North Myrtle Beach ~ annexation of Waterway property is blueprint for future

As North Myrtle Beach considers annexing about 73 acres of land across the Intracoastal Waterway, the council plans to use this as an example for future annexation.

Council members say they want to make sure the developer’s plans for Bahama Island Resort are aligned with the city’s best interests and also address resident’s key concerns such as roads and recreation.

The proposed Bahama Island project, which is 72.91 acres of property, calls for 1,374 single-family and multifamily homes, an existing dry dock storage facility, and 55,579 square feet for office space and shops.

So far, there are six waterfront proposals - more than 3,000 acres of property - expected to eventually come before the city for annexation, according to city planners. Four are west of the waterway.

North Myrtle Beach already extends across the waterway with Barefoot Resort, which has homes and golf courses.

Annexation offers the potential to add more money to the tax base. The challenge is balancing the cost of annexation with the benefits.

Anticipating changes

With continued growth expected, officials from North Myrtle Beach, Myrtle Beach, Conway and other areas along the Grand Strand must deal with annexation, mostly for small to medium pieces of land, on a regular basis.

However, the nearly 73-acre Bahama Island Resort in North Myrtle Beach, expected to be considered for final reading Monday, would add more than 1,300 single and multifamily homes with plans for offices and retail space.

Another project already discussed at a council workshop and expected to come before council would allow developers to build homes along with recreation, commercial, public works and fire facilities on 1,600 acres of land.

Add in the potential for the other future development and changes are bound to be felt by people who live and work in the area.

Increased traffic is one concern

Setting ground rules

Hoping to do it right, North Myrtle Beach officials have set a number of requirements for Bahama Island Resort and future projects.

• The council, for example, is requiring that large developments have 3 acres of parkland for every 1,000 people their development generates.

• The council is also requesting that developers provide transportation to the beaches, such as using a park-and-ride system.

• The council will request that each development provide the roads needed to allow traffic to move more freely and to connect to the Main Street Connector as well as existing roads such as S.C. 31, S.C. 22 and S.C. 90.

City officials say the connector, which is expected to be completed by 2009, is drawing more developers to the area for possible annexation because the value of the land west of the waterway is increasing. That land is more likely to be developed as the bridge opening gets closer.

Source & more information: Janelle Frost, The Sun News, Myrtle Beach, SC