Land use
Judge says zoning code doesn’t require update with comprehensive plan
Georgetown County is not required to change its zoning ordinance to mirror its comprehensive plan, a Circuit Court judge said in a ruling this week.
Judge Kristi Curtis last month dismissed a suit by neighbors and citizens groups seeking to overturn County Council’s approval of a 12-unit development on Petigru Drive in Pawleys Island. It was the third suit over land use issues brought by Keep It Green Advocacy to be dismissed.
This week, Curtis filed her formal order. It is similar to an order issued in July by Judge Ben Culbertson in a suit that also focused on site plan review for multi-family developments. Both judges asked the assistant county attorney, Tommy Morgan, to draft proposed orders.
The suits argued in part, that the county was wrong to approve the “high density” projects on property that is shown on the future land use maps in the comprehensive plan as “medium density.” In dismissing the suits, both judges said the comprehensive plan is “a guide” not “a legally binding standard.”
Curtis said in her order “it follows that there is no mandate or requirement for the County to amend its zoning ordinances and land use regulations so that they imitate the terms of the Comprehensive Plan.”
In a July hearing, Patrick Hubbard, a USC law professor who is working with Keep It Green Advocacy, argued that the zoning has to comply with the comprehensive plan,” but said it was too early in the proceedings to fully argue that point.
“Plaintiffs are asking this Court to strictly apply the terms of the Comprehensive Plan to the County’s land use decisions. This is much too narrow a reading of the Planning Act,” Curtis said in her order.
The suit also challenged the process that the county followed, with a hearing and recommendation by the Planning Commission and final approval from County Council. It argued the decision should have rested with the commission, which voted to deny approval.
Curtis found the county’s procedure was valid, although the county last month turned over the site plan review for multi-family projects to staff. Only projects where zoning changes are required will go to the commission and the council.
Like an order by Judge William Seals dismissing a challenge to the rezoning of a tech park for a townhouse development, also drafted by Morgan at the judge’s request, Curtis cited precedents that limit the ability of the courts to invalidate ordinances.
“Plaintiffs clearly disagree with the land use decisions made by County Council, but these disagreements are rooted in politics, not the law,” Curtis said in her order.
Keep It Green Advocacy has appealed Seals’ ruling. It asked Culbertson to amend his ruling, which is still pending.
“We haven’t lost those cases,” Cindy Person, chief counsel for Keep It Green Advocacy said at a forum over the weekend. “We are not going to let this go.”
In addition to Hubbard, the group has help from Ross Appel, a lawyer who also serves on Charleston City Council. Another attorney will be announced in the coming weeks, Person said.
