HGTC: Why would treatment facility be allowed near our buildings? | Opinion
Horry-Georgetown Technical College (HGTC) is puzzled about why the city of Conway might remove a buffer that the city’s own Unified Development Ordinance established to protect educational facilities.
That ordinance defines educational facilities as “any building or part thereof which is designed, constructed or used for education or instruction in any branch of knowledge and meets the requirements for elementary or secondary education.”
In late December 2022, the college presented an appeal to the Conway Board of Zoning Appeals concerning a variance request by Claycon Pharma Conway Re, LLC at 1800 Husted Road. The city’s Unified Development Ordinance states that a facility of this type should not be located closer than 1,000 feet from a school that serves high school students.
The proposed drug treatment facility would be located less than 1,000 feet from HGTC, which has served high school students through its dual enrollment program for more than two decades. Through this program HGTC serves K-12 students, including high school juniors and seniors as well as private and home-schooled students. Successful participants in the program receive both high school and college credit.
The purpose of the appeal by HGTC officials was to have the Conway Board of Zoning Appeals consider the circumstances of the college within the context of the zoning ordinance.
The notion that HGTC is exclusively higher education is simply not supported by the college’s mission statement and its enrollment of more than 1,000 high school students.
If the proposed facility were to be constructed, the secondary students we serve would be less than 1,000 feet away despite the fact that the Unified Development Ordinance offers a protection to the college and the students it serves.
Between the two facilities that are within the affected area, the college spent more than $9 million for the buildings and equipment in those buildings. One of the buildings, built within the last five years, is within 800 feet from the planned location of the drug treatment facility. The other property is located less than 500 feet from the proposed facility.
HGTC is trying to protect its students and the Unified Development Ordinance offers this protection.
The appeal is not in opposition to the facility. HGTC has a solid history of helping to abate the effects certain drugs cause in a community. Rather the college is asking the Conway Board of Zoning and Appeals to follow the Unified Development Ordinance which HGTC understands is supported by the city’s comprehensive plan. This request in no way stands in the way of providing drug treatment at facilities in other nearby locations.
