North Myrtle Beach Times Serving our Community and the Grand Strand for over 50 years
By Ruben Lowman
A controversial Little River development that drew a packed house at the most recent county planning commission meeting was passed and will be headed to council for final approval.
The development proposal, brought forth by Venture Engineering, would see approximately 46 homes built off of Highway 57 in Little River, about halfway between Highway 9 and Highway 90. The proposed subdivision would be built on 14 acres near the current subdivisions Palm Lakes Plantation and 57th Place.
The proposed subdivision drew a large crowd to the Horry County Planning Commission meeting on Wednesday, March 3, in opposition to it being approved by the commission.
Little River residents in attendance said they were frustrated with new developments popping up on a continuous basis in their community, which they say puts them in danger of only furthering their long-standing issues with stormwater drainage and flooding.
The “quaint fishing village of Little River” of yesteryear doesn’t really apply to the town now with a population of around 10,000 residents. The town added almost 3,000 of those residents over the past ten years alone, accounting for a nearly 33 percent increase in population over the last decade. Its residents are beginning to feel the strain of growth that is also being felt all over the county and Grand Strand, as an influx of people moving here has ballooned in recent years.
Little River resident James Gause, who lives near the proposed subdivision, passionately and practically explained why approving the new development would be bad for the area’s current residents. He said the amount of stormwater runoff the area receives is already overwhelming and contributes to large-scale issues with flooding for its residents.
“I don’t need a bathtub,” Gause said. “I can go outside and stand in my yard if I need to.”
Venture Engineering’s representative Steve Powell said that his company was interested in identifying the issues for residents, and they were committed to funding the completion of a stormwater study that would look at the whole area’s watershed for a solution to the problem. He said there was an opportunity to resolve this problem now and that his company wanted to address residents’ concerns.
As a result of “ponding” after storms, when unwanted stormwater forms pools on their properties and nearby roadways, the initial plans for the project were deferred in February so Venture could meet with members of the community to address these issues.
Residents say their concerns for the subdivision and the potential problems it will cause have not been adequately met in order for the project to move ahead.
Gause said the ponding and other related issues with flooding have only gotten worse as time has passed and more developments have been constructed in the area, such as Woodlyn Meadows, which sits just behind his business, Gause’s Towing, off of Highway 57.
“He’s not better than the last three guys that came in and they walked away clean and made millions of dollars,” Gause said. “We’re still small homeowners that are suffering.”
In response, Powell said that the issues with stormwater drainage and flooding the area is facing has nothing to do with his company’s proposed development. He also said that if the issue is too expensive to fix then the overall plans could be shelved altogether, mentioning that he wasn’t sure if it would be a $50,000 issue or a $2 million one.
The county’s planning commission decided to approve the proposed project despite the objections from the residents in attendance under the condition they would have to undertake the study on the watershed.
The project will now move to Horry County Council, with one of the conditions being that the study must be completed before the third reading of the ordinance takes place.
