Horry County, the Town of Briarcliffe Acres, and the City of North Myrtle Beach have been involved in a lengthy period of pre-application consultation with the Army Corps regarding a desire to realign the outlet of White Point Swash and to dredge material blocking water flow in the basin.
Recent hurricanes and other storms affected the swash outlet and the basin.
According to the City of North Myrtle Beach, the jurisdictions have been informed that they must submit a full individual wetland permit application for the proposed project.
Horry County’s wetland permitting consultant has submitted the application to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on behalf of the Town of Briarcliffe Acres (the lead applicant) for the proposed work.
The application will now go through a joint federal-state review process, which will take at least six months. The process could take longer if any commenting agencies have significant concerns about the proposed project.
“ At the very least, an approved permit would come with conditions limiting or prohibiting construction during sea turtle nesting season May through October ,” the City of North Myrtle Beach said.
The city added that if a permit is given, it would be a 10-year federal permit and a 5-year renewable state permit so that future realignment work occurs through notification, instead of another permit approval process.
The officials are hopeful permit approval would occur in the late summer or early fall of 2018, allowing work to occur during winter 2018-2019. The Town of Briarcliffe Acres, Horry County and the City of North Myrtle Beach would pay for the work.
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