Planning commission backs text changes to Beaufort County historic-preservation code to pursue CLG status

The Beaufort County Planning Commission voted unanimously to support staff-proposed amendments to the Community Development Code that would create a local historic-designation process, add cemetery-protection buffers and standards, and help the county qualify for Certified Local Government (CLG) status and related federal preservation grants.

Planning staff member Kristen, who presented the changes, told commissioners the amendments are intended to let the county apply for federal historic-preservation grants and to create a local inventory and designation process separate from the National Register of Historic Places. “This is to help the county with its historic preservation,” Kristen said.

The amendments revise multiple CDC sections governing certificates of appropriateness, historic designation criteria, public-hearing scheduling and the Historic Preservation Review Board’s duties. The draft adds the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation as a reference for COA (certificate of appropriateness) reviews, defines relocation and demolition review, and creates a process to add properties to a Beaufort County local inventory rather than relying solely on National Register listings.

A new cemetery provision would require a 20-foot buffer where burial sites are clearly demarcated and a 50-foot buffer where the site’s full extent is not visible or has not been surveyed, Kristen said. “We’re thinking a 20-foot buffer is required for those burial sites that are clearly demarcated with head stones, and then a 50-foot buffer would be required for those where the true extent is not visible,” she said. The draft places the responsibility for ground-penetrating radar or other survey work on anyone seeking development within the buffer.

Kristen said the county recently completed an above-ground historic survey for South of the Broad and St. Helena Island that produced about 20 recommendations for local designation; she estimated the number of unincorporated-county properties already on the National Register could be roughly 100 (approximate). Kristen also said the county’s 1999 cemetery survey exists but has not been updated, and that becoming a CLG would make federal survey and cemetery-preservation grants available to the county.

Rob Nessie, identified in the meeting as the planning director, framed the change as replacing an ordinance structure that relied too heavily on National Register language. “We’re replacing a system where we had an ordinance that referenced … National Register sites and the above-ground survey, and we’re learning that that’s not good enough,” Rob said. He and Kristen said they worked with the State Historic Preservation Office and reviewed Horry County’s CLG practice while drafting the amendments.

Commissioners pressed staff for implementation details: how the local inventory would be populated, whether National Register properties would be automatically added (staff said they would not be automatic but staff would bring forward candidates), notification timeframes for property owners (15 and 30 days for historic-designation notices), and whether the county would fund surveys. Kristen said county staff will seek CLG grant funding for surveying and cemetery work and that developers would be required to pay for surveys if they propose work within buffers.

Several commissioners urged a public education effort and outreach to stakeholders — owners of older houses, realtors and builders — so property owners understand how designation and COA processes work. Commissioners also asked staff to correct a handful of section-number and typographical (scrivener’s) errors before forwarding the package to County Council; staff agreed to make those non-substantive fixes.

A commissioner moved that the Planning Commission support the staff recommendation on the text amendments (case CDPA-000052-2025); the motion was seconded and carried unanimously. The action recorded was a recommendation to County Council to adopt the text amendments; the Planning Commission does not itself adopt the code changes. Staff indicated it would seek a County Council meeting (targeted for July) to present an initial list of starter properties — beginning with National Register sites — and to continue reviewing the inventory in subsequent months.

The revisions change how Beaufort County will review and designate historic resources in unincorporated areas, add explicit demolition/relocation and COA standards, set cemetery buffers and survey requirements, and position the county to apply for CLG grants administered through the National Park Service and the State Historic Preservation Office. The Planning Commission’s recommendation now moves the text amendments to County Council review.