By God’s grace

It is impossible for Jane and me to thank everyone, individually, for the kindnesses expressed to us after the fire of August 28, 2012 burned most of our home.

By God's grace, our lives and the life of our beloved Moses were spared, and to Him we give thanks. This has been a humbling experience and a reminder to us that relationships far exceed the material things which offer only a temporary pleasure.

To the firefighters of the City of Georgetown, County of Georgetown and Midway of Pawleys Island, we give thanks for your heroic efforts under extreme conditions. Thanks also to the Salvation Army for their assistance.

To our families, neighbors, friends and people we don't even know, we give thanks for your prayers, your love, and your support during this time.

May God bless all of you for the huge impact you have made upon our lives.

Faithfully,

Bob Sizemore

Georgetown

Particular responsibility to this place

I have been lucky enough to live full-time in Pawleys Island for almost six years. But I fell in love with the area the first time I visited in 1985. I knew then that I would move here one day. I do not need to expound on why I felt drawn here, because I feel certain many of you feel the same way. As a transplant I believe that I have a particular responsibility to this place I have chosen to call home. Part of that responsibility is becoming involved in the community. There is much, much more I could do, but I hope that I have made a good start. One area I have been complacent about is zoning and development issues. No excuses, I just was not paying enough attention.

Well, those times have changed for me. The current re-development project proposed at Pawleys Island Plaza woke me up. Further, now that my eyes are open, I read that we could be “welcoming” a mini-warehouse facility right on [U.S. Highway] 17. When and how did that happen? Sounds like residents are vehemently opposed, but the County Council re-zoned the land anyway. And how did I miss proposals regarding the new Dollar General on 17? Do we really need another one?

I don’t expect all new commercial development in our Pawleys Island to be hidden completely from sight, but I do think we can do a much better job at protecting this beautiful place from looking like a strip mall. And from big box and smaller chain stores forever changing the landscape. There is a saying “You can’t stop progress.” But shouldn’t we ask and be involved in determining what is “progress”? Is a Walmart in Pawleys Island progress? Is a mini-warehouse on 17 progress?

I do not think so and I will be a vocal opponent of both and a proponent of County Council members that share a vision that respects the beauty of this area.

Mary Erickson

Pawleys Island

Timing is too short

We at the Don’t Box The Neck committee are very disappointed to hear that [Georgetown] County has decided to go ahead with the Planning Committee Public Hearing on September 20th. That’s not a lot of time to get organized. What’s the big hurry? Why is our community being rushed into this critical zoning decision?

Apparently Sunbelt and Walmart do not have that problem. Sunbelt Developers and Walmart have been planning this project for a year now; they have prepared plans, engineered drawings, drawn elevations, had traffic studies completed, and have been talking to our Planning Department and County Council behind closed doors for some time now.

We citizens have only recently learned of Sunbelt’s development plan to bring in a big box store that is reputed to be Walmart. This time frame leaves our community very little time to prepare for the September 20th Planning Commission Public Hearing. In less than one month, we have to raise the funds to pay for signage, mailings, website, experts, and prepare the legal case against this critical zoning change they have requested.

We’re up against a Fortune 500 company that has a deep war chest, and is desperate to grow via new stores. We citizens, comparatively, will have only a small amount of money raised compared to Walmart, who will most likely spend an enormous amount of money to get their way; they have a well-documented history of this.

I personally find it entertaining that this big box store is only “reputed” to be Walmart. After the picture in the paper of the front of the ginormous building, which by the way looks exactly like the Garden City Walmart, is there any doubt in anyone’s mind that this is a Walmart? Doesn’t it make you wonder why Walmart is hiding behind Sunbelt’s skirts and afraid to be named? If communities welcomed them with open arms, one would think that Walmart would be proud to make it clear it was them in fact. No, they hide because they know that communities have learned from seeing what happens in other towns and cities when Walmart comes to town, and that communities are now saying NO to Walmart.

Our mission at Don’t Box The Neck is to get as many people to write the Planning Commission and County Council members as possible, and most importantly, come to the Public Hearing at the Waccamaw High School on September 20th to stand and be counted; and after that, the second reading at County Council will be equally crucial. We need to let our representatives know that we want this critical zoning change squelched, and the loophole sewed up so that we never again have the specter of a big box store looking at the Waccamaw Neck as an opportunity.

SueAnn Crawford, chair

Don’t Box The Neck

committee

Pawleys Island