COASTAL OBSERVER

Georgetown County never held a public hearing on a stormwater permit before January. Now it has two scheduled this month, and a third is likely.

The hearings are a measure of the increased attention being paid to drainage and flooding issues, but also part of a growing frustration with development that is filling in undeveloped parcels on the Waccamaw Neck.

A hearing on Aug. 12 will take public comment on the permit for Magic Oaks, a residential development with 27 lots on 8.3 acres between Pawleys Creek and Highway 17.  On Aug. 21, Sweet Grass West will be up for review. It will have 46 townhouse units and three single-family lots on 8.2 acres off Petigru Drive.

Both projects face opposition. The rezoning for Magic Oaks, which created a “flexible design district” on property that had been zoned “general commercial” and “general residential,” is being challenged in court by neighbors who say the change violated the “conservation preservation” designation of the site on the county’s future land use maps.

Sweet Grass West was approved by county staff for compliance with the development regulations. The townhouses and lots are allowed by the existing zoning.

Neighbors appealed the staff decision to the Planning Commission.

Cindy Person, chief counsel for Keep It Green Advocacy, who represents opponents to both projects, said the stormwater hearings are coincidental to the other actions.

“It just happens that we have these two issues,” she said. “It’s not an intentional strategy.”

The county stormwater ordinance contains a provision that requires a public hearing when at least 20 people request one. That is the same standard used by state agencies. But it wasn’t used until last year when Robert Turner took over as the county stormwater manager.

“Before that, concerns were addressed individually,” said Rodney Butler, the stormwater division’s MS4 and watershed specialist. MS4, an acronym for municipal separate storm sewer systems, involves compliance with federal regulations.

The January hearing was held to review the permit for a Refuel convenience store planned for Highway 17 at Beaumont Drive. It drew opposition from residents concerned about traffic and noise from the store as well as how runoff carrying gas and oil would be managed. They packed a room at the Waccamaw Regional Recreation Center.

“A lot of the concerns were about things that were out of our control,” Butler said. “What we’re listening for is impacts the projects may have outside the project boundary. We’re trying to ensure that the projects keep all of their water on site.”

The stormwater runoff after development can be no greater than the runoff before development. In the case of Sweet Grass West, it must be half the prior runoff because the site is in a “special protection area.”

“My hope is that the developer is there, and the builder, to explain what system they are putting in,” Butler said.

Duane Draper, president of the citizens group Keep It Green, said that’s what he wants to hear.

Magic Oaks is proposing an underground retention system. “I’ve got concerns about how effective that’s going to be on property that’s already wet,” Draper said.

“It’s a highly sensitive area,” Butler said. “Water quantity’s not going to be the issue, it’s water quality.”

He hopes that public input will call attention to any conditions at the project sites that the stormwater staff isn’t aware of. That can influence how the stormwater system is designed and maintained.

“At the very least, that’s a hope for both of these projects; that they can be improved,” Draper said.

He doesn’t expect stormwater issues will result in the project approvals being nullified.

“This is one of the things I try to communicate,” Butler said. “It’s very unlikely something the public can say will terminate the project.”

The Magic Oaks hearing is set for the Waccamaw Library. The Sweet Grass West hearing will be held at the Waccamaw Rec Center. Both will start at 6 p.m.

Correction: This article has been changed from the print version to include the correct location for the Magic Oaks hearing.