BLYTHEWOOD – Blythewood 29016 residents will have the opportunity to have input into recently updated county land development rules with county staff on Thursday, Sept. 2 from 6 – 8 p.m. at the Palmetto Citizens Amphitheater in Doko Meadows Park, 100 Alvina Hagood Circle in Blythewood.
The meeting, hosted by Richland County Council member Derek Pugh (District 2 Blythewood), will focus on the revamped Land Development Code (LDC).
The LDC is a set of regulations governing land use and development in unincorporated Richland County. The code covers standards for zoning districts and dwelling units allowed per acre, along with building location, permitted uses, signage, landscaping and other rules.
County officials say the updating is a process to develop regulations that implement a vision for where and how the county grows in the 21st century.
The updated LDC will be viewed in two separate sessions – one for viewing the text portion of the revision and a later session for viewing the map portion of the revision.
The updating began in 2017 and was touted as offering the residents an opportunity to have input. The public sessions, however, were poorly advertised and were not widely attended,” Pugh said.
Shortly after the first of the year, the planning staff asked council members to pass the updated version of the LDC. Council, the majority of whom had recently been elected to office, pushed back saying they needed more time to look at the revisions.
“We couldn’t just pass it without familiarizing ourselves with the new code,” Pugh said. “We also wanted to be sure our constituents were familiar with the rewrite and were happy with it. We didn’t want to just push it through. After all, it effects people’s properties.”
A series of drop-ins was scheduled earlier this spring and summer, but with little publicity about the drop-ins, few people showed up for the meetings.
The Voice received no notification about the meeting from the county. It was sent to the chamber for distribution to its approximately 146 members.
Pugh asked county to reschedule the meeting for Thursday, Sept. 2.
The public can view the draft of the revamped LDC at weplantogether.org. Find out more at www.richlandcounty sc.gov and navigate to the Planning Department page.
