Introduction

Lancaster County, South Carolina seeks the services of a qualified professional consultant to prepare a Diagnosis/Assessment Report of its current Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) and to assist with the subsequent update of the UDO based upon that Report. This update will involve working through a collaborative process that involves a variety of stakeholders across several County departments and outside groups.

Community Profile

Lancaster County, South Carolina was established in 1785 and is a part of the Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC Metropolitan Statistical Area. The county is comprised of the city of Lancaster, the towns of Van Wyck, Heath Springs and Kershaw, as well as the unincorporated communities of Buford, Indian Land and Taxahaw. The County has a total area of 555 square miles and a population of approximately 95,870.

The County consists of three distinct areas: The Panhandle, Greater Lancaster, and Southern Lancaster County. The Panhandle extends south from the Charlotte, North Carolina city limits to Waxhaw Highway and consists of 90% of the growth and permits in the County since 2010. The Greater Lancaster area extends from Waxhaw Highway to Elgin, South Carolina and is the manufacturing and government center of the county, as well as being the home of the University of South Carolina - Lancaster. Southern Lancaster County extends from Elgin to the Town of Kershaw and is predominantly rural with some large manufacturers such as the OceanGold at Haile Gold Mine.

In recent years Lancaster County has experienced tremendous growth. Since 2010 the County has gained 11,251 new jobs, 1,706 new apartment units in the Panhandle, and $1.575 billion in new investment. The population has also increased 24.4%, making it the region's fastest growing county and the 32nd fastest in the United States, and the population is anticipated to grow an additional 13% by 2023.

Background

The County adopted its current UDO on November 28, 2016. In the four years following its adoption, County staff and the development community has identified various issues within the UDO and, while some issues have been addressed during this time, many remain. Concurrently, the County will be initiating the development of a new Comprehensive Plan in the current fiscal year and cannot wait on the development and adoption of this Comprehensive Plan to address the persisting concerns within the UDO.

The County has previously engaged the services of a consultant on this matter; however the County and consultant mutually agreed to terminate those services as the contractor was unable to move forward with the project. Prior work that was completed, including a summary of interviews with key stakeholders conducted by the prior consultant, can be made available.

It is the County's desire for this proposed UDO to be of a relatively modest and targeted nature focusing on the most pressing issues associated with the ordinance. Upon adoption of the new Comprehensive Plan, a major rewrite of the UDO is anticipated taking into account new planning policies and addressing more substantive structural issues with the UDO.

Objectives

With the intent of correcting the persisting concerns within the UDO in the best manner possible, the County desires the preparation of a Diagnosis/Assessment Report that would consist of a chapter-by-chapter evaluation of the current UDO to identify issues that need to be considered for immediate correction. The following objectives should be considered in the review conducted for the Report:

• Compliance with State and federal requirements and applicable case law;
• Address the numerous inconsistent and/or conflicting development standards;
• Identify missing, common regulatory tools that are found in most contemporary ordinances;
• Identify existing incorrect or errant ordinance cross references;
• Identify proposed cross-references between applicable ordinance sections;
• Identify key development standards that should be differentiated between the urban and rural areas of the County;
• Review of all existing zoning districts with recommendations for additions, deletions and modifications;
• Provide clear decision-making protocols and streamlined review processes, where appropriate; and
• Address development standards/procedures – review and suggest improvements based upon compliance with the Comprehensive Plan, zoning requirements, and best management practices.

Process and Public Engagement

Process:

The County envisions this as a two-phase project all to occur as part of the same contract. Phase one will consist of developing the Diagnosis/Assessment Report, and Phase two would consist of the preparation and composition of the UDO update based upon the recommendations within the Report and a list of specific corrections provided by County staff. It is the County's desire for the entirety of this project completed within six-months.

Public Engagement

In light of the focused nature of this project and that interviews with key stakeholders were already conducted within the past seven months, no public engagement is anticipated to occur within Phase One. The UDO update, stakeholder feedback and adoption process in Phase Two is likely to be facilitated by County staff; however the consultant may be asked to present to the Lancaster County Planning Commission and County Council.