Design Guidelines: Many municipalities in South Carolina have design guidelines for new development within historic districts, outlining specific architectural styles, materials, and other requirements to ensure that new construction complements the existing historic fabric.
Land use lawsuits most commonly occur in situations where plaintiffs claim they are receiving unequal treatment. A common cause of such a lawsuit is “spot zoning.” In the 1963 case Bob Jones University, Inc. v. City of Greenville, the SC Supreme Court invalidated “spot zoning,” which it defined as giving a small land parcel a classification entirely unlike the zoning for surrounding areas in a way that benefits the owners of that property and harms other property owners.
If it is built it will be called The Wharf and will be in the land area adjacent to the parking lot at the Carroll Ashmore Campbell Marine Complex at the south end of the Maryville Bridge.
On Tuesday night, the Georgetown Planning Commission approved a request to annex and rezone a tract of land near the boat landing to Master Planned Residential.
Last spring, the Georgetown City Planning Commission approved a request from D.R. Horton, Inc. to build 274 homes in multiple phases in Maryville between South Island Road and Highway 17.
But now the development called South Island Landing is being challenged by Georgetown County and the South Carolina Aeronautics Commission (SCAC) because of the property’s proximity to the Georgetown Airport.
In 2017, Georgetown City Council approved a request to rezone 10 acres of land between the Black River and two hotels along Church Street to allow for a fishing village. But the development has not yet happened.
This week the owners of the property – 711 Partners LLC – are bringing the request back to council to get an amendment.The plans are for 18 single-family units (1-2 bedrooms) each to be built on the property between the Quality Inn and the Baymont Inn on Church Street. Each of the units will be about 650 square feet in size.
These will be rental units, not permanent residences.
Big changes could be coming to the main thoroughfares in the City of Georgetown because of the passage of the much planned and talked about Urban Core Overlay District (UCOD).
The new zoning ordinance for UCOD passed second and final reading by Georgetown City Council unanimously Thursday evening. The new zoning impacts Highway 17, Highway 701 and Highmarket Street within the city limits. An overlay district allows cities to tighten or relax zoning rules in the areas designated without having to change an entire zoning ordinance.
While PUDs can be an excellent tool for managing the development of large tracts of land, there can also be drawbacks to their use. For example, inexperienced municipalities may be misled by presentations of plans or may simply be eager to build up the tax base and haphazardly approve development (Dover, 1996).
