Why were trees cut down near Surfside Beach, SC? Here’s what we know
Throughout the Myrtle Beach area, national home-building brands are building new communities, and more might be coming to the Grand Strand area.
Along US Highway 17, a plot of land next to Glenns Bay Road was cleared of trees recently, heavy equipment piling the dead trunks into tall mounds. The street address is 100 Bayou LP, 11.9 acres large and owned by DR Horton INC., according to Horry County Land Records.
D.R. Horton is the largest national home builder in America, has several communities throughout Horry County, and has an office in Myrtle Beach. D.R. Horton has other new communities in the Surfside Beach area, too, but could not be reached for comment before publication.
The company bought the land in September 2023 for $1.86 million, according to Horry County Land Records. The plot’s previous owners, Bates and Evans III LLC, requested permission to rezone the land in April 2022 from highway commercial land to convenience and auto-related services zoning, which the Horry County Planning Commission approved and later the Horry County Commission in May 2022.
The state intent for development was listed as “major master planned developments” for the lot with future use designated as neighborhood development with 3-7 units per acre during the April 2022 meeting. The land is not the only property recently cleared for potential future development.
In September 2023, a property next to the entrance of the Surf Club— the third oldest golf course in the Myrtle Beach area— had its trees cut down. There are no current plans, but “developers are trying to figure out their engineering costs,” Assistant to the City Manager Ryan Fabbri wrote in an email at the time.
The pace of development throughout the Grand Strand has left some residents concerned, as during the 2022-23 fiscal year, Horry County saw a two percent increase in building permits issued—a total of 17,326— and a 10 percent increase in the planned construction value.
