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Richland County hosts 'open house' on Land Development Code

After two years of work, Richland County Council and Planning Commission are trying to pass an updated Land Development Code, but they need the public's input.

BLYTHEWOOD, S.C. — On Wednesday night, Richland County hosted a meeting about the Land Development Code.

The meeting was held to allow residents to come and ask questions about the proposed land development codes and maps that the Richland County Planning Commission has been working on for the last two years. 

However, only a handful of people attended the meeting, and out of those attending one man said he came to voice his concern about disruptions that the rezoning could cause.

"I'm concerned because of the ecosystem that is going to be destroyed and once it's destroyed, you can't fix it," explained Whitner Slagsvol.

The main point of these meetings is to hear the concerns of constituents before an updated Land Development Code with maps is passed. 

A lot of residents have been concerned that the county needs to pass the text of the land development code before they do the map. Gary Dennis with the Planning Commission explained the process.

"So the text was approved and we were starting to work on the maps and we knew the maps would drive changes in the code, once we started looking at how it's going to shape the community and shape the county," Dennis stated. "It's just one of those things, one has to be done before the other, but they can't be done without each other, so when you finish one your going to look at the other and go 'we've got to go back and fix some things to make it right for the county' because ultimately that's what we're trying to do, make it right for Richland County."

The Planning Commission moved to recommend their ideas for the Land Development Code in November of 2022, however, the minutes from the meeting were never approved, so technically the proposed Land Development Code amendments were never fully approved.

The planning commission is supposed to pass the November planning commission minutes on Monday at 3 p.m. to make sure their code recommendations are made public.

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