York County Council wants to see zoning ordinance changed to address Lake Wylie

Proposed changes to York County’s zoning ordinance received initial approval this week, but it may be some time before the changes are in place, and they could look much different from the initial proposal floated to the York County Council on Monday.

The council voted to advance the proposal after months of discussion and review, but many members expressed disappointment that the changes to countywide zoning rules don’t specifically address the main concern that led to the review in the first place: development on Lake Wylie.

York County launched a review of its zoning regulations last November, when the council dropped plans to create a Lake Wylie overlay district to restrict future growth in one of the county’s fastest growing communities. Several council members made clear in Monday’s discussion they still want to see specific proposals to deal with the lake included in any final zoning revision.

Now a planned public hearing on the issue scheduled for Sept. 8 is off, said Planning Director Audra Miller, as council members expect to hold a workshop at an undetermined date to discuss changes to the proposal.

Some members of the public didn’t wait until that hearing. Some of the same voices that called for the creation of an overlay district last fall added their opinions on the issue during the public comment period of Monday’s meeting.

“For nine long months, we waited to see what would replace the overlay,” said Lake Wylie resident Allison Love. “This includes no overlay, no new zoning district, and the only mention of Lake Wylie is in one footnote.”

Others had more varied objections. Former U.S. Congressman John Spratt of York told the council that plans to limit housing density in new subdivisions would “exclude middle-income families from the housing market,” while Billy Hagner said the density rules would still allow too many houses on a development tract near his home on the Allison Creek peninsula.

Several members of the council said they would need to see some language related to Lake Wylie added before they can pass a final version of the ordinance.

“I know we wanted something for the whole county ... but one size can’t fit all,” said Councilman Chad Williams. “The only way I can support this is if it’s amended to include an overlay.”

“We need something specific to one area’s problems, not throw a blanket over everything,” added Councilman William “Bump” Roddey. “That causes problems downstream, and fixing them causes problems upstream.”

Most council members agreed with Councilman Michael Johnson that the item was “a step in the right direction,” but even in passing the ordinance, they agreed the focus on development needed to be more narrow.

“What’s best for Tega Cay is not necessarily what’s best for Sharon,” Johnson said.

Councilman Bruce Henderson, who championed last year’s overlay proposal, was glad to hear his colleagues call for lake-specific zoning.

“If you don’t want to call it an overlay, I’ll start calling it a ‘critical watershed’,” he said.

Councilman Robert Winkler said he’d like to see several items in the ordinance reviewed by a council committee. While the council didn’t formally make that a condition on passing the measure, as of Wednesday Miller was coordinating times members might be available for a workshop to review the ordinance.

While Miller earlier proposed a plan to create a 1-mile buffer district – which she said could still be added to the draft ordinance – she said planners followed council’s direction to focus on countywide changes when drawing up the proposal. She hopes the workshop will produce some clear direction on the issue.

“We need direction on what specific parts of the ordinance to apply to certain areas and not countywide,” she said.

This story was originally published August 20, 2015 at 8:17 PM with the headline "York County Council wants to see zoning ordinance changed to address Lake Wylie."