Wicked Stick Plan Gets Nod: Rezoning Compromise Moves on to Be Considered By Horry County Council
By Alan Blondin, The Sun News, Myrtle Beach, S.C.
Jan. 5–CONWAY — A rezoning compromise between the owners of Wicked Stick Golf Links and nearby residents received an endorsement from the Horry County Planning Commission on Thursday night.
Wicked Stick is the first course in the county with a rezoning request prompted by the county planning department’s concerns about zoning that is not consistent with surrounding property.
The rezoning proposal that was approved Thursday will now be considered by Horry County Council for possible approval.
The proposal would change zoning for Wicked Stick, located just south of S.C. 544 on U.S. 17 in Surfside Beach, from permissive highway commercial [HC] and general residential [GR] to the more specific housing designations of R-4 and GR-7, and PR-1, which is a professional offices designation. Some land near U.S. 17 would remain highway commercial..
The R-4 is consistent with the minimum 10,000 square-foot lots that exist in the Southwood subdivision, which is adjacent to Wicked Stick., and the more dense GR-7 is a buffer between the R-4 and HC tracts.
County officials have identified courses with potentially problematic zoning, and a Planning Commission subcommittee has spent the past several months studying them.
The rezoning effort is proactive in that it attempts to avoid contentious rezoning requests such as those made recently for proposed redevelopment at Deer Track Golf Resort and The Wizard.
Lawrence Langdale, one of Wicked Stick’s nine owners, said the owners have no plans to develop or sell the course.
“You can let things fester or get in front of it,” Langdale said. “We felt what the county was doing was reasonable and we have as much desire to see surrounding properties protected as the owners themselves because we are owners with them.”
Langdale was involved in negotiations with the resident board of directors of the Southwood subdivision.
“What we did essentially was create a strip around a majority of the course that would allow for the same kind of housing that is presently there, then to allow the denser products out from that,” Langdale said. “Neither one of us got everything we would like to have, but we respected the desire of Southwood to protect their community and they respected the desire of the golf course to protect its business interest.”
The subcommittee also identified Diamond Back Golf Club in Longs and Arrowhead Country Club in Myrtle Beach as the other two courses in unincorporated Horry County with inconsistent zoning.
Subcommittee chair Ed McMenamin said Diamond Back’s course and surrounding property have the same owner, and zoning could be quickly rectified by banning mobile homes on the course property. Arrowhead could have its HC zoning changed so it doesn’t abut homes, but that case will likely require more study.
Contact ALAN BLONDIN at 626-0284 or at ablondin@thesunnews.com [mailto:ablondin@thesunnews.com]
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Copyright (c) 2007, The Sun News, Myrtle Beach, S.C.
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