By Chondra McLean
THE SUN NEWS
published on Wednesday 4-5-00
NORTH MYRTLE BEACH - Richard and Ethel Roudabush say they've lived in peace the past two years in their town house
on Third Avenue South.
A proposed 136-unit time share between Third and Sixth avenues South, they say, would disturb their tranquility
and give their quiet neighborhood the appearance of a commercial area.
``I don't want the traffic whipping by,'' Richard Roudabush said Tuesday. ``It's a residential area, and we perceived
that it would stay that way.''
The Roudabushes were among about 25 residents who attended Monday's North Myrtle Beach City Council meeting to
protest an ordinance that would allow Peppertree Resort Villas Inc. to close several streets to build the time
share.
Several of the streets have been mapped out but never developed or opened. That's because the person who owns the
property subdivided the tract and dedicated those rights of way to the city in 1948.
Mayor Phil Tilghman told DDC Engineers Inc., the engineer and planner for the project, to come back to council
after devising a plan residents can accept.
Closing the streets would allow Peppertree to create a planned unit development that would allow multifamily and
multiuse buildings containing retail and restaurant operations.
The development would extend along Fourth Avenue South, beginning north of Elm Street and running southeast to
Seventh Street, then along the north side of Fifth Avenue South to Hillside.
The North Myrtle Beach Planning Commission last month voted 4-0 to reject the PUD because of the potential for
excess traffic and because the development doesn't fit the city's comprehensive plan, said commission Chairwoman
Peggy Hursey. One commissioner recused himself from voting.
``We couldn't see taking the streets away from the city just so they could have the time share,'' Hursey said.
Mike Wooten, with DDC Engineers, said residents have a ``perception'' that traffic will increase.
A traffic study performed by Day Wilburn and Associates of Atlanta indicated that a traffic increase would be minimal.
``They had a perception that the traffic would be a lot worse, and we were unfortunately unable to overcome that
perception,'' Wooten said.
Joy Foster, a Sixth Avenue South resident, said the traffic study was done in the off-season and over a 24-hour
period, so it wasn't illustrative of traffic in the summer.
North Myrtle Beach's engineer accepted the study.
Regardless, Councilwoman Marilyn Hatley asked DDC if its plan could be reworked so the traffic won't affect surrounding
neighborhoods.
``I can't vote in favor of it the way it's presented,'' Hatley said.
Wooten said he'll bring the issue back for a vote if Peppertree chooses. He said the council didn't give him any
opportunities to modify the plan.
``The gist I got was, no matter what we do, they are opposed to closing the streets,'' Wooten said.
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