Charleston County Council advances 10 Mile overlay with amendment after residents push back

CHARLESTON COUNTY — Charleston County Council advanced amendments to the 10 Mile overlay zoning district on second reading Tuesday after hours of discussion prompted by residents and competing council proposals.

The council incorporated an amendment to keep zoning on the far side of Highway 17 at the existing one dwelling per three acres standard, then passed the overlay package to second reading. "We heard from the community and we will continue to look at these items and respond," said Ms. Hanicut, thanking 10 Mile residents for traveling to the meeting.

The debate centered on several community-proposed changes — including reducing allowable impervious surface and tightening maximum building coverage — that staff said had not previously been submitted in written form for review. "All of the ones except for the first one that was mentioned... we have not seen those amendments," staff told the council, noting staff had reviewed other dimensional standards with the community but not the full set of new language.

Council members split over how to proceed. One member who identified himself in the transcript as "Mister Kurowski" proposed reducing impervious surface from 25% to 20% and adjusting building coverage limits; he later moved to postpone final action until staff and the community could meet. That motion was seconded by Mister Darby, but other members argued the process had been robust and urged moving forward so the overlay could serve as the primary tool for regulating development pressures in the area. "I do think that ultimately... this should be sort of the centerpiece of how those development pressures are addressed," one member said.

Concerns raised by several council members and residents included how "pacing" — limits on the number of lots built per year — would be enforced and whether an upzoning in the area would accelerate traffic and development that could spill into neighboring municipalities. "This is a chance for us to be proactive and not let traffic continue to get worse," a council member said, urging caution about increasing density along Highway 17.

The council recorded a roll-call vote on the package as amended. The ordinance including the amendment passed second reading with a recorded vote of 7 ayes and 2 nays on 4B; the related 4C overlay amendments passed second reading with 9 ayes. The chair said the county attorney will "read through all of these amendments" and staff will meet with community members ahead of third reading, indicating the amendments submitted by residents are not definitively adopted or rejected until legal review and potential further modification.

The next procedural step is a third reading, where council members and staff expect to consider attorney guidance and any revised amendment language. Council members repeatedly emphasized that the process would remain open for further refinement ahead of final action.