The Horry County Planning Commission has been asked to consider a request to rezone nearly 172 acres of the River Oaks Golf Club in Myrtle Beach, S.C. to allow construction of a 505-unit single-family home development. David Schwerd, Chief Operating Officer at Diamond Shores LLC, says the development plan, if approved for rezoning, would “create less infrastructure for the county to maintain in the future and provide more open space.”
A River Oaks Golf Club (Myrtle Beach, S.C.) official unveiled more development plans for a rezoning request that could turn 171.77 acres of the golf course into 505 single-family homes at an Horry County planning workshop last week, The Sun News reported.
The rezoning request, originally put on this week’s planning commission meeting on Sept. 1, was deferred and will likely not go up to vote until October, The Sun News reported. David Schwerd, chief operating officer at Diamond Shores LLC, said the reason for the deferral was “so that we can continue to receive community input, because we do plan on moving forward with the development.”
Schwerd also told The Sun News that the development plan, if approved for rezoning, would “create less infrastructure for the county to maintain in the future and provide more open space.” The development plans show a 100% increase in open spaces, sidewalks and community gardens. Schwerd said that developers knew stormwater would be a huge public concern. According to him, buffers along all stormwater ditches are provided in the plan, as well as many fairways being left untouched.
“We sat down with stormwater and engineering and planning and tried to develop a plan that would increase the amount of stormwater easements that are out there so that the county can maintain the system,” Schwerd said. Included in the plan is an agreement to fix one private road, Intracoastal Way, which is currently not up to county standards. County Council member Dennis DiSabato, whose district includes the golf course, told The Sun News that the road has a huge number of potholes which has caused a lot of problems for people in the area. DiSabato said that the fixing of the road would be “one benefit” of the plan.
“I don’t love the idea of the golf course closing,” DiSabato said. He added that he would vote in a way that reflected his constituents.
With the River Oaks Golf Course’s current zoning as a single-family residential district, developers could build at least 500 or so lots without a rezoning request or public input, Schwerd told The Sun News. One resident, Melissa Joos, bought a condo in River Oaks last October. Joos said she had a variety of concerns about redevelopment, one of which is the loss of the scenery, a primary reason for buying the condo in the first place.
“It was like a bait and switch kind of deal. I thought I was gonna have a golf course view,” Joos said to The Sun News.
She also had concerns about the how many people would be coming to the area. “Schools are over capacity, and kids are going to school in trailers. There’s no development. There’s no infrastructure here.”
While residents interested in the redevelopment should not plan on coming to the Sept. 1 meeting, there will be a community meeting later in September to address any public concerns, The Sun News reported. The Carolina Forest Civic Association announced a community meeting to discuss the rezoning before its regularly scheduled time at 5 p.m. on Sept. 21. According to the association, officials from Diamond Shores LLC, the developer, and Horry County Planning will be in attendance.
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