Posted by
Jack Cruger on Friday, April 03, 2009 12:42:17 AM
I guess even the local governments don't do research or read the existing laws and codes.
April 2, 2009 - April 8, 2009 Myrtle Beach Herald, 4806 Northgate Blvd. Myrtle Beach, SC 29577. 843.626.3131
Library expansion may violate state law
By Paul Gable
The Herald
Surfside Beach—Plans to expand the Horry County Library branch in Surfside Beach appear to violate state regulations, according to information minutes of town meetings and from the State Parks and Recreation Department.
At the March 10, 2009 regular meeting of the Surfside Beach town council, council members voted authority for town administrator Ed Booth to execute a quit claim deed for real property expansion of the Surfside Beach Library, a branch of the Horry County Library system.
The quit claim deed applies to one-quarter acre of land that currently includes a portion of Fuller Park and parking spaces. The original purchase of the park land included a grant from federal funds passed through the S.C. Parks and Recreation Department as Project 793-L, according to PARD records.
PARD regulations restrict future use of land of this type for recreational use.
The land would be used for parking for the library.
After the town approved the quit claim deed, Surfside Beach resident Joe Zoltak contacted PARD grant coordinator Alesha Cushman.
“The Surfside Beach Town Council voted today to give the Town Administrator the authority to take away .25 acres of Fuller Park and the tennis court property in Surfside Beach and give it Horry County to expand the library using the Quit Claim Deed Process,” said Zoltak. “It appears to me that this is illegal because they would be transferring the rights and privileges of the PARD agreement to another organization and eliminating .25 acres from recreational use.”
Zoltak said Cushman is currently looking into the matter. The Myrtle Beach Herald was unable to contact Cushman prior to deadline.
In addition, the library was originally built as a non-conforming use, according to statements by former mayor Roy Hyman at a November 20, 2007 town workshop on the library.
According to minutes of the workshop, “Mayor Hyman stated that the library building was originally built in the R-2 zone and it was non-conforming and it is in the flood zone. Mayor Hyman stated that any time you add on to a non-conforming building you must meet the current restrictions.”
The issue was scheduled for a January 2008 public hearing that was cancelled and not rescheduled.
This is the second land problem associated with planned county library construction or expansion.
Plans for the construction of a new branch library in the Carolina Forest area have been put on hold awaiting completion of a land swap between a developer and the county.
The original development agreement for the Carolina Forest area library is deed restricted to park use, similar to the issue now in Surfside