City Council and Planning Commission Meetings
By Lauren Dean
City Council Meeting
The City Council work session scheduled for March 9 was cancelled by Mayor Beckmann. City Administrator Toni Connor-Rooks explained that Beckmann did not want to bring up new items before a Council that would change membership so drastically after the April elections. City Council is comprised of six Council members and the Mayor. Depending on the results of the election, there will be from two to four new Council members.
Connor-Rooks said the March 23 Council meeting is still on the calendar. According to Connor-Rooks, the auditors will be in attendance, Council will discuss the bids on the City Hall expansion, and final reading will be given on the Staff Event Planning Committee and Open Container ordinance.
Planning Commission Meeting
At the Planning Commission’s regular meeting on March 1, Zoning Administrator Aaron Pope summarized the highlights and changes to the new Zoning Ordinance. Bars and restaurants will be restricted to Center Street and Bed & Breakfast establishments will not be permitted in residential areas. Businesses conducted from homes in residential areas would be more strictly regulated. Multi-family developments will be allowed on properties currently zoned R-3, but Pope said there is only one tract on Folly Road that currently meets the criteria for multi-family usage. “No new property will be eligible for multi-family, Pope stressed. “We are not opening up any new areas on the island.”
Other discussion centered on changes to single-family residential areas. The biggest change is the banning of all short-term rental yard signs, including both rental agency and rent-by-owner signs.
Public Hearing on New Zoning Ordinance
The Planning Commission held a public hearing on March 8 to allow residents to come forward with questions and concerns about the new Zoning Ordinance.
Most of the residents attending the public hearing were owners of condominiums concerned about how the new laws would affect them. Susan Breslin was concerned about the possibility of restrictions on full-time residents renting out their homes, as some do occasionally to offset the expenses of living in a beachfront community. She said she could not have bought her house if she had not been able to rent it out before permanently moving to Folly Beach. “I believe we will lose residents if they are not allowed to rent their homes out,” she said. She was also opposed to the enforcement of overly rigid restrictions on building. “Lots of people with fixed incomes could be forced off the island,” she said. “Be very careful about how you apply the law.”
Several Planning Commissioners made comments at the end of the meeting.
Kirk Grant referred to his “standard soapbox” and said he was still concerned about commercial use of residential property. He said the ordinance should limit the number of “occasions” such as wedding-related parties that draw huge numbers of people and affect the quality of life for adjacent property owners.
LaJuan Kennedy addressed the issue of signs naming houses, used primarily on rental houses. She said the present signs are “legal non-conforming unless destroyed or taken down.” She said new signs naming houses will be permitted, but they must be no more than three square feet in size and must be permanently affixed to the house.
Paul Hume said the new law was not perfect, but was a huge improvement. “All we ever had before was knee-jerk reactions to people building what we didn’t want them to build,” he said.
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