Land-use element would require review for floodplains development

FLORENCE — Florence County planning officials’ update to the county’s land-use element of the comprehensive plan would require a county review of development that would take place in floodplains, Florence County Planning Director Bill Hoge said.

Based on public comments, the most recent draft of the map removed areas designated Conservation Management, which aimed to protect any parcels touching water, and has instead focused on the county’s floodplains, Florence County Planning Services Officer Scott Park said.

Park presented the most recent proposed land-use maps Tuesday, when the county planning commission had a second workshop on the land-use element to the county’s comprehensive plan, which is undergoing an update after 10 years.

The county isn’t limiting which zoning can be assigned in the 100-year floodplain, which has a one-in-100 chance of being flooded in any one year, Hoge said. Development plans in flood zones, however, will be subject to review by the planning commission.

The county plans to participate in the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Community Rating System program, which can reduce flood insurance premiums by 5 percent initially and as much as 50 percent, Hoge said last month. Such premiums can range from $700 to $2,000 a year, he said.

The commission also discussed the goals of the land-use plan. One of those objectives is to limit scattered development to decrease the strain on emergency responders as well as water and sewer services.

“We don’t want another Pineneedles Road,” Park said, referring to the west Florence road that is being widened to catch up with heavy growth.

Commissioner Jody Lane asked how the county would limit or push development in certain areas.

“I just want to make sure developers or landowners are not going to be handcuffed to it,” he said.

Planners aren’t proposing a growth boundary or a resource-limited growth pattern, said Hoge, who repeated the point that the comprehensive plan isn’t regulatory.

Commissioner David Hobbs said cutting down on sprawl reduces taxpayers’ burden because it reduces the need for new roads and utility lines for new subdivisions. Lane, however, responded by saying development increases an area’s tax base.

Lane also said he’d like to include a goal to encourage an overlay district that would improve the appearance of corridors where people enter town, namely East Palmetto Street from Francis Marion University to McLeod Regional Medical Center. Park also suggested such a district along S.C. 327 from Interstate 95 to East Palmetto.

An overlay district would use “form-based” zoning to focus on appearance rather than having single-use districts, which are the norm in Florence County.

Home builders said they have concerns about the goal of updating the RU-1 rural zoning to have a higher minimum lot size — one acre instead of the current 15,000 square feet.

The commission on Tuesday also took a vote seeking wind map and text changes to keep the whole county from being subject to a requirement for engineers’ involvement with all residential construction.

Different design codes are required in a hurricane-prone region such as this, Florence County Building Official Shawn Brashear said.

Because the state Legislature didn’t act on the issue this year, the commission’s vote sends a recommendation for county council to ask the South Carolina Building Codes Council to approve a local amendment to make the changes.

If the change is made, ZIP codes in the West Florence and Timmonsville-Sardis areas wouldn’t be affected. The Johnsonville area already follows the other code requirements.

ON THE WEB

To view and comment on the Land Use element of the comprehensive plan as well as associated maps, visit http://arc2000.florenceco.org/LandUseInput/.

IF YOU’RE GOING

WHAT: Florence County Planning Commission regular meeting, with public hearing on proposed Land Use element of comprehensive plan

WHEN: 6:30 p.m. June 23

WHERE: Room 803 of the Florence City-County Complex, 180 N. Irby St., Florence

INFO: Call the planning department at (843) 676-8600