Barefoot resort homeowners say no to new development

NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WMBF) - Neighbors in the Barefoot Resort community are saying no to a new development in their backyard. Officials with the City of North Myrtle Beach said a local company, Barefoot Lakes Investors, is applying to annex 70 acres into the city limits.

Some homeowners said the possibility of making that land part of Barefoot Resort could have serious consequences.  Glen Talley, a board member of the Barefoot Resort Homeowners' Association said, "When you buy into a place like this you expect the design to stay the way it was planned."

Barbara Chartier added, "The people who back up to the area where they are proposing the road paid a premium so they could back up to wetlands. That would be destroying that." Several homeowners are opposed to the whole idea.

Homeowner Bill Hartman said, "We don't need this type of development right in our backyards. It will be unsafe and we are not really interested in having it." The plans are in the works to figure out how the piece of land would connect to the rest of Barefoot.

But some are concerned about the increased traffic that could result. Barefoot Resort HOA President Dave Jenkins said, "It would be a textbook case of what a horrible intersection looks like."

Colleen Topper said, "Right here is the track to the pool so you know we have a tremendous amount of traffic through here especially from May through October, and the school bus stops are actually right here."

Some are concerned about the noise factor as the land is being developed. Chartier added, "For several years that would add construction noises, trucks, dust when digging. It's just not part of the preferred lifestyle of Barefoot Resort."

That is why homeowners said they plan to be at a meeting next week to discuss the plans further. Chartier said, "We are adamantly opposed to it and they work for us."

The Planning and Zoning Department of North Myrtle Beach is holding a meeting on Tuesday, February 21 at 5:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers of City Hall to discuss the matter further and hear from homeowners.

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