A controversial Market Common housing plan got panned again by residents. Will it matter?

The leader of a Market Common homeowner’s group is urging Myrtle Beach officials to block a plan that would add 200 more homes to the city’s fashionable shopping and living district.

Paul Meunier, president of 109-member The Reserve, said allowing a cluster of houses at the corner of Farrow Parkway and Phillis Boulevard would impede traffic and degrade property values.

“Market Common has become the crown jewel of Myrtle Beach. Up to now, development has proceeded with due deliberation and concern for the impact of residents. Let’s not falter now when the finish line is in sight,” Meunier wrote to commissioners in a letter he provided Feb. 21 to The Sun News.

The privately run MarketWalk would blend 94 town homes and 107 cottage-style properties on leases with terms of at least 12 months. Amenities would include a clubhouse, swimming pool and 440 additional parking spots.

“I think you’ll see a variety of people here. This is more affordable than a home might be across the street in Belle Harbor or somewhere else,” project engineer Walter Warren told commissioners.

Market Common’s master plan was amended in 2017 to accommodate construction of a five-story, 100-room hotel - a project that never took off.

At a Jan. 3 planning commission workshop where MarketWalk was first discussed, several surrounding property owners raised concern about adding more year-round capacity.

The commission’s Feb. 21 meeting overflowed into the hallway as Warren updated members on details of the project including wider turnaround lanes for emergency response vehicles.

Several attendees interrupted the meeting.

The city council will have the final say over any major changes to Market Common’s footprint, but the commission is expected to make its recommendation in the coming weeks.

Warren said results of a traffic study should be completed within a few weeks and officials found no nesting activity or potential habitat disruptions should MarketWalk be built out.

MarketWalk backs up against the city’s International Technology and Aerospace Park, or ITAP — future home to a DC BLOX data center that will make Myrtle Beach a transnational hub of high-speed internet access.

That could lead to increased demand for housing within Market Common - which is permitted for 1,680 total residential units. There around 800 currently.

“There’s a lot of immediate right-around-the-corner potential for things to happen in the ITAP so it could behoove commissioners to look at this property in that context,” city planner Kelly Mezzapelle told the commission.

Karl Pfalzgraf, a Market Common resident, said the city could be undervaluing the property by designating it for a housing development.

“Why would you take a chunk of land and turn it to residential when you’re on the brink of accomplishing what you’re trying to accomplish,” he said. Feb. 21. “This just seems profoundly wrong, and when you ask anybody in Market Common what they need to enhance their community, nobody is going to say 200 (more) homes.”