Public hearings to seek input on new ordinance

Few questions were asked Sept. 15 when Folly Beach residents were presented an outline of the city's proposed new zoning ordinance. But a series of public hearings in October could prove livelier.

The Zoning and Land Development Ordinance was drafted over a period of a year and eight months. Members of the city planning commission, aided by consultants from Clarion Associates of Chapel Hill, N.C., huddled many long nights reviewing previously enacted zoning ordinances and city codes. They rewrote many sections and consolidated others.

The proposal, nearly 400 pages long but still unfinished, must be approved by City Council to become law. Craig Richardson of Clarion said the document clears up many existing ambiguities, brings many code sections in line with Charleston County zoning and updates codes of many municipalities. It also details procedures for permit applications, reviews and appeals and creates new zoning classifications. The code provides protection for trees, requires landscaping and buffering at new commercial developments and grants the city zoning administrator authority to make small adjustments in setback and building-footprint regulations.

New regulations would govern signs, inns and other rental properties, and new formulas governing sizes of new homes and for determining setbacks were created. The city's codes and zoning regulations accumulated mostly piecemeal over the past few decades and never had been consolidated. "It's a very old code. It's very outdated, relative to other codes we have seen," Richardson said.

Among changes that have drawn fire are limits to the number of "special events" that can be held at rental homes and the reinstitution of multifamily zoning.

By ordinance, Folly Beach does not allow multifamily zoning. Chad Meadows of Clarion said the new code would allow it, but only off the island on the portion of James Island that was annexed by Folly Beach. Any new multifamily development would take place under strict regulation, he said.

The new code would limit to six yearly the number of special events, such as weddings and receptions, at rental homes. Bob Hatcher, who, with his family, is the legal resident of 801 E. Arctic Ave., rents out the home in summer and said it's popular for weddings. "If we can rent it for only six weddings a year, we won't have enough income to pay the bills," he said.

City Zoning Administrator Aaron Pope said dates for the public hearings will be announced. See the zoning document at www.cityoffollybeach.com/public-draft-zoning.html.