COASTAL OBSERVER

It’s a tale as old as time on the Waccamaw Neck.

A developer buys land in a neighborhood that has barely changed in generations with the intent of putting up a bunch of houses or townhouses.

Residents object, fearing a change in the character of their neighborhood.

With less and less land available in the Pawleys Island area, that tale is now being told in other parts of the county.

Last week the Georgetown County Planning Commission approved a site plan for Pitch Pines, a 40-lot subdivision on Kent Road between Georgetown and Andrews.

Commissioners really had no choice since the 25-acre parcel is zoned for single family units on 20,000-square-foot lots, which is what the development is.

The vote to approve was 3-2 with chairman Robert Davis, Bill Hills and Allison Newton, attending her first meeting, voting yes. Marla Jean Hamby and Jefferson Linnen voted no.

Because it is only a site plan, it does not have to be approved by County Council.

Kent Road residents pleaded with the commissioners to vote no.

“We don’t want or need it in our community,” said Marie Bone, who has lived on Kent Road her entire life. “If I wanted to be 50 feet from a neighbor I would have moved to the city. We don’t want to be like Pawleys Island, Myrtle Beach, Mount Pleasant or Charleston.”

Katelyn Altman, who owns the 25 acres next to the Pitch Pines site, is worried about flooding.

“That land is swampy. It’s muddy, it’s messy,”Altman said. “By allowing those 40 homes, you’re subjecting everyone around it to detrimental water running into their homes.”

Crystal Grant, who has lived in that area her whole life, agreed.

“If they build this land up, where is this water going to go?” Grant asked.

“We are not allowed to discharge one more drop than what currently sits on that site,” said Britton Corbin, the project manager for MRB Group. “This is why you have regulations for things like this to prevent flooding of off-site properties.”

Although the size of the development will not require a traffic study, Kent Road resident Felicia Howard asked the commission to also consider the “collective harm” of Pitch Pines  and the other two developments being planned on Kent Road.

“Together they are fundamentally changing the nature of a rural community, an important rural community,” Howard said.

Corbin said even though they don’t need a traffic study, they do have to get an encroachment permit from the state Department of Transportation.

Howard believes neighbors’ wishes should be taken into account over a person with a business venture trying to make money.

“It seems like a bad way for this county to develop,” she said. “I hope that Planning Commission, I hope that County Council gives a serious thought to how we want our county to look.”

Kent Road resident Tyrone Frasier said Pitch Pines will be “very detrimental” to the community.

The development will use a septic system since sewer is not available in the area.

Frasier wondered why septic tanks are OK in a rural area but not in places like Litchfield and Pawleys Island.

“All I’m asking is, the Planning Commission, put yourselves in our shoes,” he said. “Put your house there.”

 Corbin said he lives in a rural area and has a septic system at his house.

“It seems to work OK,” he added.

According to MRB, the development will require an engineered septic system which is a customized wastewater treatment plan designed for properties where conventional systems won’t work due to poor soil, high water tables or site restrictions.

The commission deferred action on the site plan at its December meeting due to concerns about the gravel road planned for the development.

According to the staff report, Georgetown County Fire/EMS said the gravel road would be sufficient with four conditions: it was at least 26 feet wide, it had  an all-terrain surface, it had a name, and fire hydrants were installed no more than 1,000 feet apart.

Bone left after the vote.

“If I had money like Mr. Pitch Pines I would have purchased the land to keep it out of his greedy hands,” she said.