Former Possum Trot Golf Club land moves closer to becoming retirement community

A year after Possum Trot Golf Club closed, North Myrtle Beach city council is progressing past failed proposals and resident opposition to annex and rezone the land to construct a retirement community.

Councilmembers voted 4-0 to push the proposal forward to a second reading. Councilmen Bob Cavanaugh, Terry White and Hank Thomas were absent from Wednesday’s meeting.

A Del Webb development meant for people 55 and older will become North Myrtle Beach’s first retirement community if it gets the green light from council at the ordinance’s second reading in the coming weeks.

Despite resident opposition regarding traffic, storm water management and drainage, Mayor Marilyn Hatley said the development is the right choice for the land.

“This has been back and forth for quite a while. The developer has worked very closely with us on the needs of the community,” Hatley said, adding that a main concern among residents of Anne Street has been addressed by rerouting traffic from Anne Street to Possum Trot Road.

Possum Trot Golf Club, located near Anne Street and Thomas Avenue, closed last year after 51 years in business, and the land is now zoned for single-family housing in unincorporated Horry County. In order for the development to come to fruition as proposed, North Myrtle Beach must annex the land and change the zoning to a planned development district, which allows for more flexibility. The North Myrtle Beach Planning Commission voted 4-1 last month to recommend approval.

Many options have been set forth for the former Possum Trot Golf Club land, drawing harsh feedback from residents concerned with safety, traffic and infrastructure management in the area. Two proposals for a development with nearly 800 units or single-family homes and an assisted-living facility were brought before the planning commission since 2019, but neither came to fruition.

Councilman Frank Coyne said the issue has been one of the most discussed in recent memory, and it’s heartening to move forward.

“This is probably one that we’ve probably met more and have gone over more times with a lot of feedback from what we’ve heard in comments from the public, we’ve heard comments from the developer, we’ve heard comments from staff, and I think that staff and the developer and his team have done a really good job going through all this,” he said, addressing council and the public.

The planned development would be called Chestnut Greens and would include up to 535 single-family homes on 171 acres of land, including amenities, green space and a “commercial component” that hasn’t been detailed yet.

Chestnut Greens would have three entry points: two on Tom E. Chestnut Road and one on Possum Trot Road.

The developer would also pay the city $1,350 for beachfront parking and residential parking, which sparked worry from some residents who addressed council.

“I see all year long, and especially in the summer, the parking lots overflowing,” Denise O’Wesney said at a the Wednesday meeting.

Hatley responded to the parking issue, saying most Chestnut Greens residents will likely stay within their community instead of flocking to the beach, adding that the city is always looking for new land that could be used for parking.

“In this Del Webb community there’s seven acres of pools, all kinds of activities, tennis and different other activities that will be to serve this development,” she said. “I think they have found that in most Del Webbs, seeing as it is mainly for retirement, these people seem to stay within their own community the majority of the time, they recreate within their own community.”

The cost of homes in the development hasn’t been set yet, but “a variety of home types and price points” are being considered within the target demographic of “retirees and pre-retirees.”

Former golf course sites can come with their own set of environmental challenges, including soil and groundwater contamination from years of pesticide and fertilizer use, but the PDD document doesn’t say whether the developer has investigated those hazards. The developers will preserve an existing wetland and protect 75 trees in the area, addressing common concerns among environmentalists when new developments are proposed.

Details on the maintenance of the storm drainage system will be included in the second reading of the proposal.