Kershaw County adopts airport overlay ordinance after months of revisions and public debate

Kershaw County Council voted 4–2 on Feb. 25 to adopt an amended Airport Overlay District (AOD) ordinance that revises zoning near Woodward Field.

Supporters at multiple public comments said the overlay will protect the county airport and its role in medical evacuations, law‑enforcement flights and economic activity. "When a community loses an airport, it's similar to losing an interstate, an exit off of an interstate," Woodward Airfield advocate Scott Chambers told the council.

The ordinance will add airport land‑use zones to the county Unified Code of Zoning and Land Development Regulations and includes an amendment inserted on third reading that extends grandfathering protections for existing single‑family residences. Councilman Brent Tomlinson moved a package of three amendments, including a requirement that new submissions "to the extent practical locate structures in the least restrictive zone and as far as possible from the airport runway surface and aircraft flight paths," and language saying abandonment time limits do not apply to existing bona‑fide residences that become…