What’s happening to the River Oaks Golf Course in Carolina Forest? An update on development
A River Oaks Golf Course official unveiled more development plans for a rezoning request that could turn 177.77 acres into 505 units at an Horry County planning workshop last week, including fixing one road.
The rezoning request, originally put on this week’s planning commission meeting on Thursday, was deferred and will likely not go up to vote until October.
David Schwerd, chief operating officer at Diamond Shores LLC, said the reason for the deferral was “so that we can continue to receive community input, because we do plan on moving forward with the development.”
Schwerd also stated that the development plan, if approved for rezoning, would “create less infrastructure for the county to maintain in the future and provide more open space.”
The development plans show a 100% increase in open spaces, sidewalks and community gardens. Schwerd said that developers knew stormwater would be a huge public concern. According to him, buffers along all stormwater ditches are provided in the plan, as well as many fairways being left untouched.
“We sat down with stormwater and engineering and planning and tried to develop a plan that would increase the amount of stormwater easements that are out there so that the county can maintain the system,” Schwerd said.
Included in the plan is an agreement to fix one private road, Intracoastal Way, which is currently not up to county standards.
County Council member Dennis DiSabato, who’s district includes the golf course, said that the road has a huge number of potholes which has caused a lot of problems for people in the area. DiSabato said that the fixing of the road would be “one benefit” of the plan.
“I don’t love the idea of the golf course closing,” DiSabato said. He added that he would vote in a way that reflected his constituents.
With the River Oaks Golf Course’s current zoning as a single-family residential district, developers could build at least 500 or so lots without a rezoning request or public input, according to Schwerd.
One resident, Melissa Joos, bought a condo in River Oaks last October. Joos said she had a variety of concerns about redevelopment, one of which is the loss of the scenery, a primary reason for buying the condo in the first place.
“It was like a bait and switch kind of deal. I thought I was gonna have a golf course view,” Joos said. She also had concerns about the how many people would be coming to the area.
“Schools are over capacity, and kids are going to school in trailers. There’s no development. There’s no infrastructure here.”
While residents interested in the redevelopment should not plan on coming to the Sept. 1 meeting, there will be a community meeting later in September to address any public concerns.
The Carolina Forest Civic Association announced a community meeting to discuss the rezoning before its regularly scheduled time at 5 p.m. on Sept. 21. According to the association, officials from Diamond Shores LLC, the developer, and Horry County Planning will be in attendance.
This story was originally published August 30, 2022 at 5:00 AM.