Conway City Council approved first reading of an annexation that would add homes to the site of the former Conway Country Club Golf Course at Monday night’s council meeting. Dozens of people said they’re frustrated about the proposed changes.

“What I have to say is sort of along the lines of the previous speaker, I’m just raising some concerns,” said one resident worried about what the new development could do to the neighborhood.

The people living near the former golf course site are not opposed to the near 200 homes that could be developed there, they’re just concerned. 

33 people came to the council meeting to talk about the plans to replace the golf course on Country Club Drive. Flooding and traffic were the top two concerns of those who spoke up at the meeting.

“My concern is, 200 homes, on concrete slabs, with concrete patios, concrete driveways, sidewalks, and paved roads,” said Connie Smith, who lives near Country Club Drive. “If you stand at the golf course and you look towards Sherwood, that water’s going to come towards Crabtree.”

“We have several, two dozen concerned members as part of Winyah Rivers Alliance, as it relates to this proposal, particularly flooding,” said April O’Leary, also a Conway resident who’s near the development site. “Flooding is our number one concern.”

Forrest Beverly, the developer with Beverly Homes, says the people’s concerns are his concerns, too, because he also lives in the neighborhood.

He says their plan has flood preparedness in mind.

“We’ve got almost 60% of pond space on that property,” he said. “Usually, a neighborhood of that size only has about 10%. So, we’re trying to put more ponds, put more places to store water.”

And, as for traffic, Beverly says it comes with a growing city. 

“No doubt about it, I wish there weren’t any cars,” said Beverly. “The reality of it is, my grandmother used to play kickball on 544, it was a dirt road.” 

City administrator Adam Emrick says if a second reading is approved, developers can engineer the development to be more sensitive to water than when it was built in the 1930s. 

“Your concerns are in sync with our concerns,” said Mayor Barbara Bellamy. “We are looking at all the data, we are involving the experts that we can.”

This first reading council approved would allow a slightly larger size per lot, 10,000 square feet, instead of 7,500 square feet.

Although, they could decide to change that back to 7,500 square feet at the next meeting, if they see fit.