OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Horry County Council Regular Meeting – August 19, 2025: Rezonings, Disc Golf, Employee Recognitions

County Council — Tuesday, August 19, 2025
BodyHorry County, South Carolina
SessionCounty Council
DateTuesday, August 19, 2025
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:16:32

Transcript — Verbatim
0:01

So we can end on time.

0:02

And we start every meeting with an invocation tonight by Dr.

0:06

Dukes, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance, which will be led by Mr.

0:09

Serbant.

0:09

If I get everybody, please stand.

0:16

Heavenly Father, we come before you tonight to thank you for another beautiful day, another opportunity to gather as community leaders and friends to be the business of the county.

0:26

As we begin tonight, we ask that you would bless us with wisdom, patience, and your guidance as we work together for the betterment of our residents in this county.

0:39

We ask that you would especially place your hand of protection upon our first responders that selflessly serve each and every day to keep us safe.

0:49

Things we ask in Jesus' name.

0:51

Amen.

0:51

Amen.

0:52

Attention to the flag.

0:54

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which we're going to be able to do which it stands.

1:05

Liberty and justice for all.

1:07

Thank you.

1:07

Please be seated.

1:09

Next up is public input.

1:11

We have a couple people that have signed up tonight to tell us about this golf.

1:16

Just like to remind them that you have five minutes to talk about this.

1:19

We have the sliding system here that'll help you with your time.

1:23

The green is go and yellow is one minute left, and red is you're out of time.

1:27

We'll start with ladies first, Miss Ashley Cohen.

1:40

Good evening, Councilman and lady.

1:43

Hope you're all doing well.

1:45

I had this whole uh Ashley Cowan.

1:48

Um I live in um District 7.

1:51

Prefer not to give my address.

1:53

Um great to see you all.

1:55

I had this whole spiel planned out for what I was gonna say.

1:59

Um, however, I had to like change it last minute because I think we've made some wonderful progress in the last 24 hours.

2:07

So I'm gonna wing it.

2:08

Um I want to say thank you first and foremost for everybody who has given their interest to us in the last couple of weeks.

2:16

I know it's been probably a barrage of emails and phone calls for some of you.

2:21

Um so thank you for your patience and for your interest.

2:25

I also want to thank Parks and Recreation.

2:28

I think they've done a great job, um, especially this last week, listening to what we've had to say, the disc golf community, um, and really kind of honing in on what we've been asking for, which is for our 18 holes at the Saucustie uh recreation park to be not only preserved but to um retain them or move them or find some way to work with the new plan so that we get to keep our very beloved Disc Golf course.

2:57

So thank you to them, um, especially Ray, I know met with some of our community yesterday and gave us a path forward.

3:06

So thank you to them.

3:07

Um had to pivot what I wanted to say.

3:11

I want to offer just a couple of words of wisdom.

3:14

I know we have a lot of capital projects coming forward for parks and recreation.

3:20

A lot of them are very near and dear to my heart, having worked on them in the past.

3:24

Um, Green Sea, Ayner, Lorish Recreation Centers, um, the Dog Bluff Park that's being renovated, um, Stalvey Creek Rosewood, Forest Brook, Little River, all of these are great, awesome projects that the community's been waiting for, that I know you've been waiting for.

3:44

My advice is to please stay involved.

3:47

Please make sure that the community can stay involved, that the user groups for those recreation centers get to be involved throughout the process.

4:00

If we can ensure that that happens, then the issue that we had with disc golf this time at Saucustie may not happen for those parks.

4:10

We have existing user groups, they should be involved, not only from the beginning, but throughout the process, before it goes to bed, before a final plan has been, you know, uncovered and actually engineered.

4:22

So please help that process along.

4:25

And finally, I just want to say thank you again.

4:28

Thank you for listening to us.

4:30

Thank you for continuing to involve us, and thank you for your commitment to keeping Saucie Recreation Parks Disc Golf Course alive and well and renovated and into the future.

4:46

And thank you for being honorable council people that we can trust.

4:51

Thank you, ma'am.

4:52

Thank you for coming out.

4:54

All right.

4:55

Next up is Mr.

4:56

Matthew Robinson, also on Disc Golf.

5:11

Hey y'all, how are you?

5:14

Um, if you guys are okay with that, I I wrote something down just to kind of keep me from meandering.

5:19

But you know, the first thing is I want to do is I want to say thank you to the Orie County Council for allowing me to speak tonight.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Procedural█████████████████████████████████████████████46%
Pending Litigation███████████████████████████████████████40%
Parks and Recreation█████5%
Zoning And Land Use█████5%
Personnel Matters████4%
Summary of Proceedings

Horry County Council Regular Meeting – August 19, 2025

The Horry County Council held its regular meeting on August 19, 2025, at 6:00 PM in the Council Chambers. Chairman Johnny Gardner presided. The meeting included an invocation by Dr. Jenna Dukes, the Pledge of Allegiance led by Mr. Tyler Servant, public input, approval of the agenda and minutes from July 15, 2025, unanimous approval of the consent agenda, presentations recognizing employees with 30 years of service and Jamie Norman as GFOA Outstanding Professional of the Year, and several second-reading ordinances with public hearings, followed by one first-reading ordinance and a memorial dedication.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Ashley Cowan expressed gratitude to the Council and Parks and Recreation for preserving the 18-hole disc golf course at Socastee Recreation Park. She urged that user groups be involved throughout the planning process for other capital projects.
  • Matthew Robinson, part owner of Another Round Myrtle Beach, thanked Councilman Servant and Councilman Crawford for working with the disc golf community to retain a championship-level course at the park. He noted the course is one of South Carolina's most played and important to local tourism and small business.

Presentations & Recognitions

  • 30-Year Service Recognitions: Stephen Thompson (Auditor’s Office, 30 years) and Vanessa Bell (Solicitor’s Office, 35 years) were honored for their service.
  • Resolution R-115-2025 – Jamie Norman: Director of Finance Jamie Norman was recognized for being named one of the Government Finance Officers Association’s (GFOA) Outstanding Professionals of the Year. She is the first and only recipient from Horry County and the State of South Carolina. Council commended her leadership and dedication.

Consent Calendar (Approved Unanimously)

  • Third readings for Ordinances 61–62 (rezoning PIN 40506020005 from FA to MSF 14.5 and FLU amendment from Rural to Rural Communities).
  • Third readings for Ordinances 63, 66–70 (various rezoning requests).
  • Third readings for Ordinances 71–72 (development agreement with Hwy. Nine Industrial Holdings, LLC and rezoning to MA2/MA3).
  • First readings for Ordinances 81–86 (budget amendment, higher education bonds, FLU amendments, rezoning).
  • First readings for Ordinances 87–89, 91 (rezoning requests).
  • Resolutions R-109–110 (FEMA Fire Prevention & Safety Grant, Opioid Recovery Fund staffing).
  • Resolution R-112 (abatement of unfit dwellings).
  • Resolutions R-113, R-116 (public hearing for higher education bonds, Emergency Management Performance Grant).
  • Resolutions R-117–125 (road and drainage dedications for subdivisions).
  • Community Benefit Fund allocations (19 items) and cancellation of the October 21, 2025 regular meeting.

Second Reading & Public Hearing – Ordinances

  • Ordinances 73-74 (Crawford): Rezone PIN 42912010011 from Neighborhood Commercial (NC) to Retail with Accessory Outdoor Storage (RE 4) and amend future land use from Rural Communities to Suburban. Approved unanimously with no public comment.
  • Ordinances 75-76 (Allen): Rezone a 13.38-acre portion of PIN 28900000039 from Forest Agriculture (FA) to Residential (MSF 14.5) and amend FLU from Rural to Rural Communities. Approved unanimously with no public comment.
  • Ordinance 77 (Pandure et al.): Rezone PIN 31108020016 from Neighborhood Retail Services (RE 1) to Residential (MSF 10). Approved unanimously.
  • Ordinance 78 (St. Mark the Apostle Coptic Orthodox Church): Rezone PIN 39813010001 from General Residential (GR) and Neighborhood Commercial (NC) to Resort Housing (RH) for a religious spiritual center/retreat. Approved unanimously.
  • Ordinance 79 (DeMarse et al.): Rezone PIN 27101040001 from Limited Forest Agriculture (LFA) to Residential (MSF 20) for an accessory dwelling. Approved unanimously.
  • Ordinance 80: Amendment to Article VIII, Section 804 of the Zoning Ordinance pertaining to the Highway 707 Overlay Zone, enhancing buffer and landscaping standards. Approved unanimously.

First Reading – Ordinance 90 (Manning)

  • Ordinance 90-2025: To rezone PIN 27907010003 from Commercial Forest Agriculture (CFA) to Residential (SF 6) for a duplex. Councilmember Allen moved to disapprove, consistent with staff recommendation and the Planning Commission’s unanimous disapproval. The motion to disapprove passed unanimously.

Memorial Dedications

  • Councilmembers read names of deceased individuals to be honored. The list included many community members and first responders.

Key Outcomes

  • All consent agenda items and second-reading ordinances were approved by unanimous votes.
  • Ordinance 90-2025 was disapproved unanimously on first reading.
  • The Council approved a resolution to hold a public hearing on September 16, 2025, for the issuance of up to $7,100,000 in general obligation bonds by the Horry County Higher Education Commission.
  • The meeting adjourned after an executive session for legal advice on a pending claim.

Meeting Transcript

So we can end on time. And we start every meeting with an invocation tonight by Dr. Dukes, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance, which will be led by Mr. Serbant. If I get everybody, please stand. Heavenly Father, we come before you tonight to thank you for another beautiful day, another opportunity to gather as community leaders and friends to be the business of the county. As we begin tonight, we ask that you would bless us with wisdom, patience, and your guidance as we work together for the betterment of our residents in this county. We ask that you would especially place your hand of protection upon our first responders that selflessly serve each and every day to keep us safe. Things we ask in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Attention to the flag. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which we're going to be able to do which it stands. Liberty and justice for all. Thank you. Please be seated. Next up is public input. We have a couple people that have signed up tonight to tell us about this golf. Just like to remind them that you have five minutes to talk about this. We have the sliding system here that'll help you with your time. The green is go and yellow is one minute left, and red is you're out of time. We'll start with ladies first, Miss Ashley Cohen. Good evening, Councilman and lady. Hope you're all doing well. I had this whole uh Ashley Cowan. Um I live in um District 7. Prefer not to give my address. Um great to see you all. I had this whole spiel planned out for what I was gonna say. Um, however, I had to like change it last minute because I think we've made some wonderful progress in the last 24 hours. So I'm gonna wing it. Um I want to say thank you first and foremost for everybody who has given their interest to us in the last couple of weeks. I know it's been probably a barrage of emails and phone calls for some of you. Um so thank you for your patience and for your interest. I also want to thank Parks and Recreation. I think they've done a great job, um, especially this last week, listening to what we've had to say, the disc golf community, um, and really kind of honing in on what we've been asking for, which is for our 18 holes at the Saucustie uh recreation park to be not only preserved but to um retain them or move them or find some way to work with the new plan so that we get to keep our very beloved Disc Golf course. So thank you to them, um, especially Ray, I know met with some of our community yesterday and gave us a path forward. So thank you to them. Um had to pivot what I wanted to say. I want to offer just a couple of words of wisdom. I know we have a lot of capital projects coming forward for parks and recreation. A lot of them are very near and dear to my heart, having worked on them in the past. Um, Green Sea, Ayner, Lorish Recreation Centers, um, the Dog Bluff Park that's being renovated, um, Stalvey Creek Rosewood, Forest Brook, Little River, all of these are great, awesome projects that the community's been waiting for, that I know you've been waiting for. My advice is to please stay involved. Please make sure that the community can stay involved, that the user groups for those recreation centers get to be involved throughout the process. If we can ensure that that happens, then the issue that we had with disc golf this time at Saucustie may not happen for those parks. We have existing user groups, they should be involved, not only from the beginning, but throughout the process, before it goes to bed, before a final plan has been, you know, uncovered and actually engineered. So please help that process along. And finally, I just want to say thank you again. Thank you for listening to us.

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