Horry & Georgetown Planning Consortium

The counties of Horry and Georgetown have come together to share best practices and provide direction on their collective planning initiatives, forming what is called the Horry and Georgetown Planning Consortium. This Consortium will meet on a bi-annual basis to compare notes, network, discuss innovations in planning, and develop and implement initiatives.

Jim Love, AARP Grassroots Advocacy Director

I had the honor to attend the inaugural meeting of this Consortium yesterday, and was joined by my colleague at AARP of South Carolina. The session occurred at Coastal Carolina University in Conway, which is another key stakeholder in the planning and growth of the community. Discussion throughout the day was focused on various transportation and land use planning topics, including complete streets. The Cities of Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle, Conway and Georgetown are all taking great strides to develop complete streets policies and implement them–by integrating these into their long-range transportation plans, zoning codes, etc.

We commend these Counties and their leadership for coming together in this way. As a Coalition ourselves, we believe in the collaborative approach to getting work done. The relevance of this Consortium is best captured in the words of Horry County Planning Commissioner Eddie Dyer:

I know that planners from all over our state share common interests in providing direction and input for local government planning initiatives. Our local governments also share a desire to strengthen our communities and coordinate planning efforts for continued sustainable development and growth.

Along with AARP and our other statewide complete streets stakeholders, we look forward to the ways in which we can support these local efforts as a way to collectively strengthen our statewide complete streets presence.