HORRY COUNTY PRIDE

STATEMENT OF JULIE HARBIN
before the
HORRY COUNTY COUNCIL
October 23, 2007

ACCOUNTABILITY IN ECONOMIC LEADERSHIP

Madam Chair, Distinguished Members of the Council:

We have a problem in HORRY COUNTY that is threatening the well-being of every citizen and every visitor. It’s a problem that everyone who lives here knows about. It’s a problem we are to a large degree ignoring because it’s so out of hand that many believe we can’t do anything about it.

The problem I’m talking about is UNBALANCED GROWTH. By this I mean the growth of new businesses and new communities is far out pacing the growth of the very INFRASTRUCTURE needed to support that growth. And this UNBALANCED GROWTH is now destroying some of the natural resources that make our area so attractive to development in the first place.

With all due respect to all parties involved, we cannot continue to ignore this problem. We cannot continue to allow the enormity of this problem to keep us from addressing it. We cannot continue to allow special interests to ignore the interests of the WHOLE.

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The Horry County Planning Commission met Thursday, 10/04/07, and approved ALL seven elements of the County’s comprehensive plan, ENVISION 2025.

What does this means to YOU? This is good. ENVISION 2025 is a document drafted over the last two years by a variety of Horry County interests—homeowners, education, natural resources, tourism, land owners, developers, realtors, and the Planning Commission.

While it is true ENVISION 2025 is the result of many compromises, and it is true the document could be a lot stronger, HORRY COUNTY PRIDE believes it represents fair compromises to all interests…including YOU the taxpayer. Most importantly—it has sufficient substance to give our elected officials and staff some good tools for SMART GROWTH.

What’s the next step for ENVISION 2025? Review by the Council’s Infrastructure and Regulations Committee chaired by Councilman Carl Schwartzkopf from District 8 (date TBD) followed by final approval by the County Council.

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