Posted on Thu, Jan. 04, 2007

email this

print this

reprint or license this

County prepares data to win terminal hearing

By Lisa Fleisher and Travis Tritten

The Sun News

A rendering of the planned new terminal for the Myrtle Beach International Airport

• Map, Photo Gallery

Horry County hopes new information on traffic, noise and development will persuade Myrtle Beach's Community Appearance Board to take another look at one of its biggest projects, an estimated $228 million airport terminal.

The city board will decide today whether terminal plans will be scrapped or reconsidered.

The CAB rejected the terminal plans last month, saying it would cause problems for surrounding areas, but several board members said Wednesday they would listen to what the county has to say during the hearing in Myrtle Beach today.

Heavy traffic, residential real estate values and airplane noise are all key issues for a terminal that sits in a fast-developing urban area.

If the county fails to convince the appearance board it has solutions to those problems, the board likely will reject a new hearing, interviews with board members indicate.

That means no terminal will be built, said County Attorney John Weaver, and the county will have wasted about six years and millions of dollars on plans.

A civil lawsuit against the city would take too long to conclude and the contractor guarantee on the maximum cost of constructing a terminal would expire.

"I can tell you that there has been no meaningful discussion in Horry County about a lawsuit against the appearance board or the members individually," Weaver said.

A victory for the county today means another, more detailed hearing before the appearance board in coming days - another crucial trial that could end with the terminal's demise.

After hearing what the county plans to present, several appearance board members said they still did not know whether they would grant the appeal, but they said they would keep an open mind.

"I have to hear it from them," said Birgit Darby, a board member and outspoken airport critic. The board follows tough guidelines when deciding whether to grant an appeal.

For example, the board's bylaws say if an applicant presents new information to try to win an appeal, it must be "new evidence which could not responsibly have been presented at the hearing" at the first meeting.

"It seems to me like if you're going somewhere for a hearing, you would walk into that room with all your ducks in a row, and certainly anticipating any questions with all of your papers right there in your briefcase," board Chairman Larry Bragg said.

Some of the questions the board had at the first meeting about roads and noise might have been answered with the studies the county is planning to bring, he said.

"That's not like saying, 'How many daffodils are you going to have sprouting up in three years?'" Bragg said. "That is stuff that has direct bearing. ... The burden is on them."

While board members were not making a final judgment last month on the airport terminal's design - just its location - some members said the aesthetics were a factor in their decision to reject the location.

Members said the design has suffered as the county has stripped features to make its budget.

When Horry County officials walk into the Community Appearance Board meeting today, they will be armed with a plethora of new information to make the case for a terminal rehearing - traffic studies, roadway improvements, developer input and noise studies, Weaver said.

Weaver and another county official, who had not been chosen Wednesday, will attempt to sway the board and win the terminal more time.

"We believed that the primary area of concern dealt with the terminal itself, the aesthetics of it," Weaver said.

After two years of working with the appearance board on aesthetic issues, the county had anticipated no problem with the terminal location and its impact on surrounding areas prior to the board's rejection. But the county was "short-sighted" on its preparation for the appearance board review hearing last month, he said.

Now, Horry County has broadened its argument for the terminal to include the rapidly developing business and residential areas around Myrtle Beach International Airport.

A study done recently by the Myrtle Beach Air Base Redevelopment Authority will show the board the estimated traffic levels at the old base after most development is completed and the planned terminal is doing daily business, Weaver said.

A new $49.5 million interchange at the often-clogged intersection of U.S. 17 Bypass and S.C. 707, which will be paid for with a new sales tax approved in November, will help improve traffic around the planned terminal and adjacent residential areas, he said.

Meanwhile, the county will show that development on the air base is flourishing and property values continue to rise despite terminal plans, Weaver said. "Many of those developers believe the airport is something that is a benefit to the projects," he said.

The board will also be provided with airport noise studies, which can be compared to city codes to determine whether the new terminal will create a problem, Weaver said.

If the appearance board is persuaded by the new information, it could allow another hearing of the terminal project. Any rehearing must occur before Jan. 17, the deadline for Horry County to order materials and maintain its guaranteed terminal construction price.

The County Council is planning a final vote on the terminal project Jan. 16.

What | Community Appearance Board meeting

When | 1:30 p.m. today

Where | Ted C. Collins Law Enforcement Center, 1101 Oak St., Myrtle Beach