RESULTS: August 3 North Myrtle Beach City Council Meeting

During the August 3 North Myrtle Beach City Council meeting, Council passed second (final) reading of an ordinance to amend the Barefoot Landing Planned Development District (PDD) to allow a covered pedestrian bridge. Jake Puglia, property owner of Alligator Adventure, had requested an amendment to the Barefoot Landing PDD to allow changes to the previously approved site plan. The request involved adding a covered pedestrian bridge extending from Duplin Winery to Alligator Adventure. Bridge architecture will complement neighboring uses with metal roofing and Cypress board and batten siding.

At the request of the developer, City Council removed from the table first reading of an ordinance to amend the North Beach Plantation Planned Development District Phase III Tower (Oceanfront Villas) within the Oceanfront Towers Neighborhood, and referred the matter back to the Planning Commission for further consideration during its August 18 meeting. The developer has expressed an interest in taking a different approach to parking issues related to its proposed project.

City Council passed second reading of an ordinance to annex and zone three lots. Shep Guyton, authorized agent for Permenter Brothers Holdings, LLC, originally petitioned the City for annexation of five lots adjacent to the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway and bounded by the Pelican Bay neighborhood and Sanibel Harbour, together with an R-4 (Resort Residential District) zoning designation. City Council approved first reading of the proposed annexation at its July 20 meeting but Council members noted at the time that they would have difficulty giving final approval to the annexation with the requested R-4 zoning.

In between first and second reading, Mr. Guyton asked the City for permission to remove from the initial annexation request two of the five lots closest to Pelican Bay, allowing for R-4 zoning on the other three lots to be annexed. Those three lots are adjacent to existing RC and R-4 zoned land. In passing second reading of the proposed annexation, City Council approved the change from five lots to three. The developer has indicated a desire to return with an annexation request for the two lots that were removed from the original annexation request with a different zoning designation or designations.

City Council tabled until its August 17 meeting second reading of an ordinance to annex and zone three lots. Shep Guyton, authorized agent for Waterway-Rust, LLC, had petitioned the City for annexation of three lots adjacent to the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway and S.C. Highway 31 (Carolina Bays Parkway), and adjacent to Pelican Bay. The applicant requested an R-4 (Resort Residential District) zoning designation.

Council passed first reading of the annexation request at its July 20 meeting but at that time expressed concern about the requested R-4 zoning. In between first and second readings, Mr. Guyton, on behalf of the property owner, proposed that a 50 foot buffer be established adjacent to Pelican Bay with R-4 zoning to be applied to the remainder of its property. Council members did not feel that the buffer was enough to protect Pelican Bay from the building heights and densities allowed in the R-4 zone. The landowner has the opportunity to return to the August 17 Council meeting to propose a different plan of action.

In talking generally about land located on the west side of the Intracoastal Waterway, Council members expressed a desire to ensure that road systems are interconnected so that developments will be able to maintain their own identities but will not be isolated from one another insofar as transportation is concerned.

City Council appointed North Myrtle Beach resident Donnie Ray to the six-member Horry County Capital Project Sales Tax Act Commission. 

City Council received a progress report from consultant Berry Williams on updating the City’s Hazard Mitigation Plan. Mr. Williams is working with a City Council appointed Hazard Mitigation Committee.

Currently, the City enjoys a Class 6 rating, which means that North Myrtle Beach property owners who purchase flood insurance receive a 20 percent discount on their premiums. Overall, the discount amounts to a total of about $1.3 million savings in flood insurance premiums annually for the city’s property owners.

In order to maintain its Class 6 rating, the City must continue to accomplish throughout each year a good variety of FEMA-approved objectives that improve flood and other hazards awareness in the community, and reduce the propensity for flood damage within the community.