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CONWAY, S.C. (WPDE) — What could be the largest annexation and subsequent development in the history of Conway is one step closer to getting full approval from the city.

Thursday, the city planning commission voted 6-2 to send the request to the city council with their seal of approval but with conditions. That's because concerns by commissioners, the planning director, and planning staff have still not been fully addressed by the proposal and the development agreement attached to it.

The project would fill in more than 1700 acres along Highway 701 South between Pitch Landing Road and Kinlaw Lane. Kinlaw recently was paved in the county's RIDE III program. The entire area sits in unincorporated Horry County, but the applicant's attorney Robert 'Shep' Guyton has worked to see it move into Conway City limits saying because of the size of the project, his client felt it would be best to have the city control how it is built.

"I couldn't help but think as we listened to the public tonight, every concern that they raised has been raised by you [planning commission] or staff or the other departments," Guyton said. "We are aware of those and we are doing everything we can to address them."

READ MORE: 3,000+ residential units could come to Conway with proposed development plan

The project would come with serious impacts and improvements for the city of Conway. A chief concern is the load it would put on the Highway 701 corridor which even the planning director says can be inadequate at certain times of the day to carry the traffic load. She also mentioned concerns about seeing so many new residents rely on the aging bridge infrastructure in Conway.

A traffic analysis is paired with this project and estimates by 2035 many of the intersections associated with it heading in the direction of Conway would be underperforming. Because of that, the planning commission addressed some staff concerns in their official vote.

Staff worry that a provision in the plan set up so that the developer does not build road improvements connecting to the project along Pitch Landing Road and Highway 701 but instead offers a fee-in-lieu for the work. Guyton says that is due to the fact that they would have no power to acquire the right-of-way for the roadwork. Commissioners added in their motion to see the project approved that the developer would have to pay for all of the costs associated with road improvements laid out in the traffic study.

Another condition would be the enhancement fees levied on the project would have to be adequate to supplement the added strain on resources from the development. In total, more than 3,300 homes and townhomes would be built, and some commercial space.

None would be built in flood zones according to Guyton with several acres within the AE floodzone and hundreds of wetlands that are protected. The applicant intends to gift those areas into a conservation easement roughly 3 years after the project is complete which is roughly estimated to be in the late 2040s.

"The Warden Station project of 3200 additional homes will most certainly upset this lovely environment that the city has thoughtfully created and nurtured," said neighbor Vickie Hutchinson.

Hutchinson and a coalition of neighbors spoke continuing the pushback on this annexation and rezoning. According to engineers with the applicant, if the project were to stay within the county limits and be built without any rezoning request, no more than 1,200 single-family homes or 2200 townhomes could be built. Guyton and the engineers argue the county process would result in a less favorable product with fewer protections for trees and assurances of road improvements along 701 or Pitch Landing Road.

Nonetheless, residents still worry seeing so many homes come in will lead to new flooding issues and strains on schools.

"Our incredibly helpful and hardworking city employees do not deserve to be handed a new Carolina Forest," said Dana Natale.

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The development agreement was also approved by the commission along the same voting margin. It now heads to the city council and is expected to come up at their next meeting.

Coastal Carolina University held a groundbreaking ceremony for its new indoor practice facility on Thursday, Sept. 7. Located just south of Brooks Stadium, the $20 million, approximately 90,000-square-foot metal structure will accommodate all aspects of football practice and includes a regulation-size field featuring artificial teal turf.

The project is being funded, in part, through lead gifts from Conway Medical Center with Novant Health and Joe Moglia, CCU's chair of athletics, executive director for football, and executive advisor to the president.

The facility will include two filming platforms, restrooms, storage rooms, and an athletic training space that will be accessible from the interior and exterior practice areas. The space will also be used for practice for various Chanticleer athletic teams and will include an area for student clubs, organizations, and recreation. The University plans to host various campus and community events within the facility as well.

Designed by Garvin Design Group, the facility is being built by Contract Construction. It will be the first Construction Manager at Risk project ever undertaken by CCU. Construction is expected to begin January 2024 with an anticipated completion date of late Spring 2025. The groundbreaking event also served as a lead-in to this weekend's football home opener versus Jacksonville State University, which will be at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 9, in Brooks Stadium.

Excerpts from the groundbreaking ceremony:

Matt Hogue, vice president for intercollegiate athletics and University recreation

"I want to welcome everybody to Coastal Carolina University as we unveil and launch the latest addition to the Teal Nation landscape. This has been a long time coming. You're going to hear from several very important folks today about how important this is to our University, to our athletic program, and, most importantly, to the student-athletes and the students who will utilize this in the coming years."

Michael T. Benson, D.Phil., CCU president

"What a great day! I want to thank our board of trustees for their support from the get-go. I want to thank my predecessor, Dave DeCenzo. Garvin Design Group is one of the best around and has done a beautiful design on the project. We're very happy to welcome Contract Construction. We thank them for helping us through the process. And I promise you it's going to produce a beautiful facility that's going to impact our campus for years and years to come. It does not happen without our friends at Conway Medical Center, and I want to thank them. The partnership we've developed with them is so key on so many levels. Coach Joe Moglia has done so much for our University, for our community. We're not here today without Joe Moglia. This project is for our students, for our community. This is for all of our student-athletes, for our students, for our University."

Paul M. Richardson Jr., MD, ABIM, chief medical officer and vice president of medical education, Conway Medical Center with Novant Health

"It's a pleasure to be here this morning. We are very proud of our partnership with Coastal through the Conway Medical Center College of Health and Human Performance. We're already seeing transformational changes. We're going to transform healthcare and healthcare workforce in this area, this county, and this state. We're already seeing the fruits of that labor … you ain't seen nothing yet. We're just getting started. It's wonderful to be here and share this with you all."

Kelly Moore, executive director of the Chanticleer Athletic Foundation

"The mission of the Chanticleer Athletic Foundation is to provide financial support for our entire athletic department. That means our students, that means our coaches, that means our community. We do serve a wide community, and our community serves us. To be able to have partnerships such as the one we have with Conway Medical Center and with our other lead gift for this facility, Coach Joe Moglia, and the numerous people who support by buying a season ticket, by supporting the athletic department with their annual giving. So, to everybody who's had a part in it: thank you. It's not just a practice facility; it's a community facility."

Tim Beck, Chanticleer head football coach

"Thank you to all the people involved in getting this accomplished … the support that we get is unbelievable. With the trials and tribulations you go through being close to the beach with the weather, it'll be nice to be able to go somewhere where it's going to be safe for them indoors where they can continue to compete at the highest level. This provides that. It's breathtaking. It's overwhelming. It's certainly appreciated by all the coaches, by me, and all the student-athletes. It's hard to put into the words the impact it's going to have on these young people."

Joe Moglia, chair of athletics, executive director for football, and executive advisor to the president

"Early on when I first got here, Dave DeCenzo and Eddie Dyer first talked to me about what do I think about getting a turf field. I said, 'We don't need a turf field. What we need desperately is an indoor facility.' That was how TD [Bank Group] first got involved with the partnership with Coastal Carolina. Almost everybody we play has an indoor facility. When you have real heat and you can't have an outdoor practice, you can go to your indoor facility. When we have any sort of rain or bad weather or lightning, you can't practice, but we can if we have an indoor facility. I couldn't be prouder of what we've been able to do in being competitive without that. So, I think going forward, the ability for us to be competitive and attract really quality recruits is going to make a big difference down the road."

CONWAY, S.C. - On Wednesday afternoon, Coastal Carolina head football coach Tim Beck along with super senior safety Clayton Isbell and redshirt sophomore wide receiver Jarod Brown addressed the media at the weekly press conference prior to Saturday night's home-opener against Jacksonville State.

Kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m. ET. The game can be seen live on ESPN+ and on the radio at WRNN Hot Talk 99.5 FM.

Head Coach Tim Beck

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Jax State Midweek Presser- Tim Beck

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Safety Clayton Isbell

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Wide Receiver Jared Brown

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CONWAY, S.C. – The Coastal Carolina volleyball team will travel to Maryland to play in a pair of tournaments on Sept 8-9. The Chanticleers will compete in the Maryland Tournament with Princeton and Maryland on Sept. 8 at College Park, Md. On Saturday, Sept. 9, CCU will take on the University of Virginia in Baltimore, Md.

COASTAL'S WEEKEND SCHEDULE Sept. 8 Coastal vs. Princeton Noon ET Sept. 8 Coastal at Maryland 6 PM ET Sept. 9 Coastal vs. UVA Noon ET

ABOUT COASTAL The Chanticleers are 2-4 on the season after picking up a 3-1 opening win in the Coastal Carolina Tournament over the TCU Horned Frogs and dropping two matchups with North Florida and Georgia last weekend.

Jalyn Stout leads the Chants with 85 kills and is second on the team with 92 assists and 69 digs, redshirt junior Lauren Malone has added 42 kills, junior transfer Cagla Bengi leads the team with 114 assists, and fellow newcomer Sydney Lewis has 94 digs. Sophomore Valentina Varani leads the team with 23 blocks.

Also, returning for the Chanticleers is Jasmine Rivest, who missed the opening weekend of action while training with the NextGen Team Canada Training program over the summer. Rivest has totaled 32 kills in the three matches she has appeared.

ABOUT PRINCETON Princeton enters the weekend with a 2-1 record with no match going past three sets. This will be the first-ever meeting between the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers and the Princeton Tigers.

The Tigers' offense is paced by Kamryn Chaney and Lucia Scalamandre with 28 kills each, while Sydney Draper leads the team with 99 assists.

Defensively, Sydney Bold leads Princeton with 30 digs, while Draper and Ella Bunde have 22 and 20 digs, respectively. Scalamandre is holding the front line with 12 blocks.

ABOUT MARYLAND The Terrapins sit 4-2 overall on the season after gaining a pair of wins at the Kristen Dickmann Invitational. This will be the first-ever meeting between the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers and Maryland.

Maryland's attack is led by Sam Csire with 55 kills, while Samantha Schnitta and Eva Rohrbach have added 55 and 45 put downs, respectively. Sydney Dowler makes sure that the Terrapins are in position with 213 assists.

Defending the net for the Terrapins, Rohrbach has 24 blocks while Anastasia Russ (21), Dowler (19), and Csire (11) all have double digit blocks. Lilly Gunter leads the team with 78 digs.

ABOUT VIRGINIA Virginia enters play with a 4-1 record, with the lone loss coming to the Rutgers Scarlett Knights in the Cavalier Classic. The Chants and the Cavaliers are tied 1-1, with CCU claiming a 3-0 win in the last meeting coming in August 2019.

Abby Tadder leads UVA with 69 kills and has scored 78.0 total points on the year, while Ashley Le puts the offense in the right position with 211 assists.

Defensively, Veresia Yon protects the front line with 28 blocks on the year while Tadder and GG Carvacho have added 18 and 10 blocks, respectively. Milan Gomillion and Le have 74 and 68 digs, respectively.

For complete coverage of CCU women's volleyball, follow the Chants on social media @CoastalVball (Twitter), facebook.com/CCUChanticleers (Facebook), @GoCCUSports (Instagram), or visit the official home of Coastal Carolina Athletics at www.GoCCUsports.com.

Jacksonville State will see a lot of what it wants to become on the other side of the field this weekend.

The Gamecocks (2-0) travel to face Coastal Carolina (0-1) in a non-conference game at 6 p.m. Saturday at Brooks Stadium in Conway, S.C. The Chanticleers, who moved up to the FBS level in 2017, have won 31 games the last three seasons.

“They’re probably a model for teams that have moved up from FCS to FBS and did it the right way and won games, committed to the program,” JSU coach Rich Rodriguez said. “And they’re really good. Their atmospheres up there at home games is outstanding, so it’s going to be quite a challenge. I think we’ll find a lot about ourselves during that game, but I think we’ll play hard. We’re going to have to play really well, better than we’ve played in the last two games to win this one.”

JSU won its FBS and Conference USA debut two weeks ago, beating UTEP 17-14 thanks to a late interception. The Gamecocks then won 49-3 vs. FCS visitor East Tennessee State last Saturday.

But the competition level goes up this weekend in Coastal Carolina, which won the Sun Belt Conference championship in 2020 and played for it last year. Grayson McCall, the three-time Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Year, is back for his fourth season as the Chanticleers’ starting quarterback.

McCall passed for 271 yards and a touchdown, but threw two interceptions, in a 27-13 loss at UCLA last week.

“He’s competitive, he’s smart, he’ll make plays that are there and then he’ll make plays that aren’t there,” Rodriguez said. “He’s probably one of the most dynamic leaders in college football. … I mean, he’s been the three-time player of the year in the Sun Belt Conference. That doesn’t happen very often and he’s off to another good start. So, we’ve got a lot of respect for him.”

Speaking of quarterbacks, Jax State has an interesting situation of its own after two different players started under center in its first two games. Veteran Zion Webb played all but one series vs. UTEP, rushing for 55 yards and passing for 67.

Webb was limited by illness last week, allowing Nebraska transfer Logan Smothers to start and play most of the game vs. East Tennessee State. Smothers passed for 127 yards and a touchdown and also rushed for 40 yards and two scores despite playing only three quarters.

“I feel confident in both of them,” Rodriguez said. “Logan is getting better and better and is a good football player when he’s healthy and feeling good. You’re not going to lose your starting job because you’re hurt or sick, you’d lose your starting job because maybe somebody’s playing better. Zion is a good football player and he’ll have a good week of practice. He’s a competitive guy. Logan will have a good week of practice and right now I feel like I got two starting quarterbacks.”

Though the passing game has been a mixed bag, Jax State is averaging better than 220 yards on the ground through two games. Malik Jackson and Ron Wiggins have formed a dynamic 1-2 punch at running back, combining for 297 yards and four touchdowns this season.

The Gamecocks have been opportunistic on defense in the early going, forcing three turnovers against UTEP and four more against East Tennessee State. Defensive tackle Jackson Luttrell said defensive coordinator Zac Ally makes taking the ball away a priority in practice.

“We don’t really call them turnovers, we call them takeaways,” Luttrell said. “We want take the ball away from them as much as possible and give it back to our offense and put us in the best chance to be able to continue to score, continue to put pressure on those guys. I think most of our turnovers would be from just playing relentless, just playing hard, doing our job and just playing as hard as we can.”

Saturday’s Jax State-Coastal Carolina game will stream live via ESPN+.