COASTAL OBSERVER

As Georgetown County rewrites its rules for land use, a coalition advocating “smart growth” wants to make sure the public is engaged.

And one way to have an engagement is through sound land use policy.

“Everybody’s looking at their phone. Community engagement has never been more important,” said Tina Belge, the founder of Catalyst Community Consulting, which is working with the coalition Thrive Georgetown that launched this summer.

Belge was part of a workshop hosted by the coalition last week to generate interest in the county’s effort to create a unified development ordinance or UDO that combines its current zoning ordinance and development regulations into a single document.

“Almost always they don’t talk together,” Belge said. “It leaves a lot of questions. It leaves a lot of confusion.”

The UDO will implement a future land use plan adopted by the county last year as part of its state-mandated comprehensive plan. Critics say it will lead to increased development on  the Waccamaw Neck, and its passage led to an effort to form a town in the Pawleys Island-Litchfield area to handle its own land use planning.

Thrive Georgetown wants to make sure the new rules support development that protects natural resources, preserves cultural resources and provides attainable housing. It is a coalition of the Coastal Conservation League, the S.C. Environmental Law Project, the Pawleys Island-Litchfield Business Association and the Bunnelle Foundation.

Belge, who previously worked as a planner in Greenville County, started working on an affordable housing study for the Bunnelle Foundation. This month, she was elected to the Greenville City Council.

“I’m a third party. I don’t have a dog in this fight,” Belge said.

But she said implementing the land use plan through the UDO is an opportunity for “making Georgetown County still feel like Georgetown County” as it develops.

“The comprehensive plan is the vision. The UDO is how you actually quantify that,” Begle said.

Because the ordinance is more technical, Becky Ryon, the north coast director for the Coastal Conservation League, said it’s important for the public to have an understanding of the process so people can participate.

Andrew Busch, who teaches sustainability at Coastal Carolina University, told the 20 people gathered for the workshop that it’s an opportunity to avoid the sprawling development he sees on his commute through Horry County every day.

“Georgetown County is an opportunity to develop in a way that’s a lot more sustainable,” Busch said.

One way is with higher density, though not in the way the term is often used in public debate.

“Have more people working and living in a smaller amount of space,” Belge said.

“What that allows us to do is conserve our natural resources,” Busch said, by leaving more land undeveloped.

He used the example of Market Common, the mixed-use development on the site of the former Myrtle Beach Air Force Base. It’s also an example of “New Urbanism” that began as an alternative to “urban sprawl.”

“I understand the New Urbanism concept as they apply it if you have a blank slate,” said Cindy Person, chief counsel for Keep It Green Advocacy and a member of the incorporation study group. “What’s the application to us on Waccamaw Neck?”

Restricting development to a smaller footprint preserves open space and mixed-use development means people don’t have to drive from their home for shopping and services, Busch said.

It’s also a way to encourage redevelopment of property rather than clearing new land for development, Belge said.

That would work if there was a transfer of development rights to keep land undisturbed, Person said, but she added that hasn’t happened in Georgetown County.

It could happen, Ryon said, noting that there is a provision for it in the current zoning ordinance.

“I don’t see that working here,” County Council Member Bob Anderson said. He was the only elected official at the workshop.

He pointed out that 3,500 acres between Prince George and DeBordieu is zoned for over 2,100 dwellings. The project, known as Arcadia East, was approved by the county in 2002 and includes a resort hotel, golf courses and office and retail space.

“Most of the usable land is going to become Arcadia East sooner rather than later,” Anderson said.

His focus is on drawing attention to the number of people that will come with new development because the current comprehensive plan doesn’t account for visitors in its population figures and they also place a demand on infrastructure and services.

Ryon said the coalition shares the goal of no net increase in population, but it wants to make sure that more land remains undeveloped.

“Increased density has unintended consequences,” said Duane Draper, who chairs the citizens group Keep It Green. While a project like Market Common might work for redevelopment, “it’s not one that would fit on the Waccamaw Neck,” he said.

“It’s not like I want to drop Market Common into Pawleys Island,” Busch said. It’s a concept whose principles could be used for smaller projects, he added.

But Elaine Cooper said “I find it a little terrifying.” The parks that provide green space at Market Common aren’t natural habitats, she added.

Tom Stickler, president of the Hagley Homeowner Association, also pointed out that sprawling development has grown up around Market Common.

And Draper noted that development that is approved along Highway 701 outside Georgetown will also put pressure on the Waccamaw Neck, particularly when those future residents head to the beaches.

“It’s all interconnected,” Belge said.