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If anything is happening, it is primarily behind closed doors. The organized groups opposed to the presence of Walmart are supporting the Planning Commission's recommendation that the shopping center be developed in compliance with the existing zoning overlay, restricting store size to 60K square feet. They are being careful not to specifically oppose Walmart, as long as the developer and Walmart are prepared to comply with the zoning overlay. A recent email from Don't Box the Neck stated:
Quote:
Sunbelt Ventures, to the best of our knowledge, has not yet agreed with the Planning Commission’s recommendation that stores over 45,000 square feet (60,000 with an exception) be prohibited from building in Pawleys Island. Therefore, we continue to insist that compliance with that recommendation is Sunbelt’s only legal recourse. As Sue Ann Crawford, Chairperson of the Don’t Box the Neck Committee wrote to Dusty Wiederhold of Sunbelt Ventures, “the DBTN committee is committed to upholding the [zoning] ordinances, and the law that supports them. We are not interested in trying to pick and choose our neighbors or who invests in our community, or who locates in your development. We have publicly stated that we support the Planning Commission recommendation, and that we would like to see the Pawleys Plaza redeveloped in a manner consistent with the intent of the Overlay Zone and the community.”
The 3 County Commissioners most closely aligned with the Neck area have come out in support of the Planning Commission's recommendation. The other 4 are thus far non-committal. This is similar to the situation with Lowe's. The final vote is likely to be 4-3, one way or the other.
The 11/13 meeting is primarily procedural, and attendance is not being pushed by any of the opposition groups. The 12/11 meeting will be the 2nd of 3 votes on the issue and will be the important one. Nothing is likely to happen until around that time, unless the developer decides to make a significant public statement regarding their planned actions.
THere were a few things posted today on the Don't Box the Neck Fbook page. Included is contact information, they are requesting people send emails to council members to express your thoughts on the proposed development. There are 2 separate postings, the second one has the contact info.
AN OPEN LETTER RESPONSE TO THE BIG BOX/WAL MART DEVELOPERS
As chair of the Don’t Box the Neck committee, I want to reiterate that we are diverse mixtures of different residents from diverse backgrounds and passions, but we come together on the purpose of holding the line on the intent of the Waccamaw Neck Overlay zone. We understand that our Waccamaw Neck community at large is in line with this purpose, as evidenced by the turnout for the Planning Commission hearing. Those folks understand and appreciate that the Waccamaw Neck is a special and unique place. Its character is very special to us and to the many tourists and visitors who come here to vacation or live. We residents respond to challenges which we believe will change that character and uniqueness with a deep visceral intensity.
As we discussed, the DBTN committee is committed to upholding the ordinances, and the law that supports them. We are not interested in trying to pick and choose our neighbors or who invests in our community, or who locates in your development. We have publicly stated that we support the Planning Commission recommendation, and that we would like to see the Pawleys Plaza redeveloped in a manner consistent with the intent of the Overlay zone and the community. That would be good for all of us.
I thought you were going to give us some idea of how you plan to modify your proposal by last Friday. Since we didn’t get anything, I assume you have not yet come to a decision. Our position has been, and continues to be, that we support the recommendation of the Planning Commission and the letter of the law, the intent of the Overlay zone and applicable Court decisions. You made mention of an
84,000 square foot structure approved by the 2008 PUD amendment. That 2008 PUD amendment was for multiple stores under one roof. If you are proposing a number of different stores meeting the requirements of the Overlay zone, such as currently exists, we believe the community would support that. If you are proposing one store of
84,000 square feet, we believe that would not comply with the spirit, intent or language of the Overlay zone. We look forward to a plan that meets the criteria of the Overlay zone.
SueAnn Crawford, Chair
Don’t Box the Neck Committee LLC
47 DAYS UNTIL THE FINAL DECISION AT COUNTY COUNCIL TUESDAY, DECEMBER 11TH!
We need to BE THERE
and BE HEARD one more time!
Help Give the Waccamaw Neck a Christmas Present!
DON’T BOX THE NECK
***PLEASE CONTACT COUNCIL MEMBERS WHOM HAVE NOT YET MADE THEIR POSITIONS KNOWN*** The Georgetown County Planning Commission has made its recommendation to County Council on the Sunbelt Proposal requiring the project to conform with the overlay zone (NO BIG BOX!) which we obviously support. The final decision will be made by The County Council on December 11th.
Please contact as well one or more of the following council members who have not yet made their positions known. While representing areas of the county not directly impacted by this issue, we feel their interests and those of their constituents are best served by supporting those council members most directly affected by such a drastic change to the Waccamaw Neck.
Please contact or write to one or more of the following County Councilmen to thank them for their support of our efforts and for their determination to help Pawleys Island retain its character as a unique seaside resort (all phone number have an 843 prefix):
The November 13 meeting of the County Council is merely a first read-through. Attendance is welcome but not necessary. On December 11 the all-important vote of the County Council on the Planning Commission’s recommendation will take place. We know some of you will be travelling in December, but please try to plan to be here, if at all possible, for this overridingly important meeting.
And one more, this was a personal email I received. I signed up to be on the mailing list at the meeting.
Sunbelt Ventures, to the best of our knowledge, has not yet agreed with the Planning Commission’s recommendation that stores over 45,000 square feet (60,000 with an exception) be prohibited from building in Pawleys Island. Therefore, we continue to insist that compliance with that recommendation is Sunbelt’s only legal recourse.
As Sue Ann Crawford, Chairperson of the Don’t Box the Neck Committee wrote to Dusty Wiederhold of Sunbelt Ventures, “the DBTN committee is committed to upholding the [zoning] ordinances, and the law that supports them. We are not interested in trying to pick and choose our neighbors or who invests in our community, or who locates in your development. We have publicly stated that we support the Planning Commission recommendation, and that we would like to see the Pawleys Plaza redeveloped in a manner consistent with the intent of the Overlay Zone and the community.”
The purpose of this email is to request that you contact or write to one or more of the following County Councilmen to thank them for their support of our community’s efforts and for their determination to help Pawleys Island retain its character as a unique seaside resort (all phone number have an 843 prefix):
Please contact as well one or more of the following council members who have not yet made their positions known. While representing areas of the county not directly impacted by this issue, we feel their interests and those of their constituents are best served by supporting those council members most directly affected by such a drastic change to the Waccamaw Neck. They are:
The November 13 meeting of the County Council is merely a first read-through. Attendance is welcome but not necessary. On December 11 the all-important vote of the County Council on the Planning Commission’s recommendation will take place. If you make contact with any of the above officials, please stress the importance of holding this meeting in Pawleys Island to allow the community the greatest possible access. We know some of you will be travelling in December, but please try to plan to be here, if at all possible, for this overridingly important meeting.
Just wanted to bump this up as it gets closer to the meetings.
I understand that the meeting this week is largely proceedural, but it occurred to me that if Sunbelt is revising their position it may be important for people to hear what the new ideas are.
I wondered how the local elections went, also. Any help there?
Latest update, received in an email from the DBTN committee: Sounds to me like Sunbelt is up to something kinda sneaky!!
Several members of the DBTN Committee attended the 11-13-12 meeting of the Georgetown County Council. Sunbelt Ventures was represented and made no change to their request for a 119,500 square foot big box store in the Pawleys Island Community. Sunbelt has until the day of the decisive meeting on December 11 to submit an altered request, unless the County Council specifies otherwise. Depending on the degree of variance from the present request, a revised plan may or may not have to be resubmitted to the Planning Commission. If it conforms to the current zoning regulations, an altered plan could probably be voted on December 11. In the event that their request is not approved, Sunbelt would be required to wait one year before resubmitting.
As it stands, that meeting, for which your attendance is crucial, will be held in Georgetown at the Old Court House with limited seating. We would like a change of venue (Waccamaw High School is our choice) but have little influence on that decision. If Sunbelt determines it is in their interest, they are permitted to request a delay of the December 11 meeting. They have not shared their intentions with us nor, we believe, with the Council.
In order to keep interested parties like yourselves informed, we will place signs in prominent locations along Route 17 to make known the date/time/location of the meeting. We will also include that information on our Web site at: Don't Box the Neck
Please look for further information in the 11/15/12 (and subsequent) Coastal Observer. As the information on the December 11 meeting becomes clearer, we will disseminate it to all of you as quickly as possible. Contacts with councilmen to make your wishes known are still welcome. Thank you for your patience and perserverance.
Hi chili'.I was reading the online Observer yesterday and I agree that SunBelt is probably doing some behind the scenes manuvering. I need to re-read the articles to pin-point what made me think "they are up to something".
This is certainly deflecting attention from other development in the area; there is a new construction site touting "restaurants and shoppping" across from Pawleys Plantation that we noticed last trip, and there was another spot further north that we noticed as well.
Thanks for continuing to pipe-in. I'll try to hold up my end a little better now that our travel days are slowing down.
The developers have requested that second reading be delayed until January, and they are indicating they are dropping the 120K sq ft building from their plans. It's beginning to smell like a victory, but it's important to realize there are still developers involved, which has an odor all it's own. We'll see....
They will be meeting with the DBTN committee, I feel hopeful but not quite thrilled. I think it might be a little too early for that. But this is great news!!!
a big box is out, good news, but the plan has not yet been made public.
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