"Either the proposed [land use] element or the current element will cut future residential development by half of what the current zoning allows."

COASTAL OBSERVER
July 4, 2024

The numbers are shocking. Under the current zoning regulations, Georgetown County could have another 229,835 dwellings, with 25,201 of those on the Waccamaw Neck. After that, the county would be built out.

For perspective, there were 35,655 residential units in the county as of 2020. The Waccamaw Neck had 19,049 of those. The numbers were produced by consultants hired by the county to complete the land use element of its comprehensive plan, a process that the county started in January 2019 and proceeded fitfully over the next five years. It’s a shame that the numbers weren’t produced at the start of the process. They would have helped focus the attention of residents and officials.

The key takeaway is that the zoning ordinance that would allow the county to reach those growth levels is already in place. Those dwellings could be built, theoretically if not practically, tomorrow. Based on the rate of residential construction from 2010 to 2020, it would take more than a century to reach build out on the Waccamaw Neck.

The focus on the land use element of the comprehensive plan has generated fierce debate, but its impact is overstated. The existing plan, as many have noted, established goals that remain valid today. That’s because it was drafted in the high growth period that led up to the Great Recession. The land use plan needs refinement. What needs an over haul is the zoning ordinance.

The proposed land use element would allow 12,622 new dwellings on the Waccamaw Neck if its recommendations were enacted through zoning. The current element would allow 11,496 more units before we reached build out. The difference is just under 10 percent. Either the proposed element or the current element will cut future residential development by half of what the current zoning allows.

Georgetown County’s budget for the coming year includes funds to revise the zoning ordinance. Those who have followed the comprehensive plan process will know that it establishes the legal basis for changing the zoning ordinance. It doesn’t change the zoning on its own. That vital work is still ahead.