News Title:Prime parcels of northwest Intracoastal Waterway frontage between Highway 501 and International Drive remain undeveloped, with spoil basins shaping the site’s underlying development potential.
Most of the land in Myrtle Beach along the north west side of the Intracoastal Waterway between Highway 501 and International Drive/Robert Grissom has been developed. There are several parcels that have not been developed - as they are currently owned by Horry County. These undeveloped parcels are strategically located among many of the Intracoastal Waterway new home communities that are either currently under construction or planned for potential future development.
These Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) parcels technically owned by Horry County are being used as “Spoil Basins”. These Spoil Basins are part of the broader U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) management plan of approximately 90 dredged material disposal areas (spoil basins/upland disposal areas) adjacent to the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway (AIWW) across all of South Carolina. These basins are used for the disposal of material dredged to maintain the 210-mile, 12-foot-deep, and 90-foot-wide navigation channel.
These Spoil Basins are designated parcels of land specifically being used for dredged material from the ICW to maintain navigation channel depths. These parcels all provide environmentally responsible, authorized locations to dump sediment from the ICW. These areas, or Dredged Material Management Areas (DMMAs), handle dirt from ICW maintenance dredging.
Since Horry County owns these parcels for spoilage basin purposes, it means Horry County currently holds title or a restrictive easement to use these properties for storing dredged material associated with maintenance of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. These parcels serve as a crucial drainage component, part of a joint federal-local agreement designed to manage waterway runoff and protect surrounding areas, and it will prevent developers or landowners from building on these parcels.
These Spoil Basin parcels are technically owned by the Horry County legally organized entity named “Horry County A Body Politic” – the entity that is acting as a public corporation and a political subdivision of South Carolina.
The new home communities along the ICW that are immediately adjacent to these Spoil Basins include:
With regards to parcels along the ICW that can still be developed – there are only a few remaining. Those few parcels currently undeveloped along the ICW are close where the Intracoastal Waterway crosses under Highway 501. These are shown on the accompanying map as “Potential Future Development”.