It is the intent for the proposed comprehensive plan to be uniquely tailored to the needs of Lancaster County and provide substantial value in guiding future growth and community development endeavors. The following will outline some of the specific topics or issues that need to be addressed within the plan.

1. Public Engagement and Plan Organization: As noted above, Lancaster County is generally organized into three distinct geographic areas with different character elements and needs within each. The public engagement process will need to be unique to these different areas (i.e. suburban vs. rural). The comprehensive plan should also be organized according to the three distinct community plans/segments described in Scope of Services Section 5.d and be tailored to the needs of these areas. The comprehensive plan and associated implementation strategies should also have countywide unifying elements. The following will provide summary-level information regarding each of the three areas.
   1. Panhandle/Indian Land: Located north of the Jim Wilson Road and Carolina Commons intersection to the SC/NC state line. This area of the county has experienced rapid growth over the last 20-years and resembles a suburban municipality. This small area plan shall include more detailed community planning for future land use in Indian Land. Goals for this plan will consist of establishing growth management direction as well as the identity of Indian Land by utilizing a placemaking process amongst other tools.
   2. Greater Lancaster: Located south of the Jim Wilson Road and Carolina Commons intersection to include area around the City of Lancaster municipal limits (but not including). This area of the county is largely rural with the exception of the City of Lancaster. Two small area plans have been created to help better plan this area (second plan is wrapping up). Recent major utility extensions within this area to support large residential developments suggest that Lancaster's growth will not follow a simple north to south pathway and may be more disjointed. It is also believed that residential growth in this area may help support the redevelopment of the City of Lancaster.
   3. Southern Lancaster: Located south of the City of Lancaster to the Kershaw County line. This is the most rural area of the county in spite of having two modest municipalities. While residents enjoy the traditional rural and agricultural lifestyle in this area offers, it does not offer the same level of community facilities, amenities, and access to goods/services that would be attractive to families.
2. Comprehensive Planning Enabling Act of 1994: It is the County's expectation that the adopted plan will comply with Section 6-29-510. It is not the County's expectation or desire to have the plan organized strictly according to the required planning elements, which creates a limiting document structure. The plan format should be unique to Lancaster County and include translation information or other tools to clearly demonstrate compliance with the Comprehensive Plan Enabling Act and its required plan elements.
3. Growth Management Strategy: The Panhandle area of Lancaster County has been growing at a rapid rate for the last 20-years without a strategy regarding how to best manage it or identifying what it hopes to achieve from it. The plan will focus heavily on developing a robust growth management strategy for the County that involves using best management practices from across the country.
   1. This program will serve to provide a greater degree of predictability in the timing of development throughout Lancaster County as well as identify the preferred types of growth and development within the community.
4. Transportation: The following are specific elements that should be incorporated into the transportation plan (amongst other items).
   1. Collector Road Study Update: The plan should provide an update to the adopted RFATS Collector Road Study. The study should evaluate the feasibility of the routes from a traffic management and implementation feasibility perspective. Many of the proposed routes traverse environmentally compromised areas and/or have had new development encroach within them prior to study adoption. Refinement to the implementation strategies is also required. The County has all GIS files associated with the alignments.
   2. US-Highway 521 Corridor Study: The regional transportation planning agency (RFATS) will initiate a US 521 Corridor Study in the fall of 2021 to support the future widening of this highway. The plan should incorporate and build upon the findings of this study.
   3. Transit Integration: The plan should build upon the potential future transit plans between York County, SC and the Panhandle area of Lancaster County as well as along US-521 into North Carolina. A fixed bus service should be encouraged. A rural transit element in coordination with the Lancaster Area Ride Service (operated by the Council on Aging), which operates a dial-a-ride transit program should also be included.
   4. Multi-Modal: This element shall include multi-modal transportation options and determine how to incorporate and implement the RFATS Collector Street Network Plan, as well as the RFATS Bike & Ped Connectivity Plan, and Carolina Thread Trail Network.
5. Loss of Agricultural and Rural Lands: The rapid growth within the northern portions of Lancaster County has resulted in a significant loss of farm lands and forested areas. The plan and associated public engagement process should explore whether this is a cause of concern and if so, potential solutions to address.
6. Natural Resource Extraction: This will consist of a subsection of the Natural Resources element to inventory the existing natural resource extraction sites located in Lancaster County and determine policies or criteria to help guide the evaluation of any potential future sites.
7. Stormwater Management: This should be a subsection to the Growth Management Program referenced above in 3b. Ensuring adequate stormwater management infrastructure is vital to a growing community. This subsection should also coordinate with the Environmental Stewardship and Sustainability as well as Recreation, Open Space and Green Infrastructure elements.
8. Recreation, Open Space, Environmental Stewardship and Sustainability: Natural open space shall be preserved by developing around natural features which should connect existing and future parks and points of interest utilizing the Carolina Thread Trail Network. The Plan will incorporate the 2015 Lancaster County Parks & Recreation Master Plan. Environmental stewardship should be incorporated into planning and growth management, not only by Lancaster County, but also by development. Methods may include expanded tree canopy coverage, operating more energy efficient and sustainable County facilities, and encouraging reuse water systems when possible. Provide opportunities to promote sustainable development, including Low Impact Development (LID) and conservation subdivisions.
9. Economic Development: The County is very focused on attracting major industrial and office employers to provide employment opportunities for residents and help build a healthy tax-base. The Catawba Regional Council of Governments is in the process of initiating an EDA Cares Planning Study for its entire planning area, which will include a GIS-based industrial site analysis to identify potential future industrial sites. As part of the economic development section of this plan, a further refinement of this analysis should occur, particularly for the more developing Panhandle and Greater Lancaster Area, which is experiencing competing residential growth. This element of the plan should also identify ways in which industrial and residential development can co-exist in a manner that does not detract from the community or create nuisances for residents.
10. Community Beautification: Guidelines should be prepared to focus on beautification within the County to include recommendations for the three areas identified above. Such efforts could include, but are not limited to: uniform and attractive signage including wayfinding signs; branding and key corridor entry design guidelines including landscaping, screening, and signage; community litter clean-up, comprehensive nuisance abatement etc.

Scope of Services

Project Initiation

An estimated timeline and work schedule will be established. The timeline must be efficient and timely. A kick-off meeting will be held with County staff to review timeline, scope, administrative procedures and share information about potential issues and areas of concern.

Project Meetings

1. The consultant will meet regularly with County staff throughout the planning process. Meetings may be held via phone or video conference, and in-person when deemed necessary.
2. Periodic written status reports and presentations will also be required to staff, the Planning Commission and County Council.

Public Engagement

Community engagement and outreach should consist of the following:

1. Provide digital presence for the initiative to, including a project website and other digital communication tools and strategies.
2. Identify how all interested stakeholders will be engaged in both the rural and suburban areas of the county.
3. Include both traditional and non-traditional outreach methods. Methods will include newspaper ads, mailed notification, meeting with community organizations, email, and social media engagement.
4. Identify public, non-profit, private, or other entities to assist in outreach.
5. Identify key themes or principles from the public outreach.
6. Prepare outreach materials and documentation capturing the public feedback.
7. Present to the Planning Commission and/or County Council project updates at major milestones, attend and present at the Planning Commission and County Council adoption meetings; and attend steering committee meetings (as needed).

Plan Preparation

1. Baseline Review and Maps: Conduct review of existing plans and relevant information, current codes and policies, demographic and census data, and other information relevant to the plan. Prepare base maps including, but not limited to: zoning, land use, housing, demographic, population and economic data and trends, jobs projections, transportation, topography, and floodplain. Identify and analyze existing conditions of the County, including, but not limited to utilities, transportation, environmental conditions, and existing land use.

Plan Content

The Plan will include assembling and analyzing data regarding existing conditions within the established planning area and utilizing that data to develop policy, actions, and an implementation plan to guide future development and decision making over a 10 to 20-year timeframe.

1. Vision statement
2. The Plan shall address the required elements in accordance with Section 6-29-510 of the SC Code. However, the Plan must not be laid out to follow the organization of the elements, but rather, the SC element requirement must be met by incorporation throughout the Plan with the required County elements listed below in 5.c.
   1. Required elements of Section 6-29-510 include: population, economic development, natural resources, cultural resources, community facilities, housing, land use, transportation, priority investment, and resiliency.
3. In addition to elements required by the SC Code, the Plan must address the following:
   1. Consistency with current County ordinances and polices in relationship to the Plan goals and objectives as well as other related plans.
   2. Capital Improvements Program: The existing Lancaster County CIP and any recommended improvements should link to the Comprehensive Plan, in particular, the future land use element, to result in an effective CIP.
   3. Key Project Elements identified above.
4. Community Plans/Sections: The Comprehensive Plan shall generally be organized around three community plans/sections which will focus on the three distinct areas within Lancaster County as identified above.
5. Topic-Specific Plan Elements: The format of the Comprehensive Plan will include the Key Project Elements as topics within the above-noted Community Plans/Sections or as standalone chapters as deemed appropriate by County and consultant. The topics will also include, but are not limited to:
   1. Population
   2. Economic Development
   3. Natural Resources
   4. Cultural Resources
   5. Community facilities
   6. Housing
   7. Land Use
   8. Transportation
   9. Priority Investment
   10. Resiliency
6. Emerging Issues: The plan should identify what emerging issues may be facing Lancaster County that may not be readily apparent during the planning term and strategies to address them.
   1. Food Access: One issue to explore is food access to healthy and affordable food. This can include community gardens, farmers markets, and grocery stores. HOPE in Lancaster's FoodShare is a local resource. If it is determined that this is a need, this element can be under the auspices of rural economic development and could also include agricultural processing facilities.
7. Implementation Strategies: Specific goals, objectives, and policies to implement each element of the Plan.
8. Plan Adoption: Prepare draft documents for public review and comment, and present to the Planning Commission and County Council. The plan and UDO should be presented in a format and language that is user-friendly and easily understood by the general public with images, graphics, charts, etc.