Is ‘the tool’ for managing Lake Wylie growth at hand? And, will the county adopt it?

York County may be taking a major step toward growth management, though not everyone is convinced just yet.

York County Council voted 5-2 last week on two rule changes. Both hinge on a council workshop to iron out details before final approval. The first would increase some minimum lot sizes for residential construction. The second would allow the county to make exceptions, working around the larger lot sizes if developers put other desirable features into a project from larger buffers to more open space.

Councilwoman Allison Love said the tandem changes came from county planning staff in response to growth concerns and a council subcommittee asking for answers, so she takes them to be meaningful ways to handle growth.

“This is what they came back with,” Love said. “We take that to mean this is the tool. This is the tool.”

In July, the county zoning committee asked for code revisions to increase the minimum lot size in four residential zoning districts. Proposed changes since would list patio homes only as single-story structures and up lot sizes mainly for single-family homes.

While the workshop will determine what final rules get an up or down vote, the initial approval Oct. 2 offers a look at possibilities.

The proposed ordinance has the most typical residential districts requiring an extra 500 square feet per lot for single-family homes on public water or sewer, to 8,500. Apartments, townhomes and patio homes wouldn’t see changes. Some other residential uses, on public water and sewer, would actually decrease from 10,000 to 8,500 square feet required per lot.

In residential conservation districts, homes on public water and sewer would require 12,000 square feet rather than 8,000. Patio homes wouldn’t be impacted. Other residential construction on community water and sewer, now with a 10,000-square-foot requirement, also would bump up to 12,000.

The ordinance also bumps up the square footage thresholds on a variety of side, rear, internal and corner setback requirements for residential lots.

A separate proposed ordinance would allow the county planning commission to approve reduced lot sizes for subdivisions with five or more lots, as long as the change doesn’t increase the density allowed by the zoning district. The approval only would be for projects on public water and sewer, where the developer is providing more than the minimum required open space and other factors like tree save and buffers are enhanced.

Chairman Britt Blackwell, along with Councilman William “Bump” Roddey, voted against the two changes at first reading. Blackwell said he believes much of York County could suffer if lots are too big, meaning homes will be too costly. He believes the changes will have “negative repercussions.”

“I understand the problems in Lake Wylie,” Blackwell said of over-development. “I understand the problems in Fort Mill, although Fort Mill is saturated now —there’s really no place to put anything else anyway.”

Blackwell is concerned about “an unelected board making decisions like this” if the planning commission can approve projects with reduced lot sizes. And, he is concerned about pricing out some homebuyers.

“This, as it is in my mind, will drive out the builders and they won’t have an interest in building homes that may fit what we need for lower income people,” Blackwell said.

Councilman Robert Winkler voted for the changes at first reading, but shared concerns. Winkler said his children in their 20s and early 30s “have had some really hard times finding new family starter homes” when the median home price in York County is $279,000. He also works with seniors who often look to downsize. Then, there are people in between.

“Our police, firefighters and first responders do that because it’s a calling, not because they make a really good living at it most of the time,” Winkler said. “And they need to be able to afford housing to live in our communities as well.”

Blackwell and Winkler both said they remember working their ways up to the homes they live in now, and want the same opportunities for others.

“It doesn’t mean they’re bad,” Winkler said of people looking for smaller homes. “It doesn’t mean those homes are bad homes. It just means they’re starting. We were all there at one point.”

Yet in higher growth areas, the concern involves massive projects coming in on a seemingly regular basis. Requiring larger lots makes a big difference in the overall number of homes a developer can put into a project where acreage and total units regularly reach into the hundreds.

“If we’re serious about growth management, then we need to take this first step,” said Councilwoman Christi Cox.

The Lake Wylie and Fort Mill areas easily pace the county when it comes to residential growth. Love, who represents Lake Wylie and Clover, said she feels like “the goal of growth management is in limbo” despite council stating it as a top priority. She disagrees the changes only would serve her area and Fort Mill.

“We need to come up with what we feel like is the best thing for the county, not for Lake Wylie,” Love said.

Roddey said the new rules themselves should be discussed, but cast his opposing vote due to something called the pending ordinance doctrine. By approving first reading, the pending ordinance rule begins when the county advertises its public hearing. It published a legal notice about the hearing Oct. 7. Second reading is expected in early November.

The rule means new projects can’t come in — once the public hearing is advertised — under the old rules while the ordinance is pending.

“I don’t want to put that wall up now,” Roddey said.

Otherwise he would have voted for first reading.

“This may be a tool,” Roddey said. “I’m not fully behind it, but I’m willing to go to the table to discuss it.”

Councilman Chad Williams said if county staff is good with the changes, including the pending ordinance rule, he trusts that decision. Winkler said if they finalize new rules then they will begin at some point anyway, so he wasn’t bothered by the pending ordinance.

“Either way there’s a wall,” Winkler said. “There’s a line drawn somewhere. We’re just drawing it a couple of weeks earlier.”

Cox said the pending ordinance doctrine got a staff recommendation for a reason. Announcing potential changes without it could spur developers, she said, to rush their projects to the table.

“Once we start this, we don’t want to have a flood of permits,” Cox said.

Council and county staff agree the two changes being discussed won’t work without one another. Andy Merriman, assistant county manager, said the larger lot requirements “would be too heavy handed” and “would have a terrible impact” on county residential growth without the allowance for exceptions under some conditions. Together, he said, they could create a framework for steering growth.

Love ran for and won her seat on a growth management platform, amid concerns in Lake Wylie on clear cutting sites, stormwater runoff, traffic and other pressures put on by new homes and apartments. The county has been working long enough, she said, to stop short of doing something now.

“I quite frankly am just not interested in having any further delays,” Love said.

This story was originally published October 9, 2017 at 1:07 PM with the headline "Is ‘the tool’ for managing Lake Wylie growth at hand? And, will the county adopt it?."