City Council recognizes Smith for her service as she retires

The North Myrtle Beach City Council held a Monday, December 16, meeting in City Council chambers at City Hall.

City Council adopted a resolution approving a settlement agreement in principle between the City of Myrtle Beach and Horry County regarding hospitality fees and authorized the city manager to sign the document(s) on behalf of the city.

City Council entered into an executive session to discuss the annual performance evaluation of the city attorney. Council took no action.

City Council issued a proclamation commending Beam & Associates personnel H. Wayne Beam, PhD., Braxton Kyzer, P.E., and Mike Kirby, P.E., for their “professionalism, steadfast commitment and outstanding dedicated service to the City of North Myrtle Beach to ensure the successful completion of the Cherry Grove Canal Dredging Project.”

Employee longevity awards were presented to Public Safety Officer Christopher Shick (15 years of service), Public Safety Sergeant Raymond Pollock (15), Public Safety Officer Bobby Hall (10 years), and  Public Safety Officer Jake Hoard (5 years). Employee Longevity Awards are presented in five-year increments to employees who continually offer excellent customer service.

Employee of the month awards were presented to Public Grounds Maintenance Worker Stewart Stevenson (September), Senior Planner/Urban Designer Suzanne Pritchard (October) and Seasonal Beach Cleaner Contrez Dewitt and Motor Equipment Operator Kareem Hemingway (November).

Stewart Stevenson received his award for having volunteered to be the point of contact for the Right of Way Crew when its leader had to be out of work for an extended period of time. He ensured that the crew understood and stuck to established priorities, attended crew meetings and carried information back to the maintenance staff. Meanwhile, he continued to do his own share of the work load. In doing so, he enabled other supervisors to continue to focus on their work goals.

Suzanne Pritchard received her award for her role in establishing the Planning and Development Department’s new online permitting software, her lead role in the selection and design of the city’s new L.E.D. digital information sign at the intersection of Main Street and Highway 17 and its programming and her design work for the Main Street flower beds and hanging basket arrangements. She also volunteered to serve on the City’s Safety Committee.

Contrez Dewitt and Karem Hemingway received their awards for having noticed an individual who was injured on the side of the road as they were traveling during work. They stopped, called 911 and stayed with and comforted the individual until help arrived. It is likely that they saved the individual’s life.

City Council appointed three North Myrtle Beach residents to the City’s Accommodations Tax Committee: Charles Berg (At-Large), Suzy Brooks (Hospitality) and Marty Slapnik (Cultural).

City Council approved a special event permit for the December 28, 8:30-9:30 a.m. 13th Annual Race into the New Year 5K, sponsored by the Grand Strand Running Club and the City of North Myrtle Beach.

City Council approved a special event permit for the January 1, 10 – 11 a.m. 13th Annual Prediction Run 5K, sponsored by the Grand Strand Running Club and the City of North Myrtle Beach.

City Council approved a special event permit for the January 25, 9 – 10 a.m. 37th Annual North Myrtle Beach Winter Run, sponsored by the Grand Strand Running Club and the City of North Myrtle Beach.

City Council passed first reading of an ordinance to amend Chapter 23, Zoning, of the Code of Ordinances of North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. [ZTX-19-02].

The current city zoning ordinance prohibits animated signs, except in Planned Development Districts. Animation is defined as copy that changes more than once every 60 seconds. This definition effectively defines the minimum message duration (also known as dwell time or hold time) for any digital display within the city not in a Planned Development District as 60 seconds. No national standard governs message duration, however, there are multiple standards governing digital sign content change frequency used by regulatory agencies. The South Carolina Department of Transportation requires a minimum six second message duration, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) refers to an eight to 10 second message duration as common practice, and a model sign ordinance from the Montgomery County Planning Commission in Pennsylvania recommends a formula to calculate message duration based on viewing distance and driving speed when viewing the sign.

City staff proposes a text amendment to the Zoning Ordinance to shorten the animation time definition to provide a safe driving experience while better matching the message duration practices in use around the country. This change would allow the city and private sign owners to make better use of electronic message boards. Staff proposes that the duration used to define animation be changed to, “Copy that does not change more than once every 15 seconds.”

City Council passed second (Final) reading of an ordinance regarding the document identified as the “Separate and Independent Amendment to the Master Development Agreement” regarding the portion of the PDD owned by Coterra Chestnut, LLC.

The amendment requires the owners of the parcel to pay to the city a Park Enhancement Fee in the amount of $400 per residential unit and $200 per 1,000 square feet of commercial space prior to the issuance of each building permit. Coterra Chestnut and its successors and assigns also must pay a Beach Access Parking Fee of $1,100 per residential unit at the time of issuance of each building permit for this portion of the Parkway PDD.

City Council passed second reading  of an ordinance to approve the document identified as the Separate and Independent Amendment to the Master Development Agreement regarding the portion of the Parkway PDD owned by NDG Property II, LLC.

The ordinance recognizes that NDG previously paid the city $265,000 for its Park Enhancement Fee and, therefore, NDG will not be obligated to pay additional monies for the Park Enhancement Fee.

NDG is required to pay a $1,100 Beach Access Fee for each multi-family unit up to 336 units and $200 for each single-family unit up to 880 units. The fee for the single-family units in the NDG tract is less than the fee for the other tracts within the Parkway PDD because the owners of the single-family homes within the NDG tract will have access to the beach through the Grand Dunes Beach Club in Myrtle Beach. Additionally, the owners of the single-family units in the NDG tract will have a multi-million dollar amenity center with a pool located on the Intracoastal Waterway as an option for homeowners and their guests to use in lieu of going to the beach.

When a building permit is issued for each applicable unit type, the Beach Access Fee applicable to both unit categories must be paid.

To ensure construction of the amenity center, the city requires NDG begin construction of the amenity center within 30 days of the issuance of 150 certificates of occupancy for the single-family portion of NDG’s site plan and complete construction within 18 months of the issuance of the building permit for the amenity center. Failure to do so results in NDG paying a Beach Access Fee of $1,100 for each single-family unit remaining to be constructed until a certificate of occupancy is issued for the amenity center.

City Council passed second reading of an ordinance amending the Parkway PDD adding a package delivery facility within the Apache Tract [Z-19-11]. The original Parkway PDD approved in October of 2008 encompassed several large tracts of land totaling about 1,363 acres. No amendments to the site plan had occurred in this section of the PDD, known as the Apache Tract. Apache Properties, LLC requested the amendment to the Parkway Group PDD affecting 10 acres of the Apache Tract, permitting a 40,000 square foot UPS package delivery facility employing about 175 persons, depending on the time of year.

Access to and from the site is via Water Tower Road, providing additional access to SC Highways 31 and 22. At the boundary of the project, a new 66-foot public right-of-way identified as “Hunt Club Drive” provides access to the project.

City Council passed second reading of an ordinance amending Chapter 20, Land Development Regulations, of the Code of Ordinances of North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. [STX-19-03].

Beginning in 2015, several large tracts of land within city limits were placed in perpetual conservation easements with extensive deed restrictions. One restriction is access roads to the defined “Developable Areas” within the easement cannot be paved. However, all proposed city streets must meet the standards of the City’s Complete Streets ordinance (§ 20-40), and the ordinance did not provide for or allow an unpaved cross-section. The text amendment to the Land Development Regulations creates a 66-foot wide unpaved private street right-of-way cross-section for the Complete Streets ordinance. This street profile includes a 26-foot roadway consisting of two 13-foot unpaved travel lanes, two 15-foot swales on either side of the roadway, and two 5-foot tree lawns adjacent to the swales. This cross-section is to be used when conservation easement deed restrictions prevent paving.

The unpaved travel lane surface must meet the requirements of the Public Works Department, and a maintenance schedule may be required. Additionally, this cross-section specifies minimum standards for street trees.

City Council passed second reading of an ordinance approving a major amendment to the Parkway Group Planned Development District (PDD) revising the master site plan to create six large, single-family estates with auxiliary buildings near the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway on property currently placed in conservation easements.

At the end of the meeting, City Council recognized City Clerk Merideth Smith, who is retiring after 16 years of service. Mayor Marilyn Hatley praised Merideth for her unwavering service to the community, underscoring her “complete dedication to North Myrtle Beach.” All on City Council joined her in that praise. Merideth received a standing ovation from City Council and all attending the meeting.

During the Monday, Dec. 16, North Myrtle Beach City Council meeting, a Proclamation was presented to Beam & Associates personnel commending them for their work on the Cherry Grove Canals Dredging Project. H. Wayne Beam, PhD., Braxton Kyzer, P.E., and Mike Kirby, P.E., were cited by the City for their “professionalism, steadfast commitment and outstanding dedicated service to the City of North Myrtle Beach to ensure the successful completion of the Cherry Grove Canal Dredging Project.” Survey and engineering work continues as part of the process to assist the City in determining if a second or maintenance dredge is needed. Mayor Marilyn Hatley presented the proclamation.