LEXINGTON, S.C. — Lexington County Council has passed a temporary ordinance to put a hold on new large-scale developments in the unincorporated parts of the county.
The idea came after county council has talked with the community about strain that's been caused due to large growth.
It will prevent applications and the administrative processing of applications for: Residential subdivisions of ten lots or more, Residential subdivision with lots averaging less than 1/2 acre of land, and Residential attached land use activities as defined by the Lexington County Zoning Ordinance (apartment complexes).
County Council Chairman Todd Cullum says the 180 day clock would begin to run if the ordinance passes after the third reading.
"It's all rooted in the basis of the quality of life," said Cullum. "Home building is still active in Lexington County. If you want to subdivide property and not build a subdivision or such that greater than ten lots, then we'll accept that submission and go through the review process. It's just anything that's greater than that, large-scale developments right now are basically on a temporary hold."
Charlene "Charli" Wessinger of District 6 said in a statement:
"This temporary moratorium will allow for an opportunity to study, analyze and modify policy related to the impacts of large-scale residential growth and apartment complexes throughout the county. The tremendous growth we have experienced in such a short amount of time is presenting a public safety issue due to the increase in population and increased traffic. We have enrollment freezes on schools in the county, along with other issues that the increased in population has impacted. The County needs time to review policy so we can continue to uphold our mission statement to provide an outstanding quality of life with a reasonable cost of living."
For the purposes of determining if a newly proposed subdivision consists of ten lots or more, the number of lots will be determined by the number of lots in the entire planned subdivision development, including all phases of the proposed development.
New residential projects that have been formally submitted for review prior to the enactment of the moratorium will continue to be processed using the current development review process.
The moratorium is applicable in the unincorporated areas of the County, which are defined by any areas that do not fall within the municipal boundaries of local towns and cities.
The third reading of the ordinance is expected to be in late May. The public will be able to give their input on the matter soon.
WLTX will update you once that information becomes available.