Columbia Standard

The Richland County Planning Commission recently recommended amendments to the County’s zoning map, and residents can now review the proposed changes on the County’s website.

In April 2022, County Council directed the County’s Planning Commission to prepare a new zoning map and recommend related text revisions to the Land Development Code (LDC). In November, the commission finished its work and requested that its recommendations be shared with the public before being presented to Council.

“The Planning Commission spent many months working on the proposed zoning map changes,” Assistant County Administrator Aric Jensen said. “They really wanted to recommend a map that was responsive to the community and consistent with the County’s comprehensive plan.”

County staff will update Council on the revised maps and LDC on March 21. The update will be for informational purposes only, and Council will not hold a public hearing or take action at that time.

The updated zoning maps can be viewed and downloaded by navigating to the Planning Department webpage. The page features an overall zoning map for Richland County, as well as more detailed maps for specific areas, including:

• Beltway
• North Central Richland
• Northeast Richland
• Northwest Richland
• Southeast Richland

Some of the files are large and could take time to download.

More About the LDC

The LDC and accompanying zoning map are adopted County ordinances that regulate land use, growth and development outside of incorporated cities and towns. They govern the types of uses, location and size of developments within various zones, as well as establishing the procedures for how development proposals are reviewed.

The LDC also controls various development and subdivision standards such as parking, landscaping, signs, addressing, building form and open space within a development, and the division and platting of land as well as road layout and other infrastructure requirements.

Richland County adopted its current LDC in 2005 and has amended it many times since then. In November 2021, County Council adopted a comprehensive LDC text revision, but in 2022 Council and the Planning Commission decided more time was needed to engage the public and make additional changes, and they directed County planning staff to “restart” the LDC and zoning map amendment process.

County Council and the commission reason that, as Richland County adapts to changes in technology, lifestyles and economic conditions, corresponding changes must be made to the LDC to assure that development occurs logically and in a planned fashion.

Residents with questions about the ongoing Land Development Code Restart Process should email Jensen: jensen.aric@richlandcountysc.gov. Those with general questions on the existing LDC should email LandDevelopmentCode@richlandcountysc.gov. 

Original source can be found here.