HANAHAN, S.C. (WCBD)- Neighbors in Hanahan say that the dozen or so options for dining out are not enough for their growing town.
“I’ve loved being a resident here,” said Tiffany Koch, who is a neighbor of five years. “Your options are very limited. The restaurant selection has not been able to keep up with the population growth of Hanahan. In the last ten years Hanahan has grown exponentially.”
The mayor of Hanahan, Christie Rainwater, agrees and says that in the past decade Hanahan has grown 60%.
“You see all these bedrooms coming in, but there wasn’t necessarily the economic development keeping up at the same pace,” said Rainwater. “We also need to really spread the word on how awesome it is and provide that quality of life.”
Letting people know about the community in Hanahan is what Rainwater has planned for this year. The city has budgeted for a downtown masterplan for new businesses.
“It would be a benefit to the entire city, but specifically in our downtown. Asking residents ‘What do you want to see?’ and bringing in current business owners. But also potential future business owners and just saying this is what’s available, this is what’s being asked for,” said Mayor Rainwater.
The goal of the masterplan is to have Hanahan neighbors eat and spend money in their own community.
Several neighbors that News 2 talked to said that they leave Hanahan to dine out.
“A lot of times we drive to the Park Circle area,” said Koch. “We would love to see more options. I love to support local. I love Hanahan.”
“Our leakage is over $700 million a year in restaurants,” said Mayor Rainwater. “We’re spending that money. We’re just doing it elsewhere. So to keep it within the city limits would be huge.”
There has been a silver lining from the issue with one new business in Hanahan.
The Hanahan location of Famulari’s Pizza has seen loyal customers come in their doors since they opened in November. The large amount of patrons caused the restaurant to run out of products when they first opened.
“When we first opened, we got a really big welcome from the neighborhood. We weren’t prepared for it and we kind of ran out of food for the first two days,” said Austin Grimes, a managing partner at the restaurant.