Neighbors have prevailed in the argument against a planned concrete batch plant near Freestyle Music Park.
Property owner Myra Starnes withdrew her request to rezone 2 acres on Wesley Road just as the request was about to come before Horry County Council for third and final reading - and likely defeat - next week.
"We are celebrating because we see that the process does work," said resident Gerald Campisi, who lives on Burcale Road near Arrowhead golf club. "We think there's a lot that could be done with the area, but this just wasn't an appropriate use."
Neighbors and neighboring businesses have been lobbying against the rezoning request since it came before the council, but the request passed its first two readings and looked like it was headed for final approval.
However, a recent meeting and a volley of e-mails and calls from residents near Arrowhead golf club showed District 4 Councilman Gary Loftus just how much opposition the rezoning request and planned cement plant generated.
"If I get 10 e-mails from people, I know there's some passion about an issue," said Loftus, who requested the meeting with residents. "But this was, actually, incredible."
He said he had at least 50 e-mails - and not just copies of an original complaint but original pleas for help - plus phone calls. Residents requested a meeting with him recently, and Campisi said about 100 people turned out.
They expressed concerns about the dust that comes from a cement batch plant, because it is alkaline and abrasive, and about the noise of a plant operating overnight. They were also worried about the damage to Wesley Road from overuse by large trucks hauling supplies and cement.
"There were pros and cons, but the more I got into the issue, the more the cons outweighed the pros," Loftus said. "Wesley Road is one. It's a state road, so you can guess where it would stand on the list for repairs."
Starnes refused to comment, saying she was too busy.
Loftus sent an e-mail to residents letting them know about her withdrawal.
"Please know that your overwhelming response opposing the re-zoning got the attention of County Council, and made my job persuading other Council members to join me in opposition easier. In the end, I think that Ms. Starnes realized it was going nowhere and withdrew her re-zoning application," he wrote.
Batch plants have been a topic of concern in Horry County lately. The county is trying to figure out which of its 16 plants it can allow to operate several nights a month while large construction projects such as the back gate overpass and the Myrtle Beach International Airport terminal expansion are being completed.
The county has said projects like the new overpass at U.S. 17 Bypass and Farrow Boulevard and the airport's new and larger facilities must be worked on at night because the disruption to daytime traffic - including air traffic - is unacceptable.
Because cement for the projects must be mixed close to the time it's going to be used, some batch plants will get the OK to run at night.
Neighbors of the planned plant on Wesley Road were concerned at first because they thought it would run 24 hours a day, every day. Loftus said there was no guarantee the plant that would have gone on Starnes' land would have received permission to operate at night at all.
But the question is moot now, he said.
"Perception is reality, and they perceived it as a threat," Loftus said.
Campisi said neighbors are against any rezoning that would allow heavy industry in an area zoned for light industry, especially so close to houses and apartments. He said businesses around Starnes' property were also instrumental in lobbying against the rezoning.
"We don't want to bring one business in and chase all the others away," Campisi said.
Starnes has the option to bring the same rezoning request before the council again, or she can ask for a different rezoning or leave the property as is.
Whatever she or other property owners plan to do in the area, Campisi said, "we will be keeping an eye on it."
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