Highway 90 corridor exemplifies growth in unincorporated Horry County
At the start of the 21st century, the drive from Little River to Conway on Highway 90 was bucolic, passing more small churches than new homes, in little communities such as Wampee, Popular and Tilly’s Swamp – no Hillsborough, River’s Edge, Heritage Preserve or Hidden Brooke.
Then S.C. 22 (Veterans Highway) and S.C. 31 (Carolina Bays Parkway) opened and the development genie was out of the bottle. “If you build it, they will come,” the James Earl Jones character tells Ray (Kevin Costner) in “Field of Dreams.”
Growth along Highway 90 has congested the mostly two-lane road, which runs from Business 501 in the Conway area to U.S. 17 north in Little River. At that terminus, residents of Cedar Creek and Lightkeepers Village frequently are frustrated in entering or exiting 90.
Growth has increased flooding, as well as the number of vehicle crashes. Residents in the Conway section of 90 have petitioned Horry County government to slow new construction. Hundreds of residents signed a petition for a moratorium on new high-density construction that require rezoning. Along 90, much land not rezoned to residential is classified Commercial-Forest-Agriculture, a broad category allowing two homes per acre, apartment buildings, businesses and more.
REZONING PAUSE
The County Council’s response is to pause rezonings in half of the 90 corridor, from U.S. 501 Business to the Veterans Highway. Building not requiring rezoning can continue. “It’s not a moratorium, it’s a new process,” Planning Director David Jordan told council members. “We’ll process any rezoning application under state law but this is telling us and the Planning Commission that we will not recommend approval.”
Some of the eastern half of Highway 90 is in the city of North Myrtle Beach, which, like Conway, has zoning powers. In unincorporated areas, the county controls zoning and provides police and fire protection and storm water infrastructure. Throughout the area, sanitary sewerage and water are public utilities.
The rezoning pause is seen as a start on a response to public safety and infrastructure needs. Amelia Wood, a resident who helped organize the petition for a better response to rapid development, understands it’s not possible to stop development. Wood is spot on in saying the county needs to change its land development regulations.
GROWTH PAINS
In Little River, a short distance past the eastern end of Highway 90 at U.S. 17, the owner of a site on Coquina Harbor received a change in zoning that allows a 12-story building. Residents are rightfully concerned about the increased number of vehicles pouring onto U.S. 17, Highway 90 and Number 9 as S.C. 9 is known by area old-timers.
Council Member Danny Hardee called the rezoning pause a start. “It’s not taking care of all the needs, we’ve got flooding issues and all, but we’ve got to start somewhere. We can’t just keep saying, `Well, we’re working on it, … and keep building, building and building.”
After two decades of virtually unchecked growth, it’s reasonable to conclude that the new process is also about 20 years late for the 90 corridor. A similar pause on rezonings was set for the neck of Highway 57 from Number 9 to the state line, another area packed with new houses on former farmland.
The council also approved impact fees, which will relieve residents of some of the financial burden of new infrastructure. As impact fees were debated, one council member commented that the new fees were not a good for entrepreneurs. Really!
The propensity to look out for the movers and shakers, over the commonweal, is one of the reasons years of explosive growth is more painful than it might have been. The Highway 90 rezoning pause is a good, albeit small, step that recognizes the reality that growth does not pay for itself.