Council holds public hearing on Orange Hill rezoning; plan would reduce homes, require tree mitigation and developer payments

Charleston County Council held a public hearing Tuesday on a request to amend the long‑standing Orange Hill plan development and rezone three parcels on Johns Island to Planned Development PD‑191.

The county presentation said the three subject parcels total about 933.097 acres, about 427 acres of which are wetland, and described proposed modifications to tree protections, roadway requirements and a 10‑year development agreement between Kiawah Resort Associates and Charleston County. Planning staff said the agreement would cap certain habitat and housing payments, require a left‑turn lane on River Road at the primary entrance and permit one conditional plat tied to a wastewater treatment facility and public water provisions.

The hearing drew developer representatives, local task‑force leaders and neighbors who debated density, trees, traffic and stormwater. A developer representative said the proposal reduces the number of homes from the earlier plan’s 181 to 120 and cuts about 2.8 miles of roadway, arguing those changes preserve more natural areas. “By shifting the road entrance to River Road, we believe that we haven't added to the complexity of traffic on Bohicket Road,” the developer representative said.

Why it matters: the proposal changes permitted uses and local zoning rules for a large Johns Island tract and would allow the removal or encroachment on hundreds of the county’s regulated trees under the…