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Richland County Council directs staff to draft moratorium ordinance for part of Olympia neighborhood
Summary
Council voted to direct the county administrator to prepare an ordinance establishing a moratorium—described in committee as a temporary pause—on new construction, rezonings, demolition and major rehabilitation in a defined section of the Olympia mill district while staff develops a neighborhood character overlay.
Richland County Council on Feb. 4 directed the county administrator to have staff prepare an ordinance establishing a moratorium for a portion of the Olympia neighborhood while a neighborhood character overlay is developed.
Councilmember Shaquis Newton, who presented the Development and Services Committee report, said the committee’s intent was to create time to develop an overlay for the Mill District area. Newton told colleagues that the committee had discussed substituting the word “pause” for “moratorium” but that the committee’s final recommendation presented to the full council used the term “moratorium.”
County Attorney Wright cautioned that changing “moratorium” to “pause” would not necessarily avoid the legal implications of a moratorium and recommended leaving the formal term in the motion. “I would recommend that the word moratorium remain,” Attorney Wright said during the committee discussion.
Councilmembers debated process and scope. Councilmember Allison Terracio’s original motion (as printed in the committee packet) would apply to a defined area near the Mill District and would place limits for up to 12 months on new construction, rezonings, demolition and substantial rehabilitation (defined in the packet as changes greater than 50% of lot area or building square footage, or a change in use). Councilmembers noted the overlay and the moratorium could be taken up within the same ordinance.
After discussion, the council voted to direct the administrator to draft an ordinance using moratorium language from the packet for formal consideration. The motion passed with one dissenting vote; Councilmember Jason Branham voted no and the motion otherwise carried.
Procedure and next steps were clarified: the drafted ordinance must follow the county’s ordinance process, which includes committee review and three readings with a public hearing before final adoption. Councilmembers emphasized the intent is to provide time for staff and the committee to craft overlay language and any conditions for ending the moratorium earlier if an overlay is adopted sooner.
Council members and staff repeatedly stressed transparency and the need to clearly delineate the map and the exact block boundaries that would be affected; Newton and other councilmembers pointed attendees to the packet map that illustrates the targeted area.
The council did not adopt the moratorium ordinance on Feb. 4; it only directed staff to draft the ordinance for future committee and council consideration.
