MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WBTW) – More development could be coming to the Carolina Forest area, and it’s targeting people who don’t have enough room in their homes.
A proposed mini storage facility on International Drive at the entryway to the neighborhood would be the tallest in that area.
So not only are areas of the Forest expanding out, they’re also expanding up. At 96,000 square feet and three stories tall, it would add some height to the neighborhood.
“It’s not gonna be taller than the trees that are there,” said Horry County planning and zoning director David Schwerd. “So it’s not going to be distracting in that sense.”
Schwerd said it’s not your typical mini storage facility with roll up doors on the outside; instead you’d back a truck into an unloading area and drop off items from the inside of the building.
To put the size of the building into perspective, the Walmart on Highway 501 is about 110,000 square feet. “So it’s almost as big as that building,” Schwerd explained. “It’s just stacked on top of each other.”
He told News13 there’s a need for something like this specifically in Carolina Forest. “Most of our subdivisions don’t allow storage buildings,” he said Monday. “They run out of room in their garage; many HOAs don’t allow you to have accessory buildings or storage buildings.”
But not everyone runs into this problem.
“I don’t find any point to that structure being there,” said Kathryn Stillman, who lives in Carolina Forest.
Stillman said she would like to see something else go up. “Something that would probably be more useful is a CVS for the residents of Carolina Forest,” she said. “Just because those residents have to go all the way down 501.”
But the county isn’t seeking public input. “Within Horry County, as long as you meet all the required rules and regulations for development, and you’re zoned appropriately, then you do not have to go through any public hearing process,” Schwerd explained.
The business is requesting site plan approvals and storm water permits, and Schwerd expects those to get final approval soon. Construction would be able to begin after that.
Another mini storage facility is in the works for a property on Highway 544 at Pine Hollow and Leisure Lane, near the Socastee Recycling Center. At around 30,000 square feet, this facility would be a third of the size of the proposed one in Carolina Forest.