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I think it is fantastic that the friends and neighbors of Pawleys Island mostly stood together against the big box store.
I can't imagine the change that will happen when a Walmart enters that specific area.
Pawleys has always had that laidback, old fashioned, charm. Not sure exactly how to describe Pawleys for people who havn't been there.
Its relaxed, charming, soothing, and a breath of fresh air. When you enter the area you almost take a deep sigh that you have entered a peaceful place.
I've watched some growth in businesses that I didn't think fit in there. One being a McDonalds that I think could have made itself more brick and morter and nestled into the palms and ferns.
All in all it still has that peaceful charm. Start placing a Walmart and gosh now you have a huge store with a big parking lot. Paved! I say paved because many of my favorite places are still sand covered. I love to pull into the sand and feel like it is part of the appeal of that area.
Its hard to be the winner in a contest that has a big backing. It makes me proud that the class of your area showed in your meeting. That this wonderful place has orderly and respectful people putting in their requests.
I wish you well, Pawleys Island...and if you don't win this issue, I hope the design is in your favor.
That it will blend in and mold itself to your surroundings.
Bless that beautiful, charming, quaint and peaceful place.
INteresting meeting indeed!! I was in the overflow room, though I did get there early enough to sign up to speak. We could barely see what was going on on the tiny screen at the front of the room. I heard only 2 people speak in favor of it which surprised me a little, I figured there would be quite a few on the Wallyworld "jobs" bandwagon. I ended up having to leave before my name was called to speak. Happy about the result, but I still have this nagging feeling. SOmeone asked the developers lawyer (I think, couldn't really see) if the store would be visible from the road and he hemmed and hawed and finally said well, technically, yes. Got a big laugh.
If they could nestle these buildings in like they do down in Mt. Pleasant it would be a dream. Not that Pawleys would want a bunch because it would still mess up that laid back charm.
But, I found it so nice that the stores could not be seen in Mt. Pleasant. Although they had the land to do that.
If they could nestle these buildings in like they do down in Mt. Pleasant it would be a dream. Not that Pawleys would want a bunch because it would still mess up that laid back charm.
Summering, to some degree, you are right. Mt Pleasant has done a nice job with their shopping centers. The plans proposed by the developer in PI show similar goals, and I think they are sincere. Still, while charm may be a concern for PI locals, IMO it is not the overriding concern.
As you already know, Mt P is currently in the process of adding lanes to Hwy 17 as fast as they can. It is not far away from being an 8 lane megatropolis highway. That's neither possible nor wanted in PI. Every car that visits a business in PI drives up and down Hwy 17. Every car and truck that goes between MB and Chasn or Georgetown drives up and down Hwy 17 in PI. There's no alternative, and there's no room to expand it beyond 2 lanes in each direction. The Walmart would require at least one more traffic light, less than a 1/2 mile from an existing traffic light. The traffic planners were required to do their study based on an "unnamed" anchor store. They've already admitted the numbers are invalid if a Walmart or similar store comes in. In the summer, traffic in the vicinity of this location is already a nightmare. We're talking about turning it into a gridlock.
Secondly, we already have hardware stores, clothing stores, drug stores, sporting goods stores, book stores, and tacky little crap stores selling Chinese imports. They're owned by our friends and neighbors. They live here, shop here, raise their kids here, go to church with us here, and perhaps most importantly, pay their business taxes here. We would really prefer not to see them go out of business, which for some of them will happen without question if/when Walmart shows up. Yeah, I suspect we all shop at Walmart sometime during the month, but there are already two of 'em within a 20 minute drive. Whether those communities should have been burdened with their Walmarts isn't really a factor in this fight and isn't justification for building another one. They already exist, and their communities did not band together to try to prevent them.
Yeah, charm is nice but it ain't the lead dog in this fight.
Last edited by PawleysDude; 09-23-2012 at 07:47 AM..
The sad irony that must remain forefront in this discussion is that the PI and MI communities worked hard after the Lowe's fight to get a zoning overlay enacted along the Waccamaw Neck to block "big box" stores before they ever requested approval. Everyone involved at that time thought the problem was fixed, including the one of 7 County Council members who gave a damn enough to bother responding to my letter.
Before the developer ever bought the property, he was well aware of this overlay. Rather than respecting the community's wishes, he feels he has found a loophole that will allow him to exploit and do an end-run around the county ordnances. This is not speculation; this is public record, and he is not hesitant to say that. In retrospect, the overlay regulations were poorly written, but their intent is clear. So once again, this decision will come down to 7 people, five of whom live nowhere near PI and who have their own agendas.
Secondly, we already have hardware stores, clothing stores, drug stores, sporting goods stores, etc. that serve PI. They're owned by our friends and neighbors. They live here, shop here, raise their kids here, go to church with us here, and perhaps most importantly, pay their business taxes here. We would really prefer not to see them go out of business, which for some of them will happen without question if/when Walmart shows up. Yeah, I suspect we all shop at Walmart sometime during the month, but there are already two of 'em within a 20 minute drive. Whether those communities should have been burdened with their Walmarts isn't really a factor in this fight and isn't justification for building another one. They already exist, and their communities did not band together to try to prevent them.
I will admit I was a Walmart shopper. I would shop the locally owned stores when possible, but I wouldn't likely go out of my way to do so, and as PD mentioned the arrival of Walmart puts many out of business and greatly diminishes your options. The goings on in PI has reminded me of the importance of shopping in stores that will have the greatest benefit for our neighbors and communities.
Someone posted this on Don't Box the Neck's facebook page: "When you buy from a mom and pop store you aren't helping a CEO buy a third vacation home. You are helping a little girl get dance lessons, a little boy get his team jersey, a mom or dad put food on the table, a family pay a mortgage, a student pay for college. Our customers are our shareholders and they are the ones we strive to make happy. Thank you for supporting small business!"
I haven't stepped foot into a Walmart since hearing of this and I don't plan on shopping there in the future if I can help it (and, being a little inconvenienced and having to go out of my way is no longer an excuse for me)
I hope that the renewed interest by a "big box" developer will point out for the current residents that they need to get busy re-writing the ordinances so that they are more iron clad. I'm still not clear on the process for such an action, but it seems pretty obvious that the rules need to be clear and unchallengable for the future.
I also think that it wouldn't hurt a thing to add some rules that would stop the addition of more of these "junk" stores and fast food places.
I am still bothered by the way that the developers have handled the whole scenario- from the "back room" meetings that started a year ago, to the quiet application to purchase of the "extension" property which would have given the space to proceed with the huge store, to the secrecy about who they actually are representing; the whole MO has just rubbed me the wrong way and certainly portrays them as less than "good neighbors". Too bad that the company that owns the property
seems so unsavory because anything they try to do now will be suspect in the eyes of the community.
I did read through the blow-by-blow written by the rep from the Observer, and kudos to that person for giving a sense of the meeting to those of us unable to attend.
Thanks to everyone who has been posting to this thread to help me keep up with what's happening. Please keep it up!
So, the Coastal Observer arrived and I will be interested to see what comes next week as the version I have went to press before last week's big meeting.
In trying to sort out what I've read, this question keeps coming to my mind...why doesn't the council just re-zone the property back to the original status? If I understand correctly, the "planned development" designation was put in place prior to the Food Lion debacle- since that plan failed, why not just rescind(sp?) the zoning and make the whole overlay/planned development/ expansion moot?
And now I have a query to put to y'all...local or visitor....if this were your decision to make, what would you do with the property? That guy who keeps saying that no one has offered a better solution than bringing in a big retailer has me wondering what "the people" would like to see in the place of this current eyesore ( I think that we can all agree that the Plaza site is currently an eyesore, can't we?) . I have some ideas, and I promise to share, but let's hear from y'all first.....
I was going to mention in my allotted 3 minutes my idea for the area. I absolutely love the hammock shop area, going dancing at night at Nosh, the quaintness of all the little shops, I think something like that, with lots of mature trees planted, would be really nice.
Thanks for your reply chili'. That sounds great...anything that promotes small businees growth or or would provide some type of NEEDED services would be great in my humble opinion.
We were down this weekend and I picked up the Waccamaw Times but haven't read it yet. After I read that and see what the Observer brings next week, I'll try to come back for a chat. We are departing for a long vacation next week so if the paper doesn't arrive before I leave it will a couple weeks before I get back to participate here. Please don't let the thread die...another vote is not that far off and perhaps we can help keep people interested if we keep posting.
Thanks for all the support, everyone.
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