The newly approved agreement will require Asha Vista to make about $1 million in facility improvements. These include an on-site security guard, fencing and gates, and a video security system. The agreement also prevents Asha Vista from becoming a drug or alcohol treatment facility.
Before the vote, Tyler Servant, whose district includes the site of the proposed hospital, urged council members to vote no with him because the residents in that area did not want it.
“Just like all development, whether it be residential, commercial or healthcare, it needs to be done in the right way at the right place at the right time,” he said.
Councilwoman Jenna Dukes, however, shared that she had lost a family member because that person didn’t have access to a facility like the one Asha Vista plans to build. She said that mental health is an issue that impacts everyone in Horry.
“I have to support the rest of the county,” she said.
Some council members said that if they didn’t approve the settlement they likely would lose in court, wasting public money and losing any concessions in the settlement.
“I understand that your community might want to blow the tax money on defending a lawsuit that we’re going to lose,” Gardner said, addressing the critics. “And they’re going to be able to do this hospital anyway. … But the rest of the county should not have to make that sacrifice. It’s a big county. This is a step in the right direction.”
Council members Bill Howard, Danny Hardee, Al Allen, Mark Causey, Tom Anderson and Mike Masciarelli joined Dukes and Gardner in supporting the settlement. Council members Servant, Cam Crawford, Dennis DiSabato and Gary Loftus opposed it.
After the vote passed, Servant was critical of some of his peers.
“It just goes to show you got to be really careful who you elect in political positions,” Servant told The Post and Courier.
Many of the opponents who attended the meeting were also upset about the outcome. Murrells Inlet resident Anthony Michael Cosentino called the vote disgraceful.