Public gets one more look at comprehensive plan update

More than a year after they started, York County planners are coming back to the community with a reworked comprehensive land-use plan.

A final public drop-in meeting is 5-7:30 p.m. Feb. 25 at Banks Trail Middle School, 1640 Banks Road.

Since the comprehensive plan process began a year ago, there have been 15 advisory committee meetings, 14 stakeholder meetings, six open houses and more than 4,000 unique visits to the project website. Now planners want residents to see the progress and offer comments.

“It’s a good plan that covers all the bases,” said Allison Love, advisory committee member. “County staff and committee members have worked diligently for many months. The goal is to have County Council approve it and stick by it.”

The plan looks at items such as zoning, transportation, economic development, development density and location — items county planning staff and York County Council want a handle on to make future land-use decisions. Following the meeting, a final advisory group meeting is March 15, followed by a late March workshop with the county planning commission, and another in April with Council.

“The goal is to present this in May to Council for first reading,” said Audra Miller, county planning director.

Councilman Bruce Henderson said resident input is important at a time when major decisions are being made in York County. A new ordinance is expected soon proposing a temporary freeze on new housing in unincorporated Lake Wylie and Fort Mill. A strong comprehensive plan to guide decisions is another part of the puzzle.

“We want quality growth,” Henderson said. “We want it managed better. We don’t want houses on top of each other.”

Henderson said people came to Lake Wylie and other parts of York County because for the quality of life, something strong planning can help maintain. Otherwise, the area won’t have to worry with restricting or managing growth.

“They’ll leave here for the very same reason they came here, if you keep doing what you’re doing,” Henderson said.

Love, who along with other residents pushed for tighter land use restrictions near the lake, said that effort remains important. The comprehensive plan generally takes a larger view.

“The comprehensive plan is more about countywide growth,” Love said. “It is not real specific to Lake Wylie and does not address the immediate needs as far as road repair and lake preservation.”

Councilman Michael Johnson, who represents much of the unincorporated Fort Mill area that could be subject to the freeze, told Council at a recent meeting he appreciates the comprehensive plan work and would like to see it extended.

“All municipalities in the county should do one joint land-use plan, not all of these individual plans,” he said. “I think one of our problems, when you just look across the county as a whole is, there’s not a comprehensive plan. They’re all, Rock Hill has a plan. The county has a plan, Fort Mill has a plan, Tega Cay has. There’s no comprehensive plan.”

While there are multiple plans, Miller said there are efforts made to keep land use designations similar between the county and municipalities. County staff bring in town and city planners for workshops and other events, and attend meetings elsewhere.

“We have been talking to the towns and the cities, and we are looking at their plans and making sure while they may not be 100 percent the same, that they are complementary and compatible,” Miller said.

Fort Mill planners recommend a little more commercial usage at Gold Hill Road and I-77 than the county, while the county recommends a little larger employment center west of U.S. 321 than does Clover. Tega Cay lists more property in its area for rural residential and agricultural, but the county differed by looking at existing development there.

“We’re acknowledging what is already happening, which is residential and commercial going in those areas,” Miller said.

Comments from the upcoming public meeting will be incorporated into the final plan. It also includes feedback collected at yorkforward.com. For more on the process, visit that site or call 803-909-7233.

This story was originally published February 19, 2016 at 12:47 PM with the headline "Public gets one more look at comprehensive plan update."