MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WBTW) – Now that the road is paved, these days a lot more people are seeing the land off International Drive, and Horry County’s Interim Planning & Zoning Director David Schwerd says you’ll continue to see the undeveloped land.
“The majority of International Drive is actually protected on both sides either by the South Carolina heritage preserve [Lewis Ocean Bay] or by the property that was recently acquired by Horry County for a new heritage preserve – the Independent Republic Heritage Preserve,” explained Schwerd.
With the protections on both sides, one road may still be built to connect to International Drive. There is a possibility that one day Gardner Lacy Road may extend to from Carolina Forest.
Outside of the protections there are really only two other parcels of land with other owners. A plot near Highway 90 at International Drive is owned by the county’s Solid Waste Authority. Schwerd says that land will be used for dirt to cover garbage in the nearby landfill. In the distant future it may eventually be repurposed for recreational use or other development.
The only other parcel of land that could be developed is right beside The Farm subdivision along International Drive. County records show it is owned by Landbank Fund VII LLC, which has a listed address of an accountant’s office in Whiteville, NC. The area is mostly wetlands, so Schwerd says it would be difficult to develop, but it is zoned for general residential.
“Even if they develop that tract, it’ll be very limited in the size and scope of the project. It won’t be a large subdivision in terms of the ones in Carolina Forest,” Schwerd said.
Another thing expected to stay the same along International Drive is prescribed burns. South Carolina DNR requested drop-down gates be installed near each end of the road to stop traffic as DNR continues to do controlled burns in the wildlife area.”
“The flora and the fauna at Lewis Ocean Bay are fire-adapted species,” DNR Biologist James Fowler explained. “Without fire a lot of the species would disappear from the landscapes.”
In addition to preserving the landscape, regular burning also reduces the burnable material that could help a wildfire spread if one ever sparks in the area.
DNR says it burns sections of land in the preserve nearly every day that conditions are good enough. However, they’ll only block traffic with the drop-down gates on days when smoke will cover International Drive.
