Horry County Schools secures Highway 90 land

By Ruben Lowman

The Horry County Board of Education has formalized the purchase of a 60-acre tract of land near Highway 90 and the Hand community for $6.3 million in a strategic move to address the unrelenting population surge across the region.

Approved during a board meeting on March 23, the property is located near Bear Bluff Road and Tilly Swamp, which places it squarely in a corridor that has seen explosive residential development in recent years.

District leaders, including Chief Operations Officer Ben Prince, confirmed that all due diligence on the site has been completed and while specific building plans remain in the preliminary stages, the size of the parcel suggests it could eventually house a full-scale high school or middle school complex.

This acquisition was funded through the voter-approved one percent capital improvement sales tax, a financial tool that has become the lifeline for the district as it struggles to keep pace with an enrollment that has necessitated 11 new schools since 2008.

The decision to move forward with the purchase was not without debate among board members who are facing the reality of skyrocketing real estate values throughout the county.

District 10 representative Neil James cast the lone dissenting vote, citing a significant variance between the agreed upon purchase price and the undisclosed appraised value of the land.

However, other leaders like Darrell Ricketts argued that the high cost per acre is a reflection of the current market and that failing to secure the land now would almost certainly result in more housing developments being built on the site, which he said would only worsen the existing overcrowding issues.

The board noted that finding a single contiguous tract of 60 acres in the high growth areas between the Waccamaw River and the coast is becoming nearly impossible as former timber lands and family farms are rapidly converted into housing subdivisions.

This latest purchase is part of a broader land acquisition strategy that is beginning to reshape the educational map of the northern end of the county.

The district also recently closed on the 36-acre Harbour View Golf Course property in Little River, which sits just minutes away from the sensitive salt marshes and the busy waterfront that defines the community.

By holding these properties in a land portfolio, HCS Superintendent Clifford Jones and the board are attempting to stay ahead of the development wave that is moving from the established shores of North Myrtle Beach toward the interior rural communities of Longs. As the district prepares for a public input process to prioritize where new facilities will be built, residents along the Highway 90 corridor and beyond will have a voice in how these sites are utilized to preserve educational quality.

For families in the outskirts of Longs and the growing neighborhoods near Tilly Swamp, the prospect of a new school closer to home offers hope for relief from the long commutes and packed classrooms that have come to characterize the district.

The proximity of this new site to the Atlantic Collegiate Academy further emphasizes how this specific section of the county has become a focal point for educational infrastructure.

By securing these parcels now the county is effectively staking a claim for public use before the remaining open spaces are swallowed up by the sprawling growth that continues to march inland from the coast and toward the banks of the Waccamaw.