City of North Myrtle Beach Update
On Saturday, November 1st, 2014 the city of North Myrtle Beach held a meeting to update residents and property owners of NMB on the Cherry Grove Dredging Project. A few different numbers have been thrown out. One reporter said 300. I also heard 500. Two rooms were full at North Myrtle Beach City Hall with spillover from the main council meeting room. Property Owners showed up to get an update from the City Manager, hired consultants and city council.
Assessment District
Basically, the council wants to set-up an assessment district to include all the property owners with access to the canals that wil benefit from the dredging projct. These property owners will be charged each year for an estimated 10 years to pay for the dredging project estimated to cost a total of $13 million. The fee will vary slightly based on whether the resident is single family residence with a dock permit or multi-family condo property that has access to the canals. If everything moves forward as presented, the majority of the property owners will be charged an assessment of $2400 per year for 10 years. Click here for more details about the project as presented by the City Manager and Consultants. The Initial Dredging Phase 1 Construction Project is supposed to start on November 15th, 2015 and finish by March 2016 before the sea turtles start showing up to nest.
Conflicting Concerns
Property owners had a chance to voice concerns at the end of the presentation. Many felt that the entire city of North Myrtle Beach benefits from the dredging and therefore should help pay for this project. Not all of the canals in the Cherry Grove section will be dredged. The Army Corps of Engineers have determined that several of the canals have reached a point of eco-development that cannot be disturbed. This decision has several property owners, that own property on the canals not being dredged, very upset.
Some feel that the dredging will increase boating traffic in the canals to a level that will be intolerable. Many of the vacation property rental owners may want to provide jet skis to their guests. This may be a problem in the future that is not yet known.
Is it worth it?
No one knows the future, but the majority of the home owners in this new district will see their value go up. It is the determination of the Council that property values in the dredged areas will increase and therefore they should help pay for the improvements. With property value increases, the residents tax burden will also go up. Some of the residents have voiced concerns that the added costs of the assessment and tax increases that will come from property value going up may not be justified. For people that live in the houses on the canals, this may be too much of a burden.
What are your thoughts?
Will the dredging costs affect you? Do you support the current proposal given by the council?
Sand blown over from the beach makes up over 80% of the fill.The thin silt on top of the sand is organic,dust dirt and decomposing plant matter .As this is perfect to support plant life why are we not using it to reinforce the dune line and beach.We pay to have this taken away and turn around and pay for the same to be pumped from the ocean onto the beach.
I do not agree with the process and amount of revenue collection for the project. Throughout the life of the Special Assessment tax, I will have paid a total of $24,000.00. I do not see the return on the investment. I own a lot at the end of the channel. From what I understand is proposed, the existing channel will be deepened to 3’, with the last 50’ of the channel at the end where my lot is only being deepened 2’. This shallow depth will not allow me to access to the water with a boat at low tide and based on the history of siltation in the channels, it will fill back up rather quickly. Sounds to me like another assessment will be necessary to clean out siltation way before the 10 year life of the initially proposed one is completed. A better plan allowing the channels to be more accessible throughout all tide changes over a longer period of time needs to be done. Additionally, deep water access to the ocean is possibly the only design that would provide a measureable increase in property value(s) warranting such a special assessment district. Has anyone considered tapping the accommodations tax for additional and/or offset funding to residents as tourists would also enjoy whatever end result benefits occur?
As a past property owner on 59th Ave North I do not agree with the plan. If dredging is to be done then all canals should be dredged. Additionally all NMB residents should be assessed a fee. It would seem the property owner will bear the burden for everyone else who enjoys the canals for fishing, boat access, etc, and then also pay even more in property tax. Why not charge all users or put in some type of toll or tax so that everyone including visitors help foot the bill.