Neighbors upset over location of proposed animal shelter. What else is built around them?

Along Waterside Drive just outside Myrtle Beach, there are dozens of beautiful homes with manicured lawns and large boats sitting in the driveways. But if you drive a few minutes closer to Highway 17, the houses stop and a light industrial zone starts.

Located in that area is a palm tree nursery, a Santee Cooper owned power station and an automotive shop that is overflowing with cars.

This is where the Grand Strand Humane Society wants to build a new shelter. Its potential location has residents upset.

In November, Santee Cooper announced that it was going to lease a plot of land located around the intersection of Waterside Drive and Piedmont Avenue to the Grand Strand Humane Society for free. It would give the overcrowded animal shelter a much-needed new home.

But at the Jan. 2 Horry County Council meeting, at least 14 people showed up with complaints over the shelter location. This caused county council members to withdraw their support for the project, saying they did not realize how close the shelter would be to homes when they offered support.

Although residents have complained about the impact of a shelter, they already live next to a light industrial zone. Homeowners can look out their back window and see storage units and hear people grinding stone at Coastal Granite. The neighborhood is also next to the Myrtle Beach International Airport, where planes fly low over the neighborhood as they prepare to land.

Homeowners Tom and Jackie Woodle, who have lived on Waterside Drive since 1998, said Thursday that they knew about the industrial park when they moved in. Jackie said she had to sign a waiver saying she knew airplanes would be flying overhead.

However, the Woodles are worried that an animal shelter could bring an increase in noise and traffic that the other businesses don’t have. Several of the businesses, like the palm tree nursery and Coastal Granite, don’t have people driving in regularly the way an animal shelter and veterinary clinic would, the homeowners said.

Homeowners also fear that an animal shelter moving in could bring down property values.

What’s next for the shelter?

Santee Cooper decided to pause progress on the land lease after also receiving complaints from residents. The proposed land lease was supposed to go before the South Carolina Joint Bond Review Committee for approval earlier this month, but Santee Cooper decided to talk to residents before doing so.

Santee Cooper officials met with neighbors to hear concerns on Jan. 12 at their office located between Conway and Myrtle Beach. The Grand Strand Humane Society executive director Jess Wnuk also met with residents on Jan. 24 to talk about concerns, the Woodles said.

Wnuk did not respond to The Sun News’ request to comment.

The next Joint Bond Review Committee meeting is March 20, said Santee Cooper public relations specialist Tracy Vreeland. The company will have made a decision by then, she said.

This is the second location the shelter has sought. The previous site was located in a neighborhood and zoning code needed to be changed for the shelter to be built.

In June, the Humane Society pulled its zoning request right before it was expected to be rejected by the Horry County Council.

Wnuk told The Sun News on Jan. 3 that council members advised her to find a piece of land that would not need rezoning — which is what she did.

The Santee Cooper owned land is “light industrial” so it is already zoned properly for an animal shelter.