Personal Injury Attorneyin Conway, SC.

CONWAY — Tony Zack did a quick doubletake as he rounded the corner of Laurel Street and Second Avenue during his Monday evening walk.

Why was a 10-foot skeleton standing beside the city planning office? By the time he noticed the plastic pumpkin-laden trees and the 12-foot grim reaper scarecrow, it clicked: Conway was again dressing up as Halloween.

“They named the city Halloween,” said Zack, who has lived in Conway for about 17 years. “I know it was just (a stunt, but) it’s a lot of fun. It’s just different.”

Rebranding Conway as the city of Halloween is also lucrative. What started as a gimmick by local officials last year to generate some seasonal buzz morphed into a monthlong celebration that provided a boost in fall tourism to the city of 27,000-plus.

Conway officials reported an 18 percent average increase in retail and restaurant sales, and a nearly 6 percent increase in hospitality revenue. The city’s downtown saw more than 20 times the number of visitors that it did the previous October.

“This little thing that we did that really didn’t cost us anything was huge for the city,” said City Administrator Adam Emrick, who is scheduled to speak next month at the International City/County Management Association conference in Austin, Texas. His session is titled “Halloween, South Carolina: How we won October.”

Unlike South Carolina’s tourism engine on the coast, Conway, which sits about 15 miles outside Myrtle Beach, doesn’t see big summer crowds. For many beachbound tourists, the city is essentially a gas stop on the way to the ocean.

Recognizing Conway’s peak tourism season runs from September through May, city officials in recent years refocused their marketing, promoting events in the fall, winter and spring.

“When we made that change, it changed everything for us as a downtown and we have seen so many returns on those investments, and we want to continue to do that,” said Hillary Howard, executive director of Conway Downtown Alive, which promotes city tourism. “We want people to be proud of where they live. We want people to come visit them because they live in Conway, not because they’re close to the beach.”

The idea for a seasonal rebranding emerged in January 2022 when Emrick was planning the city’s fall events.

Conway had already enhanced its decorating by placing hundreds of plastic jack-o-lanterns in trees in 2019 and later hanging black hats over the fountain beside City Hall to create a “witches’ garden.”

“We were trying to figure out how we were going to up the ante,” Emrick said. “We just couldn’t figure out what we were going to do. What are we going to do to make it more?”

Emrick had previously tweaked the design of the city logo, adding ghosts and bats to make it look like a haunted house for October promotions. He started the same task again, this time looking for something more powerful, something iconic. On a whim, he substituted the city’s name with Halloween.

“That looks awesome,” he remembers thinking. “What if we did that?”

He asked other city staff and they liked the idea. Then he called the mayor. She was in, too.

For the month of October, Conway would be called Halloween.

With everyone on board, Emrick began planning what he dubbed Project October. The idea wasn’t just to temporarily change the city’s name, but to build a calendar of community events focused on the season. The goal was to encourage businesses and nonprofits to join in the fun, so it wasn’t just a bunch of city-sponsored festivities.

City officials asked the organizer of the Christmas boat parade to offer a Halloween boat parade. They went to First United Methodist Church and asked them to plan an event around the church’s pumpkin patch. The chamber of commerce’s annual meeting even took on a Halloween theme.

City officials also looked for gaps in the schedule. Where there were voids, they scheduled movie showings and created a haunted trail called the Forest of Fear.

“I do think downtown Conway does lend itself to the spooky season with our live oak trees and our dripping Spanish moss and our spooky alleyways,” said Howard of Conway Downtown Alive. “It just lends itself to this type of décor, so why not play up on the assets you have, right?”

CONWAY, S.C. (WMBF) -- The city of Conway will look to create the first-ever manmade Carolina Bay in hopes of building a more flood-resilient future.

City leaders say former Public Works Director, Kevin Chestnut was the true visionary for this project.

Chestnut retired in 2020 after an ALS diagnosis, but his former coworkers refused to sit back and give up on his vision.

“Not only has Kevin been invaluable for this project he’s one of the greatest city workers Conway ever seen,” said Mayor Barbara Blane-Bellamy.

In 2018 many of the homes in this Conway community sat several feet underwater brought on by Hurricane Florence. Many residents in the area chose to have their property bought out by FEMA leaving the city with very few options to repurpose this nearly eight acres of land.

However, Chestnut saw an opportunity to engineer a manmade Carolina Bay surrounded by natural wetlands capable of storing stormwater to help alleviate flooding from the Crabtree Canal.

“Kevin could always see things other people could not so we’re not just gonna build a stormwater pond with a chain-link fence around it we’re gonna make this something the city can enjoy,” said Deputy City Administrator, Mary Catherine Hyman.

To show their appreciation, the city unveiled a sign, cementing Chestnut’s legacy to this project forever. While he appreciates the honor, he says it was never about him.

“It means a lot after years of flooding in Conway and I always wanted to do more for the residents who were impacted,” said Chestnut.

Residents like April O’Leary. She stayed in Conway and founded Horry County Rising after being flooded out by Hurricane Florence.

“The fact that they’re adding some recreational space where families can come brings a tremendous amount of value back to our community which lost so much and that’s really important,” said O’Leary.

The project is expected to start the engineering phase next year and Chestnut hopes his vision will become a flood resiliency blueprint for more communities.

“To see this actually being done and offer people some help it sure means a lot,” said Chestnut.

Conway was able to secure over $2 million in FEMA grant funding earlier this year to get this project started.

Phase 1 will start next year which is primarily just engineering.

You will start to see more physical construction on what will become “Chestnut Bay” in 2025.

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Two large-scale projects — which are moving through the formal process of potentially being annexed — could come to the city of Conway, bringing hundreds of residential units.

The separate projects include more than 480 acres at U.S. 378 and Juniper Bay Road, as well as the Warden Station project that the city has been working with developers on since last year.

While the U.S. 378 proposed project hasn’t gone before city leaders at this point, the Warden Station project has caught the attention of nearby neighbors who fear the development will cause flooding and say the area’s infrastructure can’t handle more traffic.

But developers, who have worked with city staff to draft a development agreement, say the agreement is similar to a conservation subdivision or a type of subdivision meant to preserve land by creating smaller clusters of lots and smaller lots to conserve more open spaces.

“It’s not [a] conservation subdivision, but we took many of the aspects of the conservation subdivision regulations and incorporated those into our planned development district that we are proposing,” said Felix Pitts, an engineer with G3 Engineering who is representing the developer.

Some city council members have said the project’s outcome may be better than if it were located within unincorporated Horry County, citing the city’s design standards.

“People need to understand the growth is coming, and if it’s going to happen anyway, it’s better to happen in the city of Conway where design guideline standards are exponentially higher than that of Horry County,” said councilman William Goldfinch. “It’s better than what it otherwise may be.”

Goldfinch added that the longtime residents should not have to bear the cost of infrastructure improvements and new residents should be sharing those costs.

This week, the city council also unanimously approved an incentive application for a new hotel, the Holiday Inn at the University. The proposed 94- room hotel could be built at the corner of Highway 544 and Buccaneers Cove near Coastal Carolina University. City documents state the application is eligible for a seven-year reimbursement for the hospitality fees and property taxes.

The two residential development projects are the projects over 150 acres that have been formally submitted to the city recently, officials said.

Here’s a detailed look at those projects.

Warden Station

The proposed project could bring 1,763 acres of property into the city near Highway 701 South and Pitch Landing Road. Developers initially proposed 3,200 units that include both houses and multifamily dwellings.

The applicants deferred the project at the city’s last planning commission meeting to give staff more time to review the applicants’ responses to staff comments, Pitts said.

After going back and forth hearing opinions from the public as well as city staff, Pitts said the applicants are pursuing a planned development district incorporating aspects that may be seen in a conservation subdivision. Those include no residential development within areas designated as flood zones, “significant” open space contribution to the city of Conway with 150 acres of upland for parks and outdoor recreation in addition to 300 acres of wetlands, perimeter buffers around the entire project similar to conservation subdivision regulations, and voluntarily buffering existing wetlands, Pitts said.

City documents state the property includes nearly 724 acres of wetlands and 507 acres within a flood zone. Some of these overlap.

Pitts said the plans will allow for intersection improvements and other benefits.

“We’re never going to be able to do anything to stop development, but the question is: Does this property get developed with no master planning, helter skelter overtime and then the city of Conway gets all of the deficits really and none of the benefits? … That’s sort of what this is about, being able to control their own destiny," he said.

Nearby residents say they are concerned about flooding and more traffic. A traffic study was conducted, recommending offsite road improvements at different signalized intersections.

Debbie Kepley, who lives on Pitch Landing Drive, said she’s concerned about runoff onto her property and believes Highway 701 South is not prepared.

“We’ve gone down so many rabbit holes about all of the problems that this would cause,” she said.

“We’re not against it, per se, we want to be sure they are taking on all and getting professional opinions. This is not an area in which we can afford for it not to be done right.”

As the proposal progresses, local advocacy group Horry County Rising gave their input, requesting the developers create wider wetland buffers and help mitigate historical flooding.

The group’s leader April O’Leary said overall, her group’s concerns were addressed by the developers.

“From a riverine standpoint, riverine flooding, I’m really not too concerned with the riverine flooding,” she said. “It’ll actually hold more water than what the parcel currently holds.”

However, O’Leary said she is concerned about flash flooding and the possibility of Pitch Landing not being able to handle more people and boats.

The public’s chance to talk about the annexation and rezoning for this project has passed, but there is still a chance for those to express their opinions about the development agreement.

A second public hearing is scheduled to be held during the city council’s Sept. 18 meeting.

The rezoning and annexation request is required to receive a recommendation from planning commission. From there, it must have two favorable readings from city council before being finalized. The same is true for the development agreement.

Both of the proposals could appear on the next planning commission meeting agenda Sept. 7.

U.S. 378 development

An annexation and rezoning application was submitted to city officials, proposing to bring in multiple parcels that make up roughly 486 acres, mostly along U.S. 378 and Juniper Bay Road.

The applicants — Lennar Carolinas and Thomas and Hutton — are requesting a land development agreement that would allow for the properties to be annexed and rezoned for single-family detached dwellings, single-family attached dwellings, townhomes and commercial uses.

Conway leaders and developers worked Monday toward a happy medium over the proposed development off U.S. 701 South that could bring more than 3,300 residential units.

City council and the developer’s representatives discussed enhancement fees and city staff’s concerns over stormwater and traffic during a workshop session.

Officials are hoping to lock down a figure for enhancement fees, with the help of a fiscal study, so the city council can potentially take a first vote in December on the property being annexed and rezoned.

Last month, city leaders delayed the vote on the planned project that could bring the development to south Conway — what would be the largest development in the city's history.

The proposed development, also known as the Warden Station Tract, may add 1,763 acres of property for residential use into the city near Highway 701 South and Pitch Landing Road. Developers have proposed 3,318 units that include houses, townhouses and multifamily dwellings over the next 25 years.

The request for annexation and rezoning involves multiple parcels of land, with the largest being a roughly 1,637 acre parcel, Horry County land records state. The parcel was sold by International Paper Corp to Landbank XIV LLC in 2006 for $24.6 million.

On Monday, city officials said they plan to hold another workshop during a council meeting next month. From there, the annexation and rezoning request and development agreement could go to city council for a first reading as early as Dec. 4.

But city officials on Monday said they wanted clarity about the proposed neighborhood's future impacts before a vote was taken, and asked engineers and an attorney representing the developer to conduct a study.

This study would help city council determine enhancement fees — a one-time fee property owners would pay when they purchase a home in the neighborhood that would be part of the development agreement. Officials are hoping to save time by building off of a study conducted in 2007.

Discussion on Monday also included a potential municipal improvement district (MID), which would be a recurring tax property owners within the district would pay. It could be roughly a decade before a MID is put into place, officials said.

The city plans to procure an attorney to assist with the development agreement.

Funds collected from enhancement fees and a potential MID could be used toward public safety and widening U.S. 701 South, which is currently a two-lane road where the property is located.

“I’m all for [it] on the upfront,” Councilman William Goldfinch said of enhancement fees.

Shep Guyton, an attorney representing the developer, said enhancement fees depend on what services will be required from the city for a particular project.

The city does not plan to provide utilities to the proposed neighborhood, and the developer’s representatives said they plan to seek water from Bucksport Water System. City officials have said if the property is annexed into city limits, all city services with the exception of water and sewer would be provided to the neighborhood.

The developer would begin site work within 18 months of the property being rezoned and annexed, city officials said. One-fifth of the project would be completed within the first five years, and the subsequent phases would be completed over the next 20 years.

The property is not on Conway’s future land use map – a map that leaders use to guide the future of the city. The properties are, however, on the county’s future land use map as scenic and conservation, rural and rural communities.

City documents state the property includes nearly 724 acres of wetlands and 507 acres within a flood zone. Some of these overlap. A portion of the wetlands would later be deeded to the city. According to the site plans, there would be no building within the flood zone.

In recent months, residents have expressed concerns about flooding, infrastructure that may not be able to handle more traffic and a lack of public safety to handle a growing population.

But some city leaders have warned that if this development isn’t in city limits, the city will not be deeded 500 acres of protected land and there wouldn’t be a park within the neighborhood — a promise made by the developers, contingent upon the property being annexed into city limits.

Over the last few months, the city’s planning commission has discussed the proposed project and development agreement. In September, the commission gave favorable recommendations on both the rezoning and annexation requests and the development agreement, voting 6-2 in favor with changes based on staff’s and the commission’s recommendations.

Those changes include sidewalk additions in some areas, the completion of a spine road throughout the development and requiring the developer to pay 100% for road improvements.

Planning commission also voted 6-2 to approve the development agreement between the city and developer.

The city council will now refine the agreement and make decisions on any enhancement fees that would go toward public safety, sanitation, parks and recreation, and planning and development.

The request for annexation and rezoning would need two favorable votes from council. The city will also have to take separate votes on the development agreement.

Other council business

City council voted against a rezoning and annexation request Monday that would have brought a hot-mix asphalt plant into city limits near the Wild Wing community.

Wild Wing neighbors, who have expressed concerns about the operations at the plant, again shared with city leaders Monday issues they've experienced stemming from the operations at 154 Winyah Road, which include noise, large amounts of dust and concerns over air quality, and negative impacts to the area's wildlife.

But city officials said that any remedy would need to be addressed through the court system.

"This is a no-win situation here," said Councilman Justin Jordan, who asked what the city could do to assist in addressing the neighbors' concerns.

A team behind the largest planned development in Conway’s modern history will have another month to finalize its sales pitch as grassroots opposition builds.

Over the next 25 years, Fort Mill-based BRD Land & Investment hopes to transform more than 1,700 acres bounded by S.C. Highway 701, Kinlaw Lane and Pitch Landing Road into a massive mixed-use community with 3,300 homes and nearly 1.4 million square feet of commercial space.

But rather than build the project in Horry County, developers want what’s tentatively named Warden Station to become part of Conway — a lengthier process that requires annexation and approval of a development agreement that runs some 500 pages.

Given the project’s scope, planning officials set an Aug. 3 date to consider the annexation request and make their suggestion to the city council.

But hours before that meeting was to begin, the proposal was pushed to Sept. 7.

“It could be developed in Horry County with no control on the part of the city, so you end up having to deal with all the problems that could be created while not getting any contribution, any additional open space, nothing else that benefits the city,” Robert “Shep” Guyton, an attorney representing BRD Land & Investment, told the town’s planning commission on July 13.

“There’s value in the brand of being in Conway,” Guyton said. “You all have created a name that does add value, it’s where people want to live. Horry County of itself doesn’t have an identity.”

If Conway approves the deal, the development would include the following:

Outside the city’s planning offices on Aug. 3, Elaine Kemp stood clutching a stack of petitions collected from dozens of residents who are against the venture. She’s also administrator of “Conway People for Responsible Building,” a Facebook watchdog group.

Long-time residents like Tim Wolfe, who lives off Pitch Landing Road, said despite the developer’s accommodations, such heavy use in the rural area would affect his quality of life.

“Most of the people I know that live down in this area, we don’t want another Carolina Forest, and that’s exactly what this place is going to turn into,” Wolfe said.

A traffic study included as part of the development plan shows annual daily trips of 7,800 on Pitch Landing Road and 16,600 on S.C. Highway 701 — figures expected to nearly double by 2050.

“Traffic control all along the coast in this area, not just in Conway, is a problem,” said Conway resident Sam Viola. “Car insurance is skyrocketing in state. Homeowners’ insurance is skyrocketing in the state.”

This story was originally published August 3, 2023, 8:03 PM.