The Horry County Council unanimously approved its redistricting map at Tuesday's meeting and now will forward it to the U.S. Department of Justice for consideration.
Councilman Marion Foxworth, the chairman of the ad hoc committee in charge of redrawing the maps, said a few more minor changes were made in order to make it more concise and increase the likelihood of a positive decision coming out of Washington, D.C.
One of those changes dealt specifically with Districts 4 and 6, affecting 500 people and resulting in a net population change of 12 people in District 4, Foxworth said.
The purpose of the change was to make Socastee a traditional community.
Redistricting is done every 10 years to reflect population growth. Horry County experienced a 37 percent growth in the 2010 census.
The redrawn map keeps all council members and school board members within their current districts.
The map also has a less than 1 percent deviation from the desired district population of approximately 24,481 for each of the 11 districts in Horry County, according to Foxworth. The standard deviation is 1.19 percent.
Foxworth previously said the Justice Department recommended not deviating from that desired district population by more than 2 percent.
According to the 2010 census, eight of the 11 Horry County districts were below the targeted 24,481 figure.
Once the proposed map is sent to the DOJ, they have approximately 60 days to respond.
Foxworth, who has chaired the committee since September 2010, said Tuesday night "seemed a long way off."
In other action, the council unanimously passed a resolution allowing for a special election in the Hidden Woods subdivision to see if residents would favor a special purpose tax district.
According to the resolution, the tax district would provide for road improvements and other maintenance.
The tax district would be established for no more than 15 years, with the end goal being the county taking over maintenance of the subdivision's roads.
Councilman Bob Grabowski said the subdivision was built during a time when the county didn't have a planning department.
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