Housing development at 52nd Ave reaches final stage with city

A new single-family housing development could be coming to the land between Kings Highway, 52nd Avenue North and Ocean Boulevard, but the project has to clear one last hurdle at Myrtle Beach City Council on Tuesday.

The 33-house gated community, called “Ocean Village,” would occupy one of the few undeveloped parcels of land on Ocean Boulevard. City officials said that nearby residents are satisfied with the early plans for the development.

Jeff Skelley, of Ocean Village developer Nations Homes, said the project will produce “cottage-style” homes with porches and two-car garages. Prices will range from roughly $400,000 to $800,000.

The project is reaching final approval on an abbreviated timeline. Typically, after a month of public meetings and discussion with the city’s Planning Commission, housing developments go to city council, which must approve the project twice – a process that takes, at a minimum, an additional two weeks.

Skelley said that from the first meeting Nations Homes held with residents of nearby neighborhoods, the process of community input and discussion with the city will take about a month total if the project is approved Tuesday, about two weeks less than the typical approval process.

“I don’t want it to appear we’ve gotten any favors, because that hasn’t been the case,” he said. “I’ve worked to get all my T’s crossed and all my I’s dotted.”

At the Aug. 9 workshop when council discussed the project for the first time, Councilwoman Mary Jeffcoat expressed concern that the city would become reliant on a fast-track for similar housing developments. Council members had a flurry of questions at that meeting about parking, density and allowing enough space for emergency vehicles in the development.

It’s also not the first project the city has sped up. Myrtle Beach accelerated a zoning change a few weeks ago for a possible housing development at 79th Avenue North and Ocean Boulevard.

Jeffcoat reiterated her concern about quicker building approval to The Sun News on Monday.

“I think generally what’s happening is the economy is coming back, which is a good thing, and developers are taking advantage of opportunities. So it’s not unusual for them to want to fast track it,” Jeffcoat said. “I would prefer we let the process go as it should.”

Ocean Village’s polished plan went to the Planning Commission during an Aug. 16 meeting, after council had already given the project its first round of approval.

Planning Director Carol Coleman said she agreed that projects should complete the regular process before they go to council. However, in the case of Ocean Village, she said developers had preliminary meetings with the commission before the project reached council. “We had a lot of info that was passed back and forth in the interim,” she said.

Sometimes, she said, developers are eager to finalize their plans with the city.

“When these developers come in and they’re trying to buy these pieces of property, they only have a certain window to get their zoning or approvals in place,” Coleman said.

Skelley added that he had worked to anticipate questions from the city ahead of time.

“I’m trying to make sure I have all the concerns and questions addressed before I get to the meetings,” he said.

Mayor John Rhodes said he saw no issue with the fast-track method of approving new housing projects.

“All we do is accelerate the first step [at council],” Rhodes said. “You still got a second reading, and it’s not going to pass the second before we get the recommendation from the Planning Commission.”

This story was originally published August 22, 2016 at 7:38 PM with the headline "Housing development at 52nd Ave reaches final stage with city."