Conway’s entire downtown could fit inside a proposed development. Will the city OK it?
Melani Cuttone lives on the edge of two futures.
In one of them, she’ll continue to enjoy the red-tailed hawks, foxes, turkeys and other wildlife that sometimes wander into her yard.
In the other, a cluster of homes and new commercial spaces could take shape just a few hundred yards away — cutting into the quiet occasionally interrupted by the chirp of a cricket or rustling treetop.
“We love it out here,” Cuttone said. “I mean, it’s kind of bittersweet. I understand with the influx of people coming in that they’re going to need to do something, but I think building a ton of homes very quickly — and not that well just to satisfy that need — is a little silly.
“We kind of like our little forest here, and I wouldn’t like people messing with it too much, to be honest with you.”
Conway officials will decide which becomes reality for Cuttone and others along a rural Horry County road. Developers are seeking to annex land into Conway for a mixed-use venture expected to include thousands of new residential units.
At question are parcels totaling more than 1,700 acres at the corner of U.S. Highway 701 South and Pitch Landing Road — a swath of land so large that Conway’s entire downtown district could fit inside of it. Horry County land records show the real estate is worth almost $9.7 million on the open market.
Pending approval by the city, more than 3,000 homes would be built in the area over the next 15 years.
Several parcels have ties to well-known business leaders, including Waccamaw Land & Timber owner Keith Hinson and Southern Asphalt founder Donald Godwin. Hinson could not be reached for comment on April 17.
The largest piece — a 1,697-acre property known as the Warden Station tract — carries an asking price of $20 million, according to a Seacoast Realty listing.
“The reality is if we say no to this project, guess what? It’s going got happen anyway in the county. And so this is an opportunity to have a little more control,” City Council member William Goldfinch IV said April 17. “It’s going to be a nicer project in the city of Conway than otherwise I think it would be.”
Effects on Conway
The venture would have a significant impact on public safety and utility services. The project has also raised concerns about flooding.
Conway’s police department would need to hire four new officers, a detective and a supervisor to create a patrol sector. Authorities also said in city documents that “major upgrades” to U.S. Highway 701, including signalized intersections, road widening and improved turning lanes, need to be completed ahead of build out.
Last December, Bucksport Water Systems wrote in an email to city staff that a new treatment facility might need to be constructed to accommodate future growth.
Cuttone’s South Ferry subdivision is connected to Pitch Landing — a two-lane road dotted with vegetation, farmland and crows picking up pieces of food and debris. It ends at a boat landing at the Waccamaw River.
Over the last year, the city has approved annexations of Buck’s Township Storage and a Dollar General along U.S. Highway 701, with a pending request by The Gun Store likely to happen later in the spring.
A public hearing on the annexations is set for a May 4 planning commission meeting. The council could give its final approval by May 15.
