘It doesn’t make sense’: Residents irate over plans to expand Market Common neighborhood
A Market Common area housing development is receiving scrutiny from its residents after a proposal was submitted to Myrtle Beach planning officials to construct over 200 additional homes.
Belle Harbor residents came out in droves during Tuesday’s Planning Commission meeting, asserting their opposition to the development expanding, claiming they were never informed about development plans upon moving into their homes located off either side of Coventry Boulevard.
“There’s no way I would have bought a house if I knew there was going to be 500 houses and one pool,” resident Mark Dragonette said. “We weren’t told anything about all of these houses.”
The proposal, submitted by engineering group Thomas & Hutton, looks to subdivide approximately 69.16 acres at the corner of U.S. Highway 17 and Kingfisher Drive into 232 single-family homes and townhouses, ranging in lot size from 5,995 to 13,025 square feet. The proposal also includes four new public streets for the purpose of residential development.
Upon approval, construction would begin early next year, according to project engineer Walter Warren.
The proposal is part of a six-phase plan to expand the housing development, with officials noting that plans were devised and approved in 2007.
By adding the proposed 232 homes, the development, operated by Lennar, would consist of roughly 500 homes.
While residents claimed they were unaware of the building plans, they also criticized the developer for not providing suitable amenities in their development plans to accommodate the influx of future residents the additional homes will attract.
Currently, the development has one pool that can hold a maximum of 50 people at a time, a pickleball court, a pavilion with two grills, some picnic tables and a small parking lot, according to residents.
“When we all purchased our homes, there were no plans for all these additional phases, which led us to believe that the current amenities were for 158 homes,” said Diane Pencek, who spoke on behalf of nearly 50 residents. “It just doesn’t make sense to us that you would expect everyone to be happy residents of Myrtle Beach with this lack of amenities.”
Phase 1 of the project constructed 158 single-family homes on the northern side of Coventry Boulevard. Over 100 homes were added in phases three and four.
Pencek told planning officials dozens of residents met with Belle Harbor’s Homeowners Association to address their concerns. She said a Lennar representative said they would relay their concerns, but residents have not received a response in over a month.
“It’s very upsetting that Lennar doesn’t care about our concerns,” Pencek said. “This is not the ideal upscale community that I was led to believe I’d be living in.”
Mary Strouse, who bought her home in 2018, was told by a Lennar representative that a Kroger was being developed across the street instead of additional housing.
Resident Mary Ann Jacob added that she was promised amenities, such as a walking trail, gazebo, benches and a pagoda upon the purchase of her home that have yet to be delivered.
“We have to go to another neighborhood to walk around,” Jacob said. “We want to love where we’re living.”
With the proposal in compliance with the Planning Unit Development zoning designation, officials explained to residents there wasn’t much they could do to address their specific concerns. They advised residents to continue to work with Lennar to negotiate a resolution.
While officials were split for about 30 minutes on whether to approve the proposal or table it, they ultimately agreed to table it for their Dec. 17 meeting to give residents the opportunity to speak with their homeowners association and Lennar. Officials said the decision would grant staff extra time to address some safety and traffic concerns.
“I think the developer and the community have a responsibility to work together to resolve some of these differences,” commissioner Don Shanks said. “I wouldn’t want to move into a community where I know there’s going to be 600 homes and one pool.”
This story was originally published December 3, 2019 at 6:26 PM.
