Rock Hill council advances zoning changes to limit long-term stays in hotels, campgrounds and storage units

Rock Hill City Council members voted Monday to advance an ordinance that would tighten rules on hotels, campgrounds and self-storage facilities after hours of public testimony from hotel owners, shelter operators and residents.

Planning staff said the changes respond to data showing concentrated policing and emergency responses near Riverview/Cherry Road and other commercial corridors, and are intended to prevent commercial properties from becoming permanent housing solutions.

Leah Youngblood, planning staff, told the council “the purpose of these amendments ... is really to review some land uses in the city that have become de facto permanent housing solutions for people, so that the community does not experience negative impacts from that activity in business locations that really aren't intended serving as housing.”

Why it matters: City staff presented maps and police-call data showing a cluster of calls for service along the Riverview/Cherry Road corridor. Council members and residents said the data — including local Narcan administration counts and calls for disorderly conduct, drug investigations and assaults — reflect both public-safety burdens and public-health needs. Shelters and service providers told the council they lack capacity to absorb everyone living in hotels if long stays are disallowed.

What staff proposed and what the ordinance would do if ultimately adopted

- Length of stay: Staff said the current rule limits stays to 30 consecutive days. The proposed text would bar guests from staying more than 30 nights within a six-month period, with exceptions already in place (one owner/manager living unit per hotel; temporary relocation for employment or a home casualty) and one added exception allowing up to 90 nights for guests who have enrolled in an approved program intended to secure permanent housing.

- Exterior rooms and local renters: The draft would restrict local residents from staying in hotels with exterior-corridor rooms in certain corridors; staff said exterior-room properties are…