Horry County is considering new sustainable development zoning. Here’s how it works

Wherever you turn in Horry County, you can find new construction. New homes, communities, and business ventures crop up routinely as development remains strong despite a cool real estate economy.

However, the pace of development worries some residents, and social media posts about new construction receive frustrated comments from locals. Some wonder what impact unchecked development will have on the Grand Strand, and in attempting to address these concerns, Horry County policymakers introduced new zoning designed to preserve the Grand Strand’s nature.

The proposal, presented to the Infrastructure & Regulation Committee on May 14, 2024, creates a new preservation zoning district within the existing Multi-Residential District framework. Developments classified as a Preservation Multi-Residential District would specifically address rural subdivisions by reducing the size of lots and increasing the amount of land kept in its natural state.

Specifically, the proposal would add a 100-foot landscape buffer that either contains a mix of a minimum number of trees, shrubs, and grasses or a natural forest area supplemented by additional planting that must be 50 percent evergreen varieties.

However, the proposal allows Horry County’s Imagine 2040 Future Land Use Map Designation to determine the maximum number of dwelling units per acre. Currently, rural multi-residential districts allow for a maximum of three dwelling units per acre. The preservation district size requirements for single-family homes, townhomes, and other properties largely mirror existing suburban multi-residential district limits — typically smaller than what rural communities would currently allow.

Horry County Planning & Zoning Department Director J. Charles Suggs presented the plan to the Infrastructure and Regulation Committee. Suggs did not return a request for comment before publication. Committee members discussed the proposal’s merits, and while many seemed in favor of creating zoning specifically designed to preserve a more natural environment, balancing sustainability and remaining friendly to development was a topic of concern.

Developers, including the Chief Operating Officer of the building firm Diamond Shores, David Schwerd, were also present at the meeting. Schwerd previously worked for Horry County as a director of Horry County Planning & Zoning, according to his LinkedIn profile. While speaking with the committee, Schwerd said the new zoning would present trade-offs for developers. The new zoning would reduce the number of lots a property could have, but Schwerd said the proposal could also reduce the infrastructure and roads a project would need — reducing development costs.

The entire meeting was posted to Facebook.

According to Horry County Director of Public Information Mikayla Moskov, before the preservation zoning district can be adopted, it must receive three readings from Horry County Council and a public hearing. The desire to protect Horry County’s environment comes as the area has lost a considerable amount of trees since the beginning of the 21st century, and experts and policymakers are worried that the loss of forests could exacerbate the Grand Strand’s susceptibility to flooding.

How flooding and deforestation impacts Horry County

From 2001 to 2022, Horry County lost 61-kilo hectares of tree cover, equivalent to about 26 megatons of carbon dioxide emissions, according to Global Forest Watch, an online, open-source platform that monitors forests worldwide.

Global Forest Watch did report that Horry County gained 16.5-kilo hectares of tree cover during the first 20 years of the 21st century, the third most in South Carolina. However, the service also reported Horry County lost 1.62 kilo hectares of natural forest, equivalent to 778 kilotons of carbon dioxide emissions, in 2022 alone.

One group worried about deforestation is the Coastal Conservation League, a non-profit founded in 1989 that protects South Carolina’s coastal habitats and natural resources.

In a December 2023 interview, CCL North Coast Project Manager Trapper Fowler and North Coast Office Director Becky Ryon spoke at length about the impact tree reduction has on the Grand Strand area. Ryon added that cutting down trees hurts the area not only due to carbon emissions but also in practical terms, like flooding.

“The storage capacity for trees for water is astounding, and anytime we cut down a tree, we risk worsening the flooding for the area,” Ryon said. “All of the developments that we’re seeing where they are clear-cutting lots. It’s exacerbating all of these issues that the County is already facing, but especially flooding.”

Fowler also said that development could be sustainable by avoiding sprawling communities, which utilize large amounts of land without a corresponding number of units and reduce the number of trees and green spaces in the area.

“One way to do that is to promote conservation subdivisions or cluster development where you have the building footprint of the subdivision or the multifamily development within the uplands,” Fowler added. “Then you have the surrounding area left untouched.”

Indeed, deforestation is already impacting areas within Horry County. In 2021, student researchers at Coastal Carolina University released a report about the Bucksport community in Horry County, how flooding negatively impacted the area, and what sustainable development looked like in the future.

The report found that Horry County lost more than 15 percent of its total forested area between 1996 and 2016, which equated to more than 38 miles. CCU’s study also showed that deforestation impacted 30 percent of Bucksport’s four miles of total land and that the area is at risk of flooding due to losing so many trees, which serve as natural flood protection.

The South Carolina Floodwater Commission issued a report in November 2019 examining the state’s flooding, what was amplifying the problem, and flooding solutions. The report stated that increased urbanization, specifically removing trees and destroying wetlands to make way for more paved surfaces, reduced the Palmetto State’s natural flood barriers.

The report added that the development and reduction of natural areas worsen flooding, specifically in fast-growing areas like Myrtle Beach, Charleston, and Hilton Head Island, which reside in floodplains and receive the initial impact of natural disasters. The flood commission added that reforestation and wetland restoration could improve the Palmetto State’s flood resiliency.