Page 147 - Florence County, SC Florence County 2032: Connecting Our Past, Defining Our Future

Future County | Economic Development

Priority Investments

Public Projects

As required by the Priority Investment Act, Florence County must do the following when considering public
projects: Consult and coordinate with all governmental entities and utilities - other counties, municipalities, public
service districts, school districts, public and private utilities, transportation agencies and other public entities -
that are affected by or have any planning authority over any public project identified. This coordination can be
detailed, but is required to be at a basic level providing written notice to these agencies with an opportunity to
comment before a project is approved. Through the process of writing and developing this Plan, these agencies
were notified and given opportunity to engage as they will continue to be when any new public projects are
proposed.
New Zoning Tools

The Priority Investment Act also provides for two new zoning tools to promote affordable housing and traditional
neighborhood design. Florence County shall:
A. Undertake a study of their zoning ordinance and subdivision regulations to determine if the regulatory
requirements affecting the affordability of housing are not necessary to protect the public health, safety or
welfare.
B. Analyze market-based incentives that may be made available to encourage the development of affordable
housing. Under the Priority Investment Act, Florence County can identify priority investment zones to adopt
market based incentives or relax or eliminate nonessential housing regulatory requirements in order to
encourage affordable housing. The creation of a new zoning map achieves this goal as many areas are now
zoned to allow multiple types of housing. Additional zoning tools should also be considered.
C. The Act also requires Florence County to identify priority investment zones to encourage traditional
neighborhood design – communities with mixed residential and commercial uses that look and function like
traditional towns and neighborhoods. They have done that through the creation of a new zoning map allowing
Planned Development throughout the County. They may wish to add additional tools to their ordinance in this
regard as well. These tools include density bonuses, relaxed zoning regulations such as lot area requirements
or setbacks, reduced or waived fees, fast track permitting, and design flexibility. All of these should be studied
when a zoning ordinance rewrite is completed.

Florence County, SC | Comprehensive Plan pg. 146