With promise of a turning lane, Horry council approves RV park on Highway 544
After members of the Horry County Planning Commission last week rejected a proposal for a 161-space RV park along S.C. 544, in between Bojangles and Black’s Tire, Horry County Council members voted this week to approve the project.
That approval, though, came with a condition: The developers will have to build a turning lane for the large vehicles that will enter and exit the park.
The park proposal came before county leaders because the property owner, G. Roland Shelley III, is seeking to rezone a 17.5-acre tract of land from residential to “destination park” to allow RVs to park there. The park would include two entrances onto S.C. 544, dumpsters and other amenities for campers, as well as ponds and office buildings.
When the proposal came before the Planning Commission last week, though, the planners expressed concerns about traffic on S.C. 544, which county planners have estimated is at 80-85% capacity currently. Planning Commission members said they worried that campers turning in and out of the RV park would cause traffic jams and possibly wrecks. One planning commission member called the highway “a race track” and questioned if an RV park was appropriate for that part of the highway.
County planners ultimately sent the proposal to County Council with a recommendation they vote the project down.
But at County Council’s meeting Tuesday, members voted to approve the project, as long as the developers built a turning lane along S.C. 544 into the RV park. That was an idea pitched by the developer originally as planning commission members debated the proposal, and county planning staff urged commissioners to accept the idea.
“The deceleration lane would definitely help I would think. It should prevent rear end crashes on (S.C.) 544,” said Andy Markunas, the head of the county’s engineering department.
David Schwerd, the former county planning director who now works as an agent for the developer Diamond Shores, argued that the project wouldn’t cause as much traffic on S.C. 544 as commissioners feared, even without the turning lane.
“I’m never going to be able to alleviate all of your concerns with the camper or any other development coming directly out onto (S.C.) 544 but there are existing campers already driving on (S.C.) 544,” Schwerd said. “There are existing campers that are stopping and turning left and turning right into the Bojangles. They use that parking lot and park. This is going to keep those campers from having to go all the way to the beach.”
Planning commissioners also questioned if the RV park could be subject to flooding, as the property is near wetlands and the Waccamaw National Wildlife Refuge. Schwerd said an RV park on the property, rather than single-family homes as current zoning allows, would be the safer option.
“We’re not putting somebody in a permanent risk of having damage to their house, their significant investment,” Schwerd said. “If the water starts to come up, they start their RV up and they pull off. They’re road ready vehicles, they do not have to stay there.”
County Council members on Tuesday said they, too, worried about traffic caused by campers on S.C. 544, but that the turning lane could alleviate the issues.
The proposal must pass two more votes before council before final approval.
