Wedding & Event Venue near Georgetown, SC

Liberty River LLC wants to acquire the property with the intention of redeveloping it for light, clean manufacturing, commercial and retail, multifamily residential and park and greenspace.

Warren Waters is the managing member of Liberty River, LLC. Waters is associated with River Development Equities, a New Jersey-based company focused on redeveloping industrial sites, according to the company’s website.

Liberty River LLC submitted a voluntary cleanup contract to the South Carolina Department of Environmental Services for the 66-acre site at 1227 Front St.

The South Carolina Department of Environmental Services said it uses these contracts to encourage the productive use of “Brownfield properties,” which typically refers to properties that have been previously used and may face challenges in redevelopment due to actual or suspected environmental contamination.

SCDES would let Liberty River LLC acquire the property under this category because of the potential for environmental pollution from past activity on the property.

According to SCDES, the property was initially developed as a rice plantation in 1710.

After the plantation was dissolved at the end of the Civil War, the property was used for a variety of purposes, including a sawmill, chemical works and an oil company.

In the modern day, the property is mostly known as the Georgetown Liberty Steel Mill, which was constructed in the late 1960s to early 1970s.

Crews began demolition on the mill in May 2025, months after it permanently closed.

SCDES said under the proposed voluntary cleanup contract, it will not hold Liberty responsible for pre-existing pollution in exchange for doing work under the contract.

That includes Liberty testing soil, groundwater and soil vapor on the property.

“If significant contamination is found, Liberty will be required to take steps to protect human health and the environment,” SCDES said. “Liberty did not create the pollution, but will control it to keep the property safe for reuse.”

SCDES issued a public notice on the proposed voluntary cleanup contract.

Anyone with comments on the proposal can email Nicholas Hammond at nicholas.hammond@des.sc.gov or call 803-898-0736 through Feb. 6.

The contract can be viewed below.

Company expresses interest in former Georgetown Liberty Steel Mill property by dylan.leatherwood

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GEORGETOWN— The iconic green facade of the former Liberty Steel mill has been demolished, leaving behind rubble and a swath of contaminated land that a potential developer wants to clean up.

Liberty River LLC submitted a voluntary cleanup contract to the S.C. Department of Environmental Services in December. The Red Bank, N.J.-based company plans to acquire the property for an undisclosed amount and redevelop it. The future uses would include light manufacturing, commercial space such as retail stores, multifamily housing, green space and waterfront amenities, according to the document.

Liberty River is led by Warren Waters, a principal and founding member of River Development Equities. The firm specializes in repurposing and revitalizing contaminated industrial properties, according to its website, which shows several completed projects in New Jersey.

In South Carolina, the Garden State firm was selected in 2024 to redevelop about 79 acres in the downtown area of Hardeeville in Jasper County.

Waters told The Post and Courier he was unable to comment on the potential purchase of the downtown Georgetown site or the proposed cleanup contract.

State Rep. Lee Hewitt, R-Murrells Inlet, said he’s looking forward to reviewing plans for the property. He hopes the redevelopment will provide the community with high-paying jobs to help make up for those lost when the steel mill was idled and the nearby International Paper mill closed.

“We need them quickly, because losing the steel mill, losing IP plant, was a terrible blow for Georgetown,” he said.

The Liberty Steel mill was idled in October 2024, and the city announced last year that it would be demolished. Originally called Georgetown Steel, the mill helped diversify Georgetown's industrial base in the 1960s. For years, the plant made wire rod that was used in various products, from tires to bridge cables.

Before the mill was constructed, various industrial businesses, including a lumber mill, a chemical works and an oil company, operated on the property. The steel plant and the previous uses may have polluted the site, according to a public notice from the state.

If the cleanup contract is implemented, Liberty River would acquire the property as a so-called brownfields development and be required to test soil, groundwater and soil vapor on the property, according to the filing. If contaminants are found, Liberty River would be required to clean them up.

Findings from a 2015 environmental site assessment conducted by Charleston-based GEL Engineering, along with previous assessments, have identified potential environmental concerns.

The heavy use of oils, lubricants and other chemicals over several decades has created the potential for accumulation in the soil and groundwater, according to the cleanup contract. Petroleum, chlorinated solvents and hydraulic oil have been found.

Among other concerns, there is potential contamination from a wastewater treatment plant on the site and a significant amount of material left over from the steelmaking process, including dust, slag and mill scale.

Georgetown Mayor Jay Doyle said he was unaware of Liberty River’s intent to acquire the mill site and enter into a cleanup contract, but he said he hopes to meet with the potential buyer in the coming weeks.

The public can comment on the proposed contract until Feb. 6. Feedback should be directed to Nicholas Hammond by email at nicholas.hammond@des.sc.gov, or by phone at 803-898-0736 or toll-free at 866-576-0924. Written comments should be addressed to Nicholas Hammond at SCDES, 2600 Bull Street, Columbia, SC, 29201.

MYRTLE BEACH — As Myrtle Beach-area pastor John-Paul “J.P.” Miller faces federal charges, a bill inspired by his late wife, Mica, aims to address a form of domestic abuse that often goes unseen.

The bill, introduced by state Sen. Stephen Goldfinch, R-Murrells Inlet, would criminalize coercive control.

"Coercive control is what I call the invisible abuse," said attorney Regina Ward, who represents Mica’s family. "It doesn’t leave marks on the body, but it leaves an indelible mark on the mind and the psyche of the person who’s being abused."

The bill defines coercive control as a pattern of behavior that seeks to destroy the mental and emotional state of another person, stripping away their sense of self.

Mica Miller was found dead of a gunshot wound in a North Carolina state park on April 27, 2024, two days after serving her husband with divorce papers. Her death sparked international media coverage and speculation about foul play, although it was ultimately ruled a suicide.

Still, Mica’s family, friends and supporters pushed for a fuller account of the circumstances leading up to her death and urged lawmakers to pass coercive control legislation, alleging in court records that J.P. Miller had abused Mica.

Goldfinch, inspired by Mica’s story, first introduced a coercive control bill in April. This month, he prefiled a revised version that expands the definition of “household member” to include people engaged or formerly engaged in a dating relationship. The bill also adds harassment, stalking and coercive control as forms of abuse that are grounds for divorce and to be considered in child custody decisions.

Three other coercive control bills have been proposed, but none of them made it out of committee.

On Dec. 18, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced that a grand jury indicted J.P. Miller on charges of cyberstalking and lying to federal investigators. According to the indictment, Miller sent unwanted and harassing communications to his estranged wife from November 2022 until her death, posted a nude photo of her online without her consent, had tracking devices placed on her car and contacted her more than 50 times in one day.

The indictment also alleges Miller interfered with his wife’s finances and daily activities and on one occasion damaged the tires on her car.

The proposed bill states coercive control can include monitoring a person’s communications, movements, daily activities and finances; isolating them from family and friends; frequent name-calling and degrading remarks and threatening to publish private or defamatory information, among other behaviors.

Fifteenth Circuit Court Solicitor Jimmy Richardson said the revised bill could be more useful than Goldfinch’s first version.

“It feels like it's not nearly as much in the weeds as the initial attempt was," said Richardson, whose office prosecutes cases in Horry and Georgetown counties. "A lot of times, believe it or not, to say less in a bill is more.”

He also said it’s significant that the bill includes threats to publish private information and photographs online as a form of coercive control, as the issue has long gone unaddressed.

Ward said defining coercive control is a crucial first step in holding offenders accountable and achieving justice for victims. She said it’s important for the public to understand how harmful the abuse can be.

"You see a lot of that behavior in the domestic violence arena but there's never been a real remedy to it," she said.

GEORGETOWN — A popular Georgetown fast-food restaurant has closed, and it's unclear if it will reopen.

The Hardee's on Church Street recently shut down, according to signs hanging on the restaurant.

"Thank you for being loyal guests and for allowing us to be part of this community," the signs read. "Unfortunately, this location has been closed and will remain closed until further notice."

Staff at the restaurant would not comment on the situation when the Georgetown Hardee's was still open on Dec. 20.

The restaurant was independently owned and operated by Arc Burger, a San Diego-based franchisee with 77 other locations across the country.

According to a lawsuit filed Nov. 21, Arc Burger began missing payments on its locations as early as December 2024, violating franchise and sublease agreements tied to 28 restaurant properties.

Hardee’s alleged the franchisee has racked up more than $6.5 million in unpaid fees, rental payments, royalties, advertising charges, training costs and other expenses, even after signing a $690,437 promissory note in mid-2024.

Hardee’s terminated Arc’s franchise rights in September but allowed it to keep operating the restaurants until they could be sold. The arrangement required Arc to stay current on payments, but it failed to do so, according to the lawsuit.

Hardee’s confirmed in a statement that the Georgetown restaurant closure is related to the lawsuit.

"This and other closures are the result of ARC Burger’s failure to cure its defaults under its franchise agreements, despite solid sales and our continued attempts over the course of many months to reach a resolution that would keep these restaurants open," the company stated.

Hardee’s added it will attempt to reopen closed locations as soon as possible.

Locations in Charleston and Beaufort have also closed in recent weeks.

GEORGETOWN, S.C. (WCSC) — New development plans in Georgetown County will soon have a new rule to follow before they break ground.

Georgetown leaders are drafting their first wetland ordinance as an article in the county’s zoning ordinances.

The idea is to protect both federally protected and unprotected waterways from future building plans. The first draft suggests that building plans must be at least 50 feet away from jurisdictional and non-jurisdictional wetlands in the county. This length breaks down to a 35-foot undisturbed buffer plus a 15-foot setback off that buffer.

The drafted distance was a result of the of ‘Waters of the United States’ under the Clean Water Act.

South Carolina Environmental Law Project Staff Attorney Monica Whalen says the change in the definition of wetlands narrows down the number of waterways to get federal protection. She says a potential rule by the Trump administration could further narrow down the list of federally protected waterways.

The change sparked the environmental law group to share a drafted wetlands protection ordinance model with governments across the state, including Georgetown County.

“When we don’t protect as many wetlands as possible, we’re losing the benefits they provide. Some of those include, like, habitat for wildlife or flood control. They also help with filtering out pollutants, so they help protect water quality.”

The idea comes from the county’s land use and natural resources elements of their comprehensive plan, which was approved in July 2024. The new ordinance works as a new article in the government’s zoning ordinances.

County planning and code enforcement officer Holly Richardson says there are exemptions to the new rule.

“If you’ve got a lot today that maybe you haven’t built your home on yet, or if you’re a builder and you’ve got a lot and you haven’t built on it, the ordinance as it’s written now does exempt those existing lots.”

Richardson says developments are on the horizon for the county. She says creating a clear rule for buildings coming in is more than necessary.

“This isn’t a way to stop development. It’s not a way to hinder it. It’s not a way to make it harder, but we want it to be better. We certainly want the people that come here and construct and build to respect our natural resources and buffer them and do what they can to keep what we love about Georgetown County.”

The county is holding a workshop with the planning commission to discuss the details of the ordinance on Thursday evening.

The next step is for the ordinance to go to the planning commission leaders early next year. The meeting will also serve as a public hearing to gather community comments.