Over 200 homes, marina, restaurant planned for Intracoastal Waterway community in North Myrtle Beach

NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WMBF) - People living along Little River Neck Road will have some new neighbors soon.

The North Myrtle Beach City Council approved plans for a new housing development between the road and the Intracoastal Waterway.

Community members from Little River Neck Road gathered at the Tidewater Plantation amenity center Wednesday night to learn more about the project from the engineer.

“We have seen a lot of development along Little River Neck Road,” said North Myrtle Beach Mayor Marilyn Hatley. “I remember when it was all woods. It is a beautiful area, and people love to live around the water.”

Hatley has seen a lot of changes throughout her city in the two decades she’s served. One area that’s seen more than most is Little River Neck Road. But there may be space for just one more project.

“We’ve been messing around with a new design for nearly two and a half years,” said project engineer Mike Wooten. “You start with a blank piece of paper, and you end up with a community where people live.”

That blank piece of paper was filled in with 250 new homes - 150 town homes and 100 single-family homes between Little River Neck Road and the Intracoastal.

Along the waterway, the development will feature a private marina with 50 slips, a restaurant and ship store.

Many who already live along the two lane Little River Neck Road all have the same question.

“What kind of impact this is going to have on the one way in, one way out road we all live on,” said Ronnie Nichols, who lives in Tidewater Plantation.

Construction is set to start in early 2022 on a multi-purpose path along Little River Neck Road. Hatley noted that it will have a huge impact on the ability for public safety to get in and out in the case of an emergency.

“Our capacity for vehicles will increase 50 percent when they put the multi-purpose path in,” said Hatley.

Of course, 250 new homes will bring hundreds of new cars to the road, so it’ll take more than a path to handle that growth.

Hatley says Little River Neck Road is 74th in line for state funding to be widened to four lanes. If it ever works its way up the list, coming in and out could be easier than ever despite all the new homes.

“We just have to address the ones that are the worst and slowly move up to the ones that are not,” said Hatley.

The engineer mentioned this development could be the last one for Little River Neck Road. He says if they add as much as a dozen more houses to it, it would’ve put the sewer and water line over the legal limit.

They expect construction to start in late fall or early winter.

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