Here’s when SC plans to open a DNR office in Horry County for hunters and boaters

The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources is set to open a customer service office in Horry County, allowing local hunters, anglers and boaters to have easier access to the state agency that regulates those outdoor activities and state wildlife.

The DNR will occupy part of the old fire station in Aynor, located at 640 9th Avenue, and lease the space from the county.

The Infrastructure and Regulation Committee of Horry County Council voted Tuesday morning to approve a lease between the county and the state agency, and council member Al Allen, who represents Aynor, said he expects the full council to approve the deal in the coming weeks.

The lease allows the DNR to use 3,450 square feet of the 9,000 square foot building for a monthly rent of $4,025, that will run for five years.

The new DNR office will serve as a “full-service customer service” center, meaning hunters and anglers can purchase licenses there and boaters can title and register their watercrafts, said Angie Cassella, the deputy director of DNR’s administration division. Currently, hunters and fishers can purchase licenses in-person at DNR’s “express” center in Florence, but boaters have to travel to Charleston, the next closest full-service center, if they need in-person service.

The new Aynor office could open as soon as March or April, Cassella said, just in time for the summer boating season. Before that, though, County Council must approve the DNR’s lease, and the DNR must complete minor renovations to retrofit the former EMS call center to a customer service center. The minor renovations will include building a wall between a waiting area and employee offices, Cassella said, as well as installing a customer service counter.

DNR will employ five people at the new office, including three new hires and two people who will transfer from other locations. The office will also include an office for local DNR law enforcement, allowing an existing officer to have a place for meetings and to file paperwork.

For the first year of its operation, including start-up costs and a year’s worth of operating costs, the DNR expects to spend between $250,000 and $300,000 at the new center, according to Cassella, all part of an effort to better serve the agency’s customers.

“There is a real need for boating services in that area because we didn’t have that before,” she said. “We recognized that there was a need in the area. We’re trying to be more customer friendly.”

The opening of an office in Aynor is a year and a half in the making, Allen said. The DNR initially sought office space in Conway, but after no space there opened up the old Aynor fire station eventually did. Horry County moved operations from the old Aynor fire station to the new one in June 2019, spokesperson Tony Casey said.

“Now we’re to a point where we can partner up with DNR and have a DNR office right here in Horry County and I think it’s great,” Allen said at the I&R meeting Tuesday.

The new office, he added, “will save a lot of people trips out of town and time involved and it’s going to provide a lot more support to our outdoor enthusiasts by having a permanent office here in Horry County.”