November 6, 2023

Dear Friends & Neighbors:

This is email is longer than usual, but it contains important information about our community.

COURT GRANTS HEARING ON PLAINTIFFS' MOTION

Over the past year, adjoining landowners and citizens groups brought legal action against Georgetown County challenging the improper approval of four high density multi-family subdivisions with a total of nearly 200 additional residential units in the Parkersville Community of Pawleys Island.

(Green case: Osprey on Parkersville Rd. & Regatta on Petigru Dr.; Bryant case - Petigru Place on South Petigru; and Powers case - Mercom rezoning.)

The Planning Commission originally DENIED the high density subdivisions because they did not conform to the Comprehensive Plan. County Council overturned the decisions of Planning Commission and voted to approve. Suits allege that Council did not have authority to reverse the Planning Commission site plan decisions and that state law requires zoning to follow the comprehensive plan.

Adjoining landowners oppose high density multi-family housing in their community of low and medium density single family homes because it violates the comprehensive plan maps. In addition to existing flooding, stormwater, and traffic problems, these major subdivisions would have a devastating impact on the history, culture, and heritage of this longstanding traditional neighborhood as well as the entire Pawleys Island community.

LEGAL TEAM

Professor F. Patrick Hubbard, a well-regarded South Carolina attorney and long-time faculty member at the University of South Carolina School of Law, is a leading authority in SC on Planning, Zoning and Land Use law. He is co-counsel along with Cindy Ranck Person of Keep it Green Advocacy in these suits.

On July 28, Attorneys Hubbard and Person filed a motion in the Green case asking the judge to reconsider an Order partially granting the County's motion to dismiss. The court scheduled a hearing on this motion for tomorrow - Tuesday, November 7. Professor Hubbard will appear along with Attorney Person and present the legal arguments. Please CLICK HERE to read the motion.

GEORGETOWN COUNTY SHOWS A PATTERN OF CONTEMPT FOR

CITIZENS OF THE WACCAMAW NECK

Let's review some county decisions over the past year:

• County Council voted to take away the public hearing in multi-family site plan reviews and changed the decision from one made by the Planning Commission during open public meetings to one made in-house by county staff behind closed doors.

• Notwithstanding a Petition with more than 1,400 signatures of their constituents, our newly elected Waccamaw Neck council representatives, Stella Mercado & Clint Elliot, both voted to take away the public hearing, favoring county administration over the people who elected them, despite their campaign promises of increased transparency.

• County Council approved site plans for three high density subdivisions in the Parkersville area of Pawleys Island that had previously been denied by Planning Commission because they did not conform to the comprehensive plan.

• Stella Mercado & Clint Elliott voted to approve the high density Petigru Place subdivision on land limited to medium density by the comprehensive plan map, despite vehement opposition of neighbors and constituents, breaking their campaign promises to support no density increases.

• County Council approved re-zoning of the Mercom property to allow high density townhouses (not affordable or workforce housing) on land zoned for NO RESIDENTIAL USE. Stella Mercado has an ownership interest in the Mercom Planned Development.

• Without notice to the public or Planning Commission and without authority to do so, county administration drastically revised the Natural Resources Element of the Comprehensive Plan AFTER it had been approved by Planning Commission and before it was to be considered by County Council.

• The County enacted a "decorum" ordinance that substantially restricts citizen input at public meetings and imposes severe penalties for violation.

• The county is paying a team of lawyers with our tax dollars to fight back hard against its own people and cast aspersions about Waccamaw Neck citizens and citizens groups.

THE FACTS

KIG supports smart development and economic growth that complies with the law and meets the needs of the community. We are pro safety and pro common sense.

The Waccamaw Neck is a small strip of land between the ocean and the river. Our infrastructure is seriously overburdened, and our health, safety and welfare has been jeopardized by over development that does not comply with the law. We do not have adequate police, EMS, or fire protection for the existing population, and hurricane evacuation would be disastrous.

We represent the voice of thousands of citizens who ask nothing more than to be represented, protected, and heard. We have made every effort to work together with our county officials. Why is the resistance to public involvement so deeply rooted in the fabric of Georgetown County government?

When public officials do not welcome input from the people they represent, when they shut down communication with huge segments of their constituency, when they take action that is contrary to the desires of the majority in favor of special interest groups, it erodes public trust, fosters suspicion, and undermines the foundations of democracy.

Sadly, this is the level to which our county government has fallen. It may be time for citizens to consider alternatives to a county government that uses and abuses the Waccamaw Neck, its land, its citizens, and its ecosystem to generate big tax revenue without regard for the people who live here. We do not want to become Myrtle Beach.

Unfortunately, the solution does not lie at the ballot box because even if we had unified representation on the Waccamaw Neck, we are still a minority of the county and we do not have at-large council members that we can vote out of office.

YEAR END MATCH CAMPAIGN

KICKOFF - NOVEMBER 15

Your generous donations have helped us prevent a great deal of inappropriate development to date. We are working around the clock to protect and preserve the Waccamaw Neck, and we need your financial support to continue our efforts. 100% of your contributions goes directly toward protecting our community.

We are gearing up for our year-end match campaign which will begin on November 15 and will continue until December 31. Our goal is to raise $50,000 to meet our 2023 annual budget. We are excited to report that we already have funds pledged for a $10,000 match incentive. If you are interested in pledging funds to be added to the match incentive, please click here to email kig.advocacy@gmail.com for details. More information on the match campaign will be coming soon!

Thank you for your continued support. Our future depends on it. Together we are making a difference. 

Your friends at

KEEP IT GREEN