Charleston County updates Housing Our Future plan: tax abatement, land bank and trust fund move forward

Chairman Wareman opened the special housing committee meeting to receive updates on Charleston County’s Housing Our Future plan, focusing on tax abatements, a county land bank program, a housing trust fund and coordination with municipal zoning rewrites.

The Housing Our Future plan, adopted in May 2023, sets five broad goals and 27 strategies for the whole county, county staff reminded the committee. Eric Davis, the county’s housing development director, said council has prioritized seven strategies so far and that staff would brief the committee on four of them at this meeting.

Davis summarized the county’s work to implement a uniform tax-exemption policy, adopted last year, to encourage affordable and moderate-income units in mixed-use and residential projects. Davis said staff have completed application documents and an online portal, and are finalizing ordinances and agreements, including clawback provisions and transfer mechanisms to limit “undue enrichment” of developers. He said the county has received five notices of intent, four active applications and one stalled application unrelated to the tax-abatement program. “We are still accepting applications,” Davis said, and staff plan further outreach to developers after finalizing outstanding legal documents. Davis…