A proposed Horry County Council resolution aims to slow development in areas more than five miles from a fire station or around fire stations manned by volunteers, but stops short of restricting rezoning.
Officials say increasing residential growth in unincorporated areas, especially in more rural western and northern parts of Horry County, endangers residents with limited access to emergency services.
“It’s a problem with the western part growing the way it’s growing and something that we are definitely going to have to address,” said Public Safety Committee Chairman Danny Hardee.
Committee members approved a “resolution to express county council’s desire to limit residential rezonings that increase density on parcels served by volunteer fire stations and ISO 10 areas” in a meeting Tuesday. Most of those areas are currently zoned as forest agriculture, which only allows low-density residential uses.
If passed in a full county council meeting, the resolution will officially acknowledge council’s desire to limit further residential rezoning in certain areas until career fire stations are built and funded, but it won’t take steps to actually slow growth…