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The Parkers Ferry Community Project

Communities of Parkers Ferry, Wiltown, Adams Run, and Osborne

In 2013, County Council Member Anna Johnson held a series of community workshops in the western part of the County to understand the public service issues, including zoning and planning issues, in this area (information from these workshops is available below). Recognizing that current zoning may not be meeting the community's needs, Council Member Johnson and planning staff embarked on creating more customized planning and zoning for the area. The first step of this process was to amend the Charleston County Comprehensive Plan as part of the Five-Year Review and create a new future land use category, Rural Cultural Community Protection, to better protect and enhance the culture and history of rural communities. The amendments to the Comprehensive Plan were adopted in January 2015, and now staff is working on amending the Charleston County Zoning and Land Development Regulations Ordinance (ZLDR) to implement the new future land use category. In a concurrent effort, staff prepared a Parkers Ferry Community Plan that describes the community planning process, catalogs the needs and desires expressed by the community through public input, and provides recommendations to help guide the community in meeting these needs and desires. This Parkers Ferry Community Plan was adopted by Charleston County Council in December of 2016.

A primary implementation strategy included in the Parkers Ferry Community Plan was the adoption of a Parkers Ferry Community Overlay Zoning District (PF-O) to address the planning and zoning related issues identified by the community. This Overlay Zoning District was adopted by the County on November 14, 2017, and can be found by clicking here.

In addition to the adoption of the Overlay Zoning District, County staff has begun work on implementing other strategies contained in the Community Plan.

The Parkers Ferry Community identified a need for improved roads and drainage in the community. Addressing a road safety concern voiced at several community meetings, the Charleston County Transportation Development Department recently announced that construction of a dedicated right turn lane from northbound US 17 onto southbound Parkers Ferry Road will begin in November 2017. Additional information regarding this road improvement project can be found by clicking here.

Past Community Meetings

February 27, 2013: Council Member Anna Johnson hosted a community meeting to review current land use regulations and discuss the existing communities. Meeting attendees completed a questionnaire that planning staff used to develop the new "Rural Cultural Community Protection" future land use designation of the Comprehensive Plan. Click the links below to view meeting materials.

April 24, 2013: Council Member Anna Johnson hosted a community meeting to review the results of the questionnaires completed at the February 27th meeting. Based on the results, planning staff reviewed possible solutions to land use and development issues, beginning with the creation of the new future land use designation described above. The Center for Heirs' Property Preservation was also represented at this meeting and gave a brief presentation letting community members know about the resources available for preserving family lands. Click the links below to view meeting materials.

October 1, 2013: Council Member Anna Johnson hosted a third community meeting, which focused on understanding the proposed future land use designation and ways to implement that once adopted. Planning staff members explained that the process would be lengthy, but in the end, the community would be able to have more customized zoning that better fits their needs and addresses issues identified in the questionnaires.

April 29, 2015: Council Member Anna Johnson hosted a community meeting with over 50 residents from the Parkers Ferry/Wiltown community. Planning staff presented a status update to the community, which outlined the progress made since the 2013 meetings. Most importantly, the Comprehensive Plan has since been updated to reflect a new future land use designation, Rural Cultural Community Protection, which allows for greater flexibility in zoning and land development regulations in Parkers Ferry/Wiltown community. Staff reviewed the community’s desires and needs from previous meetings and expanded the list based on feedback during the meeting. Proposed next steps include creating a community plan to address the issues identified. The community plan will not only address land use issues but will also establish a plan to coordinate with agencies and organizations that can impact other issues identified by the community. Staff is currently working on amendments to the Zoning and Land Development Regulations Ordinance (ZLDR) to present at the next meeting (June 2015).

Meeting Presentation

June 17, 2015: Council Member Anna Johnson hosted a community meeting, which focused on land use/zoning and subdivision/land development issues. Planning staff gathered feedback from meeting attendees regarding the types of uses they would like to see allowed in the area and where these uses might be appropriate. Public Works representatives also discussed road and drainage issues in the area. Based on the feedback from the meeting, staff continued to work on amendments to the Zoning and Land Development Regulations Ordinance (ZLDR) to present at a future meeting.

Meeting Presentation

March 23, 2016: Council Member Anna Johnson hosted a community meeting, which focused on providing updates on recent County projects in the Parkers Ferry area and getting feedback and answering questions regarding zoning solutions.

Meeting Presentation

August 17, 2016: Council Member Anna Johnson hosted a community meeting, which focused on presenting the draft Parkers Ferry Community Plan to attendees and getting community feedback and answering questions regarding the plan. This plan was subsequently adopted by Charleston County Council on December 15, 2016.

The final plan may be downloaded here.

February 16, 2017: The Charleston County Zoning and Planning Department hosted a community meeting which focused on presenting the draft Parkers Ferry Community Overlay Zoning District (PF-O) to attendees, collecting community feedback and answering questions regarding the overlay district.

May 17, 2017:Council Member Anna Johnson hosted a community meeting which focused on presenting a draft of the Parkers Ferry Community Overlay Zoning District (PF-O) that had been revised based on comments received during and after the February 16, 2017 community meeting. After the presentation and a brief community feedback session, the over ninety attendees unanimously agreed that the draft accurately addressed the needs and desires of the Parkers Ferry community and asked that staff now take the draft Parkers Ferry Community Overlay Zoning District through the adoption process. Please click on the links below to view the draft Parkers Ferry Community Overlay Zoning District and Maps as they were presented at the community meeting:

The Parkers Ferry Community Project

Past Community Meetings

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