Myrtle Beach hopes to sell land to campgrounds; wants to terminate agreement with Horry County

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WMBF) – The city of Myrtle Beach could soon be able to sell land to two campground sites.

The city owns 143 acres inside Lakewood Camping Resort and PirateLand Family Camping Resort, known as Seascape Properties.

Myrtle Beach has leased the property to the campgrounds for years.

As part of a 2004 intergovernmental agreement, the city would receive 25% of the revenue from the lease while Horry County would receive 75% of the revenue and that money would go toward the Myrtle Beach International Airport, which is run by Horry County.

According to our news partner, My Horry News, the Myrtle Beach City Council voted in December 2020 to sell the properties to the campgrounds for a combined $60 million. But Horry County contended that the sale price is below fair market value and objected to the city’s plan to keep all of the proceeds from the sale.

Horry County filed a lawsuit against the city of Myrtle Beach, but according to public index records, it was dismissed in April 2021.

Now the city wants to move forward with the sale of the land.

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During Tuesday’s city council meeting, leaders voted in favor of an ordinance that terminates the agreement with Horry County.

The spokesperson for the city of Myrtle Beach, Mark Kruea, said the city has a right to do what they want with their land.

“The city owns the land outright,” said Kruea. “The obligations for the property were fulfilled decades ago. There is no obligation on the city’s part to give the county any money. We’ve been doing that voluntarily since 2004. This effectively cancels that voluntary agreement on our part.”

According to the ordinance, a letter will be sent to the Horry County administrator stating that the agreement will be terminated on Oct. 14.

The last hurdle deals with the Federal Aviation Administration.

The FAA opened an investigation into the sale of the land because, according to Horry County, the United States gave the Seascape Properties to the city of Myrtle Beach at no cost on the condition that the revenue from those properties would be used for airport purposes.

WMBF News reached out to the FAA to see where this investigation stands. The agency said it is working to gather information and hopes to provide an update on Wednesday.

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