Following details provided to neighbors in Carolina Forest roughly a week ago, Horry County staff have published proposals to bring thousands of housing units to the Postal Way corridor.
Postal Way was recently extended, but this area would involve building between Carolina Forest Boulevard and Gardner Lacy Road. Two tracts of land, one called Chatham Crossing and the other titled Waters Tract have requests heading to the County Planning Commission to be rezoned. Currently, the properties are zoned for Light Industrial use, whereas the developers want to change the zoning to provide for apartments, townhomes, and single-family housing.
G3 Engineering and Thomas & Hutton are making the requests.
For Chatham Crossing, G3 is requesting to rezone 34 acres for a multi-phase development with an unknown amount of housing units. Public documents show the developer and the county could enter into a development agreement that would require the builders to add a third lane along Postal Way from Garder Lacy to the end of their property line which would then be carried over to Carolina Forest Boulevard by the Waters Tract developers.
Other proposed improvements would be roundabouts and sidewalks as well as a multi-use path along Postal Way.
Lastly, the development would link to the Waters Tract build through a frontage road along Highway 501.
The proposed construction schedule for this does not have building taking place on the property until 2026.
Currently, townhomes are approved to go in across Postal Way butting up to the golf course. County records show a multi-residential development was approved back in 2021 for 154 fee simple townhomes with a gross density of 7.4 du/ac. This project has been approved with conditions.
The Waters Tract would involve turning 129 acres into 1154 townhomes, single-family homes, apartments, and commercial use. This project would involve more provisions within a proposed development agreement between the builders and the county.
County documents show, Thomas & Hutton would agree to continue the extra lane widening for Postal Way as well as a roundabout along the road with pedestrian and multi-use paths. This builder would also coordinate with SCDOT to install a new traffic light along Highway 501 in an effort to keep traffic from the neighborhood from solely relying on the Carolina Forest Boulevard traffic light.
In total, county records show both projected uses for the roughly 163 acres would add more than 13,000 daily trips to area roadways.
To handle the offsite improvements for this type of construction, the county's agreement states that the builder would agree to pay to the County at building permit issuance, a contribution towards the cost of such Offsite Improvements in the amount of $1,500 per approved density unit. However, the contract also states that because of this, the county will not levy impact fees or any new future property fees and assessments on the property.
According to the development schedule for this proposed rezoning, the property would also include an extension onto Renee Drive where the road ends at the Kroger Shopping Plaza and Bojangles. The construction of this road, the roundabouts, and the connection to Highway 501 are estimated to begin work in late 2024 if approved. In total, the schedule estimates it would take 5 years before the roadway improvements are completed for this project.
While some Carolina Forest neighbors were briefed on these proposed rezoning at the Civic Association meeting, the planning commission will hold a workshop Thursday before making a decision on them in their April commission regular meeting.