‘An asset to North Myrtle Beach’: City moves toward building luxury estates along waterway
North Myrtle Beach leaders approved a pair of ordinances that would transform 167 acres of conserved land into private luxury estates that would sit along the Intracoastal Waterway.
Both ordinances received first reading approval during a special City Council meeting held Monday afternoon.
The first ordinance would amend the Parkway Group Planned Development District for the purpose of subdividing three parcels of land into eight parcels, six of which would create a secluded, limited-access private neighborhood of six large, single-family estates. The proposed neighborhood would be called The Preserve of the Waterway.
Each estate would include auxiliary buildings, amenity and recreational areas, along with docks and promenades. Current architectural plans call for homes to be styled as either modern shingle, modern farmhouse, modern barn or brick exterior.
“These are nice looking homes,” Mayor Marilyn Hatley said at council’s Dec. 2 meeting. “I think these homes will be an asset to North Myrtle Beach.”
While the three parcels were placed into perpetual conservation easements in 2015, portions of the land were deemed developable areas that would permit the type of development currently before council. However, the easement resulted in extensive deed restrictions, including areas within the easement are prohibited from being paved.
While nothing in the city code restricts unpaved roads, council also approved another ordinance that would create a 66-foot wide, unpaved, private right-of-way that would provide access to the proposed neighborhood. The road would include a 26-foot roadway with two, 13-foot unpaved travel lanes.
Prior to Monday’s vote, officials squabbled at their Dec. 2 meeting over the width of the roadway, debating if 13-feet was too wide for an unpaved road, despite Fire Marshal Greg Frazier requesting the additional width for safety reasons and equipment. Paved crossing lanes within the city are built up to 12-feet, officials said.
Councilman Bob Cavanaugh argued the width should be 9 feet to protect the conserved land, while Hatley noted the proposed width wasn’t a “big, major change” from 9 to 13.
“I think for safety reasons I can see why the fire marshal would want that,” Hatley said of the area that is also prone to fires.
City Manager Mike Mahaney strongly encouraged council to respect Frazier’s recommendation and approve the ordinance, but the disagreement resulted in officials tabling the vote on both ordinances. On Monday, Cavanaugh issued an apology to Frazier and joined officials in voting unanimously for the road creation.
Officials are scheduled to vote on a second reading of both ordinances at their Dec. 16 meeting.
This story was originally published December 9, 2019 at 4:52 PM.
