Is Horry County willing to slow down its multimillion-dollar growth? It’s being considered.

From the air, Horry County looks different.

Thousands of acres sit undeveloped with forestland stretching for miles in every direction — a living time capsule that not so long ago was reality for generations of families that grew up here.

“I can remember a point from Conway to Aynor on Highway 319 at 9 ‘o clock at night, you wouldn’t pass a car. Not one car,” county council member Al Allen said.

School classrooms had space to take on new students, and it was possible to call the doctor on Monday and be examined on Tuesday.

Now, Horry County for many is defined by epic traffic jams, seemingly endless construction and a barrage of new subdivisions and businesses flooding the market — there are 60,000 homes permitted for construction beyond what’s already being built.

Allen and other county leaders have started to talk publicly about an unofficial moratorium for future development until zoning laws are reviewed, fee schedules adopted and storm water capacities are evaluated.

“We can’t stop the growth because it is an economic driver of our county, but there’s got to be a better way,” Allen said. “And in order to do that, we’re going to have to make some tough decisions because we cannot keep adding cows to the pasture.”

Allen, chairman of the council’s infrastructure and regulation subcommittee, plans to use those sessions as a tool to create more responsible development guidelines inside a county with more land mass than Rhode Island.

And until that happens, “I’m going to be very hesitant to vote for any subdivisions coming anew into Horry County,” Allen said.

Rising permit numbers

In the 2020 fiscal year, Horry County saw permit revenues jump by 12% year-over-year, to $7.1 million.

And in 2021, the county issued 4,917 permits for single-family homes — up from 3,312 a year earlier.

Allen and other council members, including Dennis DiSabato of the Carolina Forest area, want better communication with local governments and Horry County Schools before considering more large-scale development.

“We’re putting subdivisions in areas where we don’t currently have service,” DiSabato said. “Smart development is 100% right. We need a coalition between the governments, we need a coalition between this council and the school board.”

Higher impact fees, which are levied at the front end of construction to help offset the cost of new services, are almost a certainty.

Since July 2021, fees have been set between $738 and $1,797 for commercial construction, and between $1,031 and $1,236 for residential — a policy that’s generated nearly $55 million worth of revenue to help pay for new growth. And that doesn’t include additional costs for emergency management, recreation, storm water and transportation.

Taking those into account, impact fees could top $10,000 in some cases but add $200 million in fresh money to the general fund.

Boosting those fees would put the council at odds with powerful voices including the Coastal Carolina Association of Realtors, which opposes higher costs for development.

Madison Cooper, who heads governmental affairs at the Coastal Carolina Association of Realtors, said putting higher costs on developers looking to invest in the region likely will backfire. “Demand to move to Horry County has remained resilient as compared to the rest of the country, but an increase in impact fees will slow the growth of the tax base,” she said.

But Allen said the alternative is worse.

“I don’t mind anybody moving in here and joining us as a part of Horry County, but I do not like to see major developers come in here, stacking up these cookie cutter homes and taking the money out of our county and out of our state and leaving us to have to deal with the roads and infrastructure,” he said. “Growth should pay for itself.”

This story was originally published August 19, 2023 at 3:21 PM.