SUMMARY OF LEADERSHIP ACTIVITIES

• We attend ALL Horry County Council meetings.
• We attend ALL Infrastructure and Regulation Committee meetings.
• We attend ALL Planning Commission meetings.
• We are meeting with Council members.
• We’ve presented two written statements before the Planning Commission 10/4 and 11/1.
• We presented one written statement before the County Council 10/23.
• We attended the Mt. Vernon community meeting on Carolina Station.
• We met with representatives of the proposed Carolina Station development.
• We are examining the County budget to see how the government is spending our money.
• We are researching the cost of development to the taxpayers.

SUMMARY OF DISCUSSION ITEMS

Carolina Station. There was a great deal of discussion on the proposed Carolina Station development of 6200 acres in the Mt. Vernon community and the predicted costs to all County residents for the infrastructure to support it. The projection of 18,000 homes has been reduced to 12,000. Attendees were outraged over the possibility that the County will allow this development to duplicate the Carolina Forest infrastructure problems.

The biggest problem is that the developer is requesting the county FREEZE THE ZONING REGULATIONS for the entire period of construction (25-30 years), a duplication of the situation at Carolina Forest that resulted in a myriad of problems. HORRY COUNTY PRIDE opposes any effort to freeze zoning requirements.

County planning staff has estimated new infrastructure INSIDE the new development (schools, fire station, park, etc.) will cost $250 million—$200 million of which the County is asking the developer to donate land for. Unfortunately, the $25o million County figure does NOT cover the costs to taxpayers for building, the schools, fire station, parks, etc.) infrastructure needs INSIDE the new development. And then there are the costs to the taxpayers of all the roads OUTSIDE and leading to the new development.

ACTION NEEDED ON CAROLINA STATION

Taxpayers need to voice their opposition to the developer’s request to freeze zoning requirements and for the County’s lack of a plan to provide adequate infrastructure:

• Attend and speak at upcoming Planning Commission AND County Council meetings
• Contact Planning Commissioners and Council members directly, and
• Write letters to the editors of local newspapers.

State Legislature. Pam Creech explained that HORRY COUNTY PRIDE will join with groups such as Sierra Club, Wildlife Action, the Silver Haired Legislature, and the League of Women Voters to pursue our objectives at the State level.

Asphalt Plant. The asphalt plant approved by Council for the Mt. Pisgah Cemetery Road/Allentown community was discussed. The Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) is unable to adequately monitor emissions as outdated regulations continue to be in place. It was reported that there is a County ordinance in place that prevents the placement of “noxious industries” in the taxpayer-financed County Industrial Parks, yet these are “allowed” in residential areas.

Impact Fees. The potential use of impact fees was discussed. All attendees are in agreement that everyone in Horry County needs to pay their fair share of infrastructure requirements and that existing taxpayers do NOT need to pay any more until a more equitable system can be agreed to.

Organizational Membership Form. This form is now available on the website for any group (HOAs, businesses, environmental, community, etc.) to become an HORRY COUNTY PRIDE ORGANIZATION and express their support of our infrastructure and natural resources goals. Attendees were encouraged to ask businesses to sign on as members.

Community Issue Form. This form will be available on the website to give individuals and community organizations visibility for their concerns on the HORRY COUNTY PRIDE website. Please be brief and factual.

Help Needed. As a grassroots organization HORRY COUNTY PRIDE cannot raise money to support its activities. Organizations and individuals wanting to help advertise our efforts are encouraged to be creative: sponsor ads, create bumper stickers and buttons for sale, etc.

In closing, attendees were thanked for their participation and encouraged to remain active. Petition signers and group members from all Council districts are important. A total of more than 900 signatures are in hand at this time. We will continue to gather signatures until we have thousands.

NEXT MEETING
To be Announced

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 7th, 2007 at 9:24 pm and is filed under HCP Meetings.