Infrastructure & Regulation Committee Meeting - December 3, 2024
Infrastructure & Regulation Committee Meeting - December 3, 2024
The Infrastructure & Regulation Committee of Horry County Council met on Tuesday, December 3, 2024, at 9:00 AM in the Council Conference Room. Chairman Al Allen presided. The meeting included an invocation, pledge of allegiance, approval of agenda and minutes, a recognition award, discussion of several zoning and land development ordinance amendments, and committee member comments. Key actions included approval of road dedications, deferral or denial of several overlay and zoning amendments, and a proposed future study on heavy industrial siting.
Consent Calendar
- Approved the agenda for the meeting.
- Approved the minutes from the November 6, 2024, meeting.
- Approved resolutions accepting into the county maintenance system the roads and drainage of Belle Mer North Phase 2 (Hossa Street, Mikita Drive, Bickell Court) and Old Mill Estates (Royal Arch Drive, Caveson Way), each with a three-year warranty period.
Public Comments & Testimony
- No members of the public provided input.
Discussion Items
- Recognition of Jeff Bailey, SCRPA Award Winner: Parks and Recreation Director Ray Dunham introduced Jeff Bailey, who was awarded the 2024 Eastern District Merit Award by the South Carolina Recreation and Park Association. Bailey expressed appreciation to his staff and leadership.
- Ordinance: Hwy 17 Business South Overlay Amendment (Item a): Proposed to include Hwy 17 Bypass in the overlay, exclude multifamily housing, and cap structure height at 35 feet. After discussion, the committee voted down the ordinance. Subsequently, a motion passed to prepare a resolution stating the council's intent not to rezone additional properties for multifamily housing within that corridor.
- Ordinance: Hwy 544 Overlay Amendment (Item b): Proposed to remove Dick Pond Road from the overlay. Concerns were raised about narrow road conditions and potential negative impacts. The committee voted to defer the item to the next meeting for further staff review.
- Ordinance: Heavy Manufacturing – General Grinding Operations (Item c): Proposed to add "general grinding operations" as a permitted use in Heavy Industrial (HI) and MA3 districts. Members requested a map of existing HI zones and consideration of conditional uses. The item was deferred to the January 2025 meeting. Councilman Tom Anderson also proposed forming a committee to study future locations for asphalt and concrete plants to address infrastructure needs.
- Ordinance: Wild Game Processing (Item d): Proposed to allow wild game processing in FA, CFA, AG1, and AG2 districts, with the condition that all processing be within a fully enclosed structure. The committee approved the ordinance.
- Ordinance: Highway Commercial Zoning – Wholesale & Distribution (Item e): Proposed to add wholesale and distribution as a permitted use in the Highway Commercial (HC) district. Several members expressed concern about creating broad new uses that could lead to issues on small lots or congested roads. After procedural motions, the committee effectively voted to not approve the ordinance; it will be forwarded to County Council with a negative recommendation.
- Ordinance: Land Development Regulations – Regulatory Permits (Item f): Amended the requirement for wetland delineation from an Approved Jurisdictional Determination to a Preliminary Jurisdictional Determination or letter of concurrence, as requested by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The committee approved the amendment.
- Ordinance: Lease of Hangar D at Conway-Horry County Airport (Item g): A proposed 5-year lease with H & H Air Service, LLC for an approximately 4,350-square-foot hangar at $5,700 annual rent (CPI-adjusted). The committee voted to defer the item, with plans for executive session discussion at a later date.
- Council Member Comments: Councilman Tom Anderson inquired about water supply issues delaying veterans' homes, noting the issue appeared to be with water providers, not county building departments. Chairman Al Allen and others praised the county's public works team for their visible, effective work.
Key Outcomes
- Approved: Road dedications (Belle Mer North Phase 2, Old Mill Estates); Wild Game Processing ordinance; Land Development Regulations wetland delineation amendment.
- Failed/Deferred: Hwy 17 Business South Overlay amendment (ordinance failed; resolution to study multifamily ban passed); Hwy 544 Overlay amendment (deferred to next meeting); Heavy Manufacturing amendment (deferred to January 2025 for map and conditional use analysis); Highway Commercial amendment (not approved, sent to council with negative recommendation); Hangar D lease (deferred for later executive session).
- New Initiative: Councilman Anderson's proposal to form a committee to identify suitable future locations for asphalt and concrete plants was supported by the committee.
Meeting Transcript
Start our meeting. Um everybody, I guess we're on the air and okay. The first thing we'll have the invocation and then the pledge of allegiance by Tom Anderson. We can all bow our heads. Gracious Heavenly Father, thank you for letting us come to gay come together today to uh work on the people's business. Dear father, help us to be mindful and uh always looking to your wisdom and guiding guidance. Dear Father, we ask for blessings on our first responders and the people who protect us from uh minute by minute situation every day. Dear Father, we ask for continued uh guidance and blessings through the Christmas holidays. Help us to have patience and love one another. All these things we ask in your name. Amen. Amen. Ladies and gentlemen, attention to the flag. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all okay. There's no uh public input that has signed up that we know of need the approval of the agenda, so moved, second, all right, and approved. Um approval of the minutes, November 6, 2024. So moved. Second okay, it's been approved. Okay, discussion items. Ray Dunham. Good morning. It's my privilege to be here this morning and to share some good news uh with you all. So the South Carolina Recreation and Park Association holds an annual meeting that's coming up here in just a couple of weeks. Um, but with when they hold those meetings, they have different awards and recognitions, and it's my honor to be here to actually talk about one of our staff, Jeff Bailey, who was recently recognized by the South Carolina Recreation and Parks Association as the 2024 Eastern District Merit Award winner. So what that means that's really an award that's given to the folks that typically are out front, but have a large impact on the community and demonstrate their professionalism within the industry. And so he was recognized throughout the state by our peers for that award. And so I'd like to talk just a little bit about Jeff as he comes up here. Just been with Ory County for about seven and a half years. He started with um the detention center at J. Rubin Long and was with them for about a year and a half or so, and then came over to Parks and Rec. So it's an interesting correlation, but if you know Jeff, you know that Jeff values and really puts forth recreation over incarceration, and so he has seen that. So having that background um suited Jeff very well. And so six years ago or so when he came to work for the department. Um he started in our after school and summer camp program. So he wanted to have a large influence on those children and be able to impact them earlier this year. Um it was my honor to actually um promote Jeff to our operations manager to give him a greater impact over all of our recreation centers and our programs that we do. So um we're super excited to have Jeff a part of Team Ori. And um Jeff, I'll let you say a couple of words, and we really appreciate it, and we're glad to have you on our team. Thank you. First of all, um appreciate you guys having me here today. This is a great great accomplishment. Um thanks to the rest of the leadership team, Nicole, obviously, Ray, uh Robert and Chad who are not here. Um the office is always fun. It's a great place to be. Um making a great difference in the community, and really that's what it's all about. This is an individual award, but let's be honest. Good accomplishments don't happen without good people. So I gotta give all the praise to my staff, the boots on the ground people, they're the ones doing the work out in the community, making a difference uh with individuals, with kids, with families on a whole, and I was just fortunate enough to get this award, but I gotta share this with them. So once again, thanks to them. Thanks to the leadership, thanks to you guys and have a good day.
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