Year in Review
Pawleys woman sues developer over drainage
As we come to the end of the year, here is a look back at some of the top stories. This article published in August drew the fourth highest number of views from readers in 2024.
A Pawleys Island woman has filed suit against the country’s largest home builder saying its development next to her home in Parkersville caused flooding on her property that threatens that home.
Deborah Greggs said in a suit filed in Circuit Court that her problems began when D.R. Horton Inc. started its Hammock Cove development in 2019. There are two stormwater retention ponds near her property. She “has experienced excessive water run-off onto her property and Plaintiff’s property can no longer drain properly,” according to the suit.
Greggs has tried for years to get the developer and Georgetown County to fix the problems at the home that she started building in 1986.
“Nobody has done anything,” she said.
Her suit comes as Georgetown County is due to hold a public hearing Aug. 21 on the stormwater permit for the Sweet Grass West development adjacent to Hammock Cove. Residents there said the proposed development will exacerbate their drainage problems in Hammock Cove.
The county approved plans for the 86-lot Hammock Cove development in 2017. The next year, with work already started on the first phase, the developer asked to add four
more lots. The project engineer told the Planning Commission that the stormwater system would hold more runoff than the property held before it was developed.
“When they dug that pond, it changed everything back here,” Greggs said. When it overflows, “water comes gushing through the woods onto me.”
The flooding and erosion required her to bring in “truckloads of soil,” her suit states.
Greggs also found alligators on her property, “causing a dangerous living environment,” the suit states.
Greggs asked the developer to fix the problems.
“Someone called from D.R. Horton to say they had corrected the problem,” she said. “Nobody made any contact with me. It’s worse.”
The damage now threatens her home’s foundation.
“I’m tired of this,” Greggs said.
