Land use
Second round of public input for plan’s update
The long-running update to Georgetown County’s land use plan will continue into next year to give the public time to comment on the draft being prepared by consultants.
“We’re looking to have the draft submitted by the end of December,” said Holly Richardson, the county planning director.
The consultants, led by the Columbia firm Boudreaux, will present their preliminary recommendations to the public at two meetings on Wednesday: from 1 to 2:30 p.m. at the Waccamaw Library and 5:30 to 7 p.m. at Howard Auditorium in Georgetown.
The sessions had been planned for last week, but were moved back following presentations to County Council and the Planning Commission.
The consultants told county officials they proposed to divide the county into five regions, which they called “character areas,” as they consider future land uses. The Waccamaw Neck is one. The others cover the western part of the county.
Within the each region, there are three “place types”: Rural, corridors and gateways, and neighborhoods. Each of those has a subset of four or five uses that include conservation, residential and commercial.
“I have seen some draft maps, but I don’t know that those will be ready” for next week’s presentations, Richardson said.
If they are, she expects that they will show broad outlines of the place types.
“I don’t think you’ll be able to find your particular parcel and know what it’s future land use is going to be,” Richardson said.
But that will be part of the process. The future land use maps that are part of the land use element determine how property can be zoned.
Changing the zoning to conform to the maps is an issue that was raised in a series of lawsuits challenging the county’s land use decisions in the Pawleys Island area.
The draft land use plan is expected to include recommendations for ways the county can reconcile the maps and the zoning.
Once the draft is submitted, the public will have a chance to comment, Richardson said.
