New Zoning & Land Use ordinance to be unveiled at Council meeting
By Lauren Dean
City Council will give first reading to the new zoning and land use ordinance when it meets on February 23. This ordinance (commonly referred to as the “zoning re-write”) is the culmination of three years’ work by Clarion, City Council and the Planning Commission. According to Zoning Administrator Aaron Pope, the code has been reorganized into a more comprehensive and understandable document. He added that these proposed changes range from “modern to radical” and are the sorts of issues that will potentially impact the lives of many Folly Beach residents.
One major change is to base house size on lot size and to limit coverage to 35% of a lot’s high ground. Homes on standard lots cannot exceed 3,600 square feet and smaller lots would be limited to homes of 3,100 square feet. Building a home of the maximum permitted size – 4,500 square feet – would require a lot twice the size of standard or “normal” lots.
Multi-family housing will be an allowable use again, but there will be strict controls on the type and height of these units, with only townhouses no taller than 24 feet above Base Flood Elevation (BFE) permitted. Multifamily will be limited to the existing R-3 and C-4 zoning districts. There are currently only two undeveloped properties that meet the criteria for multi-family usage, according to Pope.
Lots zoned for duplexes (currently R-2) will be allowed to build detached units rather than forcing two units into a single structure. Pope said this change will increase the “cottage feel” of our community by scattering smaller dwellings and eliminating the larger structures that many residents feel are out of character for Folly.
Vacation rental issues will be addressed through a new program of education and business license provisions, one of which will require all rental property owners to have a designated local contact to deal with any issues that arise. Rental agencies will be required to post City regulations in rental properties and to have renters sign an acknowledgement of these rules. Although these regulations are not part of the ordinance, Council can pass these regulations concurrently.
Bars, restaurants and clubs will be limited to the Downtown Commercial Area currently zoned C-1.
Pope called the zoning re-write “the most met-about subject” in his eight years as Zoning Administrator, but laments the fact that so few residents showed up to participate in the process. “In three years, we probably had 100 meetings to which the public was invited, yet no one showed up for at least 80% of these meetings.” In spite of all this, Pope said there will be people who say “Why are they rushing this thing?”
“When people see that Council is ready to adopt these changes, they’ll start coming out of the woodworks and I’m afraid we’ll have to start rehashing everything all over again.” Pope said.
He said there also will be people who take issue that Council is trying to pass the new zoning regulations before the City elections in April, but pointed out that after the election there will be potentially four new faces on the Planning Commission and Folly Beach will have lost the expertise of half the people who have worked so hard to hammer out the details of this new land use law.
After first reading on February 23, the Zoning & Land Use Ordinance will go to the Planning Commission, which has scheduled a Public Hearing for Monday, March 1. The entire proposal is available on line at cityoffollybeach.com. Interested residents may also contact Pope directly at 588-2447 ext. 1839 or e-mail him at apope@cityoffollybeach.com.
Pope acknowledged recent complaints about lack of effort by the City to keep residents informed about what is going on in their community, but he said meeting dates and times as well as agendas for these meetings are posted on the website and at City Hall and the Post Office . Numerous demands on a small staff make it impossible to notify residents individually of upcoming meetings and public hearings, according to Pope.
“At some level there is a basic responsibility for civic minded residents to seek out information rather than have it delivered to them,” Pope said. “It is frustrating to make efforts to get information out and then be accused of not being transparent.”
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