COASTAL OBSERVER

A long-awaited draft of Georgetown County’s future land use plan sets out goals for preserving the community’s character and culture while promoting prosperity, chiefly through the creation of more affordable housing.

The draft is up for public comment at a forum next week and needs approval from the Planning Commission and County Council.

The proposal’s increased emphasis on affordable housing comes as the county is looking for a way to spend $900,000 in federal funds that it has set aside for a housing initiative. The money from the American Rescue Plan Act needs to be allocated by the end of the year.

“There is pressure on,” Administrator Angela Christian told the council at a retreat earlier this month.

She has looked at county-owned property as a site for affordable housing, but she also said “this is not something the county can do by itself.”

The draft of the land use plan calls for a strategic plan for affordable housing, something Christian told the council is vital.

“It’s going to take more than 60 apartments to solve our problem,” she said. 

Both preservation and prosperity strategies include “density bonuses” to encourage “low impact development” and affordable housing.

The proposed steps toward preservation in the draft plan include requiring more open space in developments, creating a “Greenbelt System Master Plan” and adopting measures to ensure that future development is compatible with the character of existing areas.

“Potential and projected growth places Georgetown County at a critical juncture where a prosperous future requires a balanced and nuanced approach to land use planning,” the draft states.

The 100-page draft arrived last week, a year after County Council agreed to hire an outside firm to complete the work that was started by its own planning staff in 2018. The current land use plan was adopted in August 2007. State law requires that it be updated every 10 years. It received a mandatory five-year review in 2015.

The county hired the Columbia-based planning firm Boudreaux to lead the effort. Boudreaux worked with two other firms: Stewart, a design firm based in North Carolina, and Restoration 52, a Greenville firm that specializes in affordable housing.

The consultants held a series of forums around the county last fall to get public input on the type and location of future development. They also conducted a “suitability analysis” to determine which property lends itself to conservation – including with an estimated 2-foot rise in sea level – and to commercial and residential development.

The two views didn’t necessarily overlap.

Participants at the forums preferred to conserve areas in the center of Pawleys Island and west of Bypass 17 in Murrells Inlet. The consultants showed the land most suitable to conservation is along the ocean and rivers. They identified the areas most suitable to development along the major highway corridors where there is access to infrastructure.

While the consultants looked at land uses in five distinct areas – the Waccamaw Neck and four areas west of the river – “it was clear that merely recognizing these communities was insufficient; but rather, it was imperative to establish comprehensive land use policies that would fortify, safeguard, and enhance the existing places,” they wrote.

Affordable housing was an issue raised in each area.

 In certain areas of “special emphasis,” the draft land use plan proposes that developers who provide housing that is affordable by buyers or renters earning 50 percent of the county’s “area median income” of $54,000 a year be allowed to increase density. At least 20 percent of the units would need to be affordable. The bonus would range from two to four units or from 10 to 20 percent for large projects.

For the projects that meet the threshold for affordable units in special areas, the draft plan also recommends bonuses for height, open space and building setbacks, but doesn’t provide details.

It also recommends allowing “accessory dwelling units,” dulplexes, triplexes and “four-plexes” as conditional uses in “low intensity developments” that create housing for people who earn 80 to 120 percent of the area median income.

The higher incomes would be considered  qualified for “attainable” and “workforce” housing.

Staff told County Council at its retreat that 86 percent of county employees earn less than $50,000 a year.

“Where can they live in Georgetown County?” Christian asked.

The consultants outline a process for a countywide initiative to provide affordable housing with leadership from local governments, nonprofits, developers and community members. A consulting firm would update the housing needs assessment completed for the county in 2021 and help develop a strategic plan.

That plan would identify the areas for special emphasis. The draft land use update highlights the Parkersville community at Pawleys Island, areas around the city of Georgetown, the Sampit area and areas around the town of Andrews as potential areas of emphasis.

To carry out the strategic plan, an affordable housing coalition would be formed. 

For affordable housing as well as community preservation, the county will need to update its zoning ordinance and land use regulations, the consultants note.

At this month’s council retreat, staff proposed including $250,000 in the budget that starts July 1 for the update. That would then require council action to adopt the changes.

The county has scheduled a forum on Feb. 29 at 5:30 p.m. in the Howard Center in Georgetown to take public comment on the draft. A copy is available online.