Who foots the $4.5M bill for repairs on a private road? Horry County will soon decide. (2024)

CONWAY — Residents in the Legends Drive area could soon see their tax bills increase to pay for $4.5 million in repairs to a decades-old private road.

The pothole-pocked road in Carolina Forest stretches about 2 miles from U.S. Highway 501 to Legends Golf and Resort. For years, its upkeep has been a point of contention among neighbors.

But after residents voted in favor of increasing their taxes to pay for the road repairs last month, Horry County Council can establish the new tax district with one more vote. If that passes, those within the community would pay an additional $100-300 in property taxes to fund the project. That increase would be on their tax bills this fall.

County Councilman Gary Loftus said he lives in a neighborhood with private roads. He was clear: The county is not going to spend public funds to maintain a private road. If the community wants the county to take ownership of the road, residents must pay to bring it up to county standards.

“It’s really very simple,” Loftus said, noting that his neighborhood opted to maintain its own roads rather than bring them up to county standards. “There is no other way.”

Along with bringing the road up to county standards, residents in the tax district would pay to widen Legends Drive and add a center turn lane on one portion.

Nearly 500 of the more than 1,200 people who live in the Legends Drive area signed a petition in late March supporting the tax district’s creation, according to county records. An election was held on July 23. There were 480 votes cast in favor of the district and 340 votes opposing the proposal.

Although residents agree the road needs to be repaired, they are divided over who should foot the bill. Some believe the road’s owner should pay for the repairs and maintenance, but others argue the owner paid for the road when it was first built. The road is owned by Legends Drive Holding, LLC, according to county property records.

“We’re nickeled and dimed to death,” said Christine Schwenke, who lives in Legends Village. “And we don’t benefit from it. The businesses benefit, the county benefits, the person who owns the road benefits, but the average taxpayer does not benefit with this being passed.”

This isn’t the first time the issue has come up. In 2018, residents overwhelmingly voted against creating a tax district for road repairs.

Allan Manuel, who lives in the nearby Parkland community, said that in the past six years since that vote, the road has fallen further into disrepair.

“In fact, if you turn off of it right now on 501, the first thing you’re going to see is a giant pothole with a traffic cone in it,” Manuel said. “It is endangering the public safety. ... Funding Legends Drive is unquestionably a public good.”

County Councilman Mike Masciarelli, who represents the Legends Drive area, said he has spoken to many people for and against the tax district, as well as attorneys from each side.

The owners of the road have agreed to dedicate it to the county, and additional grants may help alleviate some of the tax burden on the residents. But those grants cannot be obtained until the road is brought up to county standards, Masciarelli said.

Also, he added, the county does not have legal authority to intervene on the residents’ behalf against the road’s owner.

“The only way the road gets fixed is through a special tax district,” Masciarelli said.