Planning commission sets tentative work session schedule

Listen to this article

Richland County’s Planning Commission has set a tentative schedule for additional work sessions to discuss rewriting the 2021 Land Development Code.

The work sessions will be open to the public and offer opportunities for community review and input on the mapping process, according to a press release from Richland County. The process recently restarted after residents expressed concern about proposed zoning changes for their neighborhoods and other elements of the new LDC.

The additional work sessions are tentatively set for Monday, Aug. 1, immediately following the commission’s regularly scheduled 3 p.m. meeting; Monday, Aug. 15, at 5:30 p.m. and Thursday, Sept. 8, immediately following a 3 p.m. commission meeting. Work sessions that immediately follow regular meetings can usually be expected to begin between 4:30 and 5 p.m.Dates and times are subject to change.

All meetings will be held in County Council chambers at the Richland County Administration Building, 2020 Hampton St., Columbia. They can also be streamed live via the county’s YouTube page: www.youtube.com/user/richlandonline.

The LDC regulates land use, growth and development. It governs the types of uses, location and size of a development within various zones, establishes procedures for how development proposals are reviewed, governs the division and platting of land and controls standards such as landscaping, parking and signage.

The current LDC was adopted in 2005. The code was rewritten to address the area’s evolving needs, and County Council adopted the text for a new code in Nov. 2021. It has not gone into effect because it requires approval of an amended zoning map which has not yet occurred.

The Planning Commission initially began reviewing county staff’s initial zoning map recommendations in March, but council realized there was still a great deal of concern among members of the community about what the proposed changes could mean. As a result, the County chose to restart the LDC and zone mapping process to allow the public more opportunity to review and respond to proposed changes.

Read more about the major differences between the old development code and the newly rewritten version:https://www.richlandcountysc.gov/Portals/0/Departments/Planning/LDC%20Rewrite_Big%20Changes%20to%20Expect%20in%20the%20New%20LDC.pdf.