What comes after York County housing freeze?

If York County does halt housing growth in the fastest growing parts of the county, what might replace it?

That was the question that hung over the York County Council as it met to review its 2025 countywide comprehensive plan, which will spells out the county’s development objectives for the next decade.

Last week, the County Council gave initial approval to a temporary freeze on new home construction in the Fort Mill area. If the measure passes, it would stop residential rezonings, housing plats or site plans for an area that has seen some of the fastest growth in the county.

Growth in Lake Wylie is also explosive. As initially proposed, the freeze would have applied to the “Bethel township” in the Lake Wylie area as well, but instead the council on April 18 discussed whether to revise plans for a Lake Wylie overlay district, without taking any action.

But within the context of the county’s comprehensive plan, the main focus of Tuesday’s workshop, there may not be much room to stop growth indefinitely in the most heavily affected areas.

“Around the lake, a lot of that has already been built out or under construction as we speak, except for a few small lots,” said Steve Allen, York County’s planning services manager.

Likewise, the Fort Mill area is also on course to see more homes.

“West of I-77 (in the Fort Mill area), a lot is built out or under contract for construction,” Allen said. “We believe a lot of the larger tracks are going to be annexed into the town of Fort Mill.”

But still, Planning Director Audra Miller told the council members, “If you want to reduce growth in Lake Wylie, Fort Mill or anywhere else, you need to put it into the comprehensive plan.”

The comprehensive plan is adopted by the county every 10 years, and sets the outlines for the county’s development decisions for the decade that follows.

The moratorium will only last through the end of the year, during which time the county will try to come up with new standards to limit construction in high-traffic areas that have upset residents.

Allen said traffic impact is a major focus of their efforts in the plan and a separate study being conducted by the Rock Hill-Fort Mill Area Transportation Study (RFATS) group. He blamed long-term trouble in the area on poor planning and permissive zoning requirements.

“You might have 1,000 people in a subdivision, with one entrance on a road with one traffic signal,” he said.

Councilwoman Christi Cox said the county should adopt an infrastructure standards ordinance that would halt subdivisions from being permitted if they impact the county’s roadways.

“If RFATS is a part of that, fine, but we’ve got to cover the entire county,” she said.

But Miller said such an ordinance would put a lot more requirements on both developers and staff that will need to be laid out in the ordinance and county policy.

“If you turn down a request because of transportation, then you need a plan to improve it,” Miller said. “You can’t just turn it down forever.”

But Cox said an infrastructure ordinance should be a more moderate solution than a total freeze.

“We’re rushing into the death penalty, but saying a 20-year sentence is too harsh,” she said.

The proposal will be reviewed by the York County Planning Commission on May 9 and have a public hearing in front of the York County Council on May 16. Final passage couldn’t come until mid-June.

This story was originally published April 26, 2016 at 8:46 PM with the headline "What comes after York County housing freeze?."