York County doesn’t get developed without them. That is, when they show up to vote.

When it comes to how land gets developed in York County, more than a dozen folks have about as much say as anyone not paid or elected to do it.

Yet there’s concern they aren’t using their influence.

A letter will be sent to members of the county planning commission and zoning board of appeals in hopes of curbing a trend common to both, officials said.

“The attendance numbers are not great,” said York County Councilman Michael Johnson, chair of the finance and operations committee that decided to send the letter.

The planning commission has nine members. One from each of the seven council districts, and two at-large members. The zoning board has seven members.

Johnson’s district includes the unincorporated part of Fort Mill in northern York County, where much of the development plans in front of the planning commission and ZBA is aimed.

“We have had to cancel meetings due to a lack of quorum, and we often see votes of 3-2,” Johnson told council Monday night.

Neither group has any vacancies. Terms are four years for planning, three for zoning. Members can’t serve more than two terms on either without a year break in between. The planning commission has been in place nearly 40 years, the zoning board almost 30.

Johnson said he’d like group members “to be actively engaged more often.” And to remind each that attending less than half the meetings — both generally meet once a month — disqualifies a member from serving.

“Some of them are coming close to that,” Johnson said.

Development decisions

The planning commission reviews development agreements, site plans, proposals, traffic studies, rezoning requests and other information related to land use before council ever sees it. The two main recommendations council uses to decide rezonings and similar decisions are those of county staff and the planning commission.

If a development proposal already fits the zoning on a property, only county staff and the planning commission have any say over it through plat approval or work with developers.

The zoning board tackles variances, setbacks, buffer encroachments and other decisions when a property owner claims some hardship needing to be addressed. Often, zoning board issues involve a single property, though sometimes a large developer may come and make the case for lot size or other changes on a project.

Both the planning commission and zoning board of appeals had their September meetings canceled, though the planning commission was scheduled to meet the day Hurricane Irma came through the region. The zoning board had one other meeting canceled this year, in March.

In June, the planning commission voted 3-2 to approve the first phase of an 842-home development in Lake Wylie, but also to require a new traffic study prior to phase two, prompting concerns on the legality of holding up the project. In August, the planning commission voted against a rezoning for 178 homes on as many acres in Lake Wylie.

That vote, again, was 3-2.

“We were one vote away from a decision that conflicts with council’s priority of growth management,” York County Councilwoman Allison Love said at the time.

Love, who represents fast-growing Lake Wylie, said then that even though the recommendation to deny the rezoning passed, she was concerned given county staff had recommended denying the rezoning, too. Love said she was bothered the vote was as close as it was.

“When five out of nine members of the commission show up for a meeting and two are developers,” Love said last month, “the odds are not good for those of us concerned about higher density than allowed currently.”

This story was originally published September 19, 2017 at 1:15 PM with the headline "York County doesn’t get developed without them. That is, when they show up to vote.."