Conway leaders vote down rumored amphitheater project after public outcry
After two rounds of public outcry over the past year, Horry County residents have made one thing clear: They value a good night’s sleep more than going to see concerts.
Inside Conway City Council chambers Monday evening — ahead of a unanimous “no” vote — residents for the second time since 2021 told local leaders that they should not approve a rezoning request that could bring an amphitheater and concert venue to the area.
Last spring, it was mostly white county residents along the S.C. 905 corridor who spoke up at public meetings. They said an amphitheater at the intersection of S.C. 22 and S.C. 905 would cause traffic nightmares and interrupted sleep.
On Monday, it was mostly Black Conway residents of the Sand Ridge community who opposed the rezoning request. Those residents worried that another industrial site near their neighborhood would make it more vulnerable to development.
Residents in the historic community are already grappling with county plans to build a new highway through their neighborhood.
For Mary Robinson Owens, a concert venue near her home would disturb the peace and quiet she and her husband have spent decades building.
For Edna Bellamy DeWitt, the venue could have disturbed church activities during the week.
“No doubt, the noise and traffic will be disruptive and will interfere with the church services and bible studies that are core to our cultural beliefs and practices,” Bellamy DeWitt
Conway leaders responded by voting unanimously to kill the rezoning request. which would have shifted 182 acres along U.S. 378 from residential to “light industrial” zoning. That shift would have allowed manufacturing, processing, repairing and similar uses “while ensuring adjacent and nearby properties are not adversely impacted.”
Developers PDN Enterprises have remained tight-lipped about the project. The same entertainment company that sought to build the amphitheater last year also applied for the rezoning in Conway, which sparked speculation that the project might be an amphitheater.
Conway officials, though they suspected the project would be an amphitheater, said the developer never revealed their true plans.
The company is lead by Dr. Patrick Palmer, a well-known promoter in the R&B and Motown music industries. Palmer has not returned phone calls seeking comment to date.
In plans presented to Horry County leaders last year, the company pitched a 21,000-seat amphitheater that could host the likes of Drake and the Jonas Brothers.
Rich Montgomery, a Berkshire Hathaway Realtor representing Palmer and PDN Enterprises told The Sun News previously the company was studying a number of potential uses for the Conway land.
He wouldn’t confirm or deny that the group had plans to build an amphitheater.
Neither Palmer nor Montgomery nor any other representative for the developer spoke at Monday’s meeting, which is common when council holds public comment periods on rezoning requests.
Montgomery, reached Tuesday, declined to comment on the city council vote.
Robinson Owens, speaking to council members, described how her husband had grown up in Bucksport and served 30 years in the military before choosing the Sand Ridge area to settle down. She said a noisy amphitheater would be an affront to the quiet homestead their family has worked to build over the years.
“It means my husband, (who) spent 30 years dying to come back to Horry County, made a bad mistake because Horry County said, ‘Wait a minute, we need a little more money,’” Robinson Owens said. “They don’t care about residents ... it’s all about bringing in big businesses.”
She and other speakers pointed out that if a concert venue did open in Conway, it would likely bring minimum-wage jobs rather than higher paying ones.
Council member Orton Bellamy, who represents the area, urged leaders to keep the Sand Ridge community “in tact” and only allow nearby development that would be beneficial to residents and “compatible” with their neighborhood.
Council member Alex Hyman led Monday’s discussion after Mayor Barbara Blain Bellamy recused herself due to a conflict of interest. Hyman wasn’t sure if new homes or a manufacturing facility or another use was right for the 182-acre property.
Minister and local Democratic Party leader Cedric Blain Spain said the debate over the concert venue was about keeping the Sand Ridge community together.
“If you wouldn’t want it at your house, by your property, by your beloved mother, father ... why are you willing to dish it out to somebody else?” he asked council members. “Why are you willing to compromise again on the backs of a hardworking people.”
