Roofing company in Conway, SC

Starbucks is opening a new location in Conway as construction sees more development coming to the Grand Strand area.

The new Starbucks is at the intersection of Singleton Ridge Road and Highway 544, across from McDonald’s and the coffee brand’s natural rival, Dunkin’ Donuts. Construction Contractor Drew Yarbrough said the exterior, currently painted white and brown, is complete, but the interior is still a work in progress.

Yarbrough estimated completion of the interior would take one to two months. The location will also have a drive-through. A media representative for Starbucks did not return a request for comment before publication.

The new location is part of a broader global expansion for the company. Starbucks plans on adding 17,000 new stores by 2030, bringing its international total to 55,000 by 2030, Axios reported in November 2023.

Starbucks already has two Conway sites, including one at Coastal Carolina University and several others throughout the Grand Strand. Starbucks already added a new Myrtle Beach spot in October 2023 on Dick Pond Road, The Sun News reported at the time.

The new development is one of two in the area. Behind the new Starbucks, land has been cleared and sidewalks were paved. The tract of land is at 1482 Highway 544 and is owned by Pinnacle of SC INC, according to Horry County Land Records. Kirk Hanna is the registered agent for Pinnacle of SC, according to South Carolina Business Filings, but he did not return a request for comment before publication.

It’s unclear what the project is, but the plot of land has had development slotted for it previously.

In 2018, while owned by a different company, the property applied for three commercial and stormwater permits for multi-family apartment and student housing called The Pinnacle, according to Horry County Land Records. There was a multi-family development 174 units proposal for the roughly eight acres of land, according to Horry County Council’s Dec. 18, 2018 agenda.

The proposal was approved on a second reading Dec. 18, 2018, but was deferred at the Jan. 10, 2019, Horry Council Meeting before receiving final approval, and it’s unclear if the new site work is related to this previous plan. The land’s market value is about $1.5 million, according to Horry County Land Records.

This story was originally published January 25, 2024, 5:00 AM.

Starbucks is opening a new location in Conway as construction sees more development coming to the Grand Strand area.

The new Starbucks is at the intersection of Singleton Ridge Road and Highway 544, across from McDonald’s and the coffee brand’s natural rival, Dunkin’ Donuts. Construction Contractor Drew Yarbrough said the exterior, currently painted white and brown, is complete, but the interior is still a work in progress.

Yarbrough estimated completion of the interior would take one to two months. The location will also have a drive-through. A media representative for Starbucks did not return a request for comment before publication.

The new location is part of a broader global expansion for the company. Starbucks plans on adding 17,000 new stores by 2030, bringing its international total to 55,000 by 2030, Axios reported in November 2023.

Starbucks already has two Conway sites, including one at Coastal Carolina University and several others throughout the Grand Strand. Starbucks already added a new Myrtle Beach spot in October 2023 on Dick Pond Road, The Sun News reported at the time.

The new development is one of two in the area. Behind the new Starbucks, land has been cleared and sidewalks were paved. The tract of land is at 1482 Highway 544 and is owned by Pinnacle of SC INC, according to Horry County Land Records. Kirk Hanna is the registered agent for Pinnacle of SC, according to South Carolina Business Filings, but he did not return a request for comment before publication.

It’s unclear what the project is, but the plot of land has had development slotted for it previously.

In 2018, while owned by a different company, the property applied for three commercial and stormwater permits for multi-family apartment and student housing called The Pinnacle, according to Horry County Land Records. There was a multi-family development 174 units proposal for the roughly eight acres of land, according to Horry County Council’s Dec. 18, 2018 agenda.

The proposal was approved on a second reading Dec. 18, 2018, but was deferred at the Jan. 10, 2019, Horry Council Meeting before receiving final approval, and it’s unclear if the new site work is related to this previous plan. The land’s market value is about $1.5 million, according to Horry County Land Records.

This story was originally published January 25, 2024, 5:00 AM.

CONWAY, S.C. (WMBF) - The recent closure of Conway Pediatrics at 907 Bell Street is confusing for some parents on how to access their kid’s records.

A sign on the door reads, “The practice is for sale and unless someone buys it, we will begin the process of closing the business. Sorry.”

“State and federal law both have requirements for how long providers are supposed to keep medical records,” SCDHEC compliance and privacy officer Marti Phillips said.

She said while patients have a right to their records if they’re looking for specific information, they can access it without a provider.

“If you’re trying to say, I don’t know, what vaccinations they’ve had, there is a law, I think it went into effect in 2017, that immunization providers in South Carolina have to report that immunization to DHEC,” Phillips said. “So it could be something you could follow up with DHEC.”

The South Carolina Board of Medical Examiners said a practice should notify parents at least 30 days in advance of a practice closure.

However, some parents whose children went to Conway Pediatrics said they showed up for appointments to find the doors closed.

Practice owner Lynda Courtney declined to be interviewed but said her business sent letters in the mail.

She said anyone looking for records should reach out to the office and that they have someone coming in to work on transferring records.

Dr. Eugenia Cooper Merchant, who is registered to practice at Conway Pediatrics, said she left the practice at some point in the last month.

She said Courtney would need to be contacted for information about patient records.

“She has to tell you all of those things because even though I’m a physician there, she’s the one who owns and controls the practice,” Merchant said.

However, DHEC said physicians are the ones responsible.

“The law is even called the South Carolina Physicians Patients Record Act, so it really puts that burden on the physician,” Phillips said.

The South Carolina Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation said patients can file a complaint with their department if they still can’t access their records.

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A Parker’s Kitchen convenience store and fast-food restaurant may be coming to Conway.

The Conway Planning Commission showed its support for the project by recommending a zoning change to a .43 acre lot at 1904 Rose Hill Drive, which runs parallel to Highway 378 between Grainger and Belladora roads.

The change from medium-density residential to highway commercial will allow the lot to be combined with two other abutting highway commercial parcels that front Highway 378 and were previously acquired by the applicant.

Daniel Ben-Yisrael, the real estate development manager for Charleston-based Parker’s Kitchen, said the final parcel is the missing piece of the puzzle.

The project is currently in the preliminary design stage, and Ben-Yisrael said if the zoning can be synchronized, the three lots will be combined “to accommodate the development of our convenience store.”

The planning commission voted 7-0 to recommend the zoning change to the city council, which has the final say on rezoning matters.

Parker’s Kitchen operates 78 stores in coastal Georgia and South Carolina, including one in Georgetown. Newer stores sell gasoline, groceries, and beverages, and have a kitchen. There’s a breakfast menu as well as chicken, other entrees, and assorted sandwiches and sides.

The rezoning request is set to go to council for its Feb. 19 meeting. At that meeting, there will be a public hearing and first reading.

The planning commission also gave its blessing to an annexation request and a zoning change for an 11.47-acre undeveloped parcel near the intersection of Gardner Lacy Road and Highway 501.

Applicant Founders National Golf, LLC, requests that the property be annexed into the city, and be zoned as highway commercial. It is currently zoned Horry County Highway Commercial.

Attorney Shep Guyton represented the applicant and said the Highway Commercial designation would be temporary.

“We don’t believe that’s the (zoning) district it will actually be developed under,” Guyton told the planning commission. “It will be a two-step process. It won’t be developed until the zoning is changed again.”

The applicants have not revealed what will be developed on the parcel, which includes frontage along sections of Highway 501 and Gardner Lacy Road near Carolina Forest.

Jessica Hucks, the city of Conway's planning director, said the applicant is not required to specify a proposed use for the property in a “straight rezoning” from county highway commercial to city highway commercial.

The irregularly shaped tract is bordered by a gas station, a vacant property, and manufacturing and distribution facilities. It is adjacent to land zoned limited industrial and highway commercial in the county, and limited industrial in the city.

Planning commissioners voted 7-0 to recommend the annexation and zoning to the city council, which will make the final decision.

Grand Strand Health is looking to bring a medical facility to Conway, and the request has made it through its first hurdle.

The hospital system is hoping to rezone and annex a nearly nine acre property off Mill Pond Road. Though city staff raised concerns over flooding on the property, the planning commission voted 5-0 Thursday to recommend the annexation and rezoning to the city council, but the applicant still has plenty of work to do.

Now the request must make its way through city council, which could happen over the next month.

“Grand Strand Health is excited about bringing care closer to our friends and neighbors in Conway,” a spokesperson said in an email Thursday. “We look forward to announcing specific plans in the future.”

As shown on the developer’s conceptual plan, a portion of the building is located within the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s flood plain.

“Since it is a standalone ER, it is considered a critical care facility, and is not be placed in a flood zone,” city planner Katie Dennis told the Conway Planning Commission on Thursday, Jan. 4.

Crunk Engineering, LLC, is requesting to annex and rezone nearly nine acres near the intersection of Mill Pond Road and Highway 501, city records state. The property is zoned Horry County highway commercial and the applicant is requesting it stay highway commercial, but under the city’s version of the zoning.

The vacant property has flood zones and includes a small portion of a floodway.

Either the building will have to be relocated on the tract, or the developer will have to fill in low-lying areas and seek a Letter of Map Amendment from FEMA showing that the land is no longer a part of the flood plain. Any attempt to raise the grade would require extensive hydrological studies prior to the work. If FEMA would decline to issue the flood map amendment, the proposed location of the building on the site would need to be altered.

“It’s just a concept plan; it’s not our final plan. We haven’t applied for that yet,” said Adam Crunk of Crunk Engineering LLC of Nashville, Tennessee, the project engineer who was representing the property owner.

Crunk said the goal is to keep the building as close as possible to Highway 501, while steering well clear of the Crabtree Floodway, a drainage canal connecting Crabtree Swamp to the Waccamaw River.

Crunk, under questioning from the planning commission, said that long-range plans are for additional medical-related development on the 8.96 acre tract, which will eventually be combined with other adjoining parcels acquired by the applicant.

The nearly nine acres is currently owned by Mill Pond Conway LLC c/o HCA Health Services Inc. Grand Strand Health operates under HCA Healthcare. The property was purchased from Robert Richardson for $2 million in 2022.

City records state the parcel abuts a property that is already zoned city highway commercial.

City planning director Jessica Hucks said the applicant plans to use the property as medical facility and nearly nine acres will be combined with an adjacent property that is already in city limits.

City staff said there are currently no site plans, and if there are any plans to encroach in the flood zone or floodway, the developer must provide a no-rise or no-impact certification stating the proposed development will not create a rise within the floodplain.

In addition to the annexation and rezoning, the developer has asked the city to amend its future land use map from conservation preservation to highway commercial and conservation preservation. The property is identified under the conservation preservation zoning in city’s comprehensive plan because of the flood zones and the flood way.

Conway’s planning commission is set to make a recommendation on the request during its meeting at 5:30 p.m. Thursday. The commission meets at 196 Laurel Street.

The city council will make a final decision on the request, which will require two separate readings. Another public hearing is scheduled for the council’s Feb. 5 meeting regarding the future land use map amendment.

Residents and Conway leaders have long expressed the need for more medical facilities in the western part of the county, particularly near the heart of Conway. Some fear not being able to have access to medical services when the Waccamaw River floods.