Planning Commission advances comprehensive plan chapters on impact fees to County Commission

The Berkeley County Planning Commission voted to advance proposed updates to chapters 3 and 5a of the county comprehensive plan to the Berkeley County Commission for review and action.

Planning staff said the updates reflect recent state changes that require a comprehensive plan update at least every five years to allow counties without zoning to adopt impact fees. The proposed changes update demographics (Chapter 3) using 2020 census information and add material in Chapter 5a related to impact-fee policy. Staff said the action before the Planning Commission is a limited update of those chapters and that a broader, full comprehensive plan rewrite (with a kickoff by the Berkeley Group) is under way with an expected timeline that extends through late 2026.

County legal counsel explained that the Local Powers Act requires an updated comprehensive plan every five years to enable impact fees and that the update need not change every element of the plan but must reflect current dates and relevant provisions. Commissioners voted to advance the two-chapter updates to the County Commission for consideration.

The Planning Commission also closed the public hearing on the update and moved the changes forward to the County Commission; advancing the chapters does not itself impose impact fees but enables the county commission to consider fee implementation consistent with state law and local procedures.