CHARLESTON — After realtors raised concerns about the broadness of proposed amendments to require infrastructure as part of the criteria when property owners make zoning requests, the county planning commission postponed a vote on the inclusion to allow for clarifications.
Charleston County Council members discovered in September that infrastructure isn’t currently part of the approval criteria for zoning requests when they shot down a proposed rezoning on Johns Island that drew opposition from hundreds of residents.
Council then unanimously voted to direct staff to draft an amendment for zoning criteria to include infrastructure.
Currently, county staff consider two major things when reviewing zoning requests for the planning commission: future land use recommendation from the comprehensive plan — a map that suggests what land should be zoned as in the future —and whether the parcel of land in question is inside or outside the Urban Growth Boundary.
The Zoning and Land Development Regulations Ordinance also includes criteria that the zoning request must fix a problem or respond to a change, and benefit the public.
But when a developer requested to rezone a property on Cane Slash Road on Johns Island that would increase housing density, County Councilman Joe Boykin realized that infrastructure like traffic and drainage isn’t considered when reviewing a zoning request.
He previously told The Post and Courier he was shocked county staff had recommended approving the zoning request as Cane Slash Road is already highly trafficked, with hundreds of homes built on the street and as part of the busy Maybank corridor.
At a Nov. 10 planning commission meeting, county staff proposed amendments that required applicants who want to zone land to a higher density to secure letters of coordination from several entities. That includes the state Department of Transportation, the Charleston County School District and emergency service providers like the Sheriff’s Office and fire department, to outline how the rezoning would impact roads, schools and emergency response times.
Staff also recommended adding that existing infrastructure should support the proposed development in a zoning request or planned development as part of zoning approval criteria, and suggested requiring traffic studies for all planned developments.
Developers like Tony Berry, principal of TBC Development in Mount Pleasant, support the proposed additions to the zoning ordinance.
“That absolutely seems reasonable that staff should ensure that there are adequate utilities and infrastructure in place if you are increasing density,” Berry told The Post and Courier. “That makes total sense.”
The proposed amendments were met with support from residents too — 55 sent written comments in favor of the additions — but a representative from the Charleston Trident Association of Realtors had concerns.
Michael Ramsey, government affairs director of the CTAR, said at the meeting that while the realtors understand the need for infrastructure to be taken into consideration, the proposed policy is too broad as is.
He suggested clarifications to make the amendments more specific, including establishing a time frame for getting letters of coordination from partners and adopting a land size requirement before those letters are needed.
The planning commission agreed with Ramsey’s suggestions, unanimously voting to defer the proposed amendments until December and requested county staff to come back to the next meeting with recommendations for how to move forward.
