Applicant asks for more time; planning commission defers Okatie Highway rezoning to December after split vote

The Beaufort County Planning Commission voted to defer consideration of a zoning map amendment affecting properties on Okatie Highway to the December planning commission meeting after the applicant, Barry Johnson (S6), asked for more time to pursue a workforce‑housing component.

Johnson told the commission he had been working with staff and community organizations, and said he hopes to include housing targeted for disabled veterans as part of the revised submittal. “We have been working with staff and had some conversations … and we've been looking at a workforce housing component even though that's not required under the code,” Johnson said.

Commissioners pressed Johnson about prior outreach to the Town of Bluffton. Johnson said Bluffton declined to annex the site and would not accept an up‑zoning; he told the commission he had offered to dedicate the parcel to workforce housing but that Bluffton would not agree to change its zoning. Commissioners also discussed traffic and school impacts; one member noted that a proposed internal road connects to River Ridge Elementary and asked whether the county had coordinated with the school district on possible traffic effects.

Staff (S5) told the commission it would notify residents the same way the county handles other rezoning notices: publication, posting the property and contacting property owners within 500 feet of the proposed rezoning. “We would notify them the same way we know, so … we put a notice in the paper, we then contact people within 500 feet of the proposed rezoning,” staff said.

The commission initially voted on a motion to defer and that motion failed. Members then moved to reconsider the earlier denial; on reconsideration the commission approved deferring the map amendment to December so the applicant can refine materials and, staff said, ensure public notice when the item is placed on the agenda.

The deferral does not change the substantive review pathway: if the application is substantially amended it will return to the planning commission; if the commission recommends denial it may still proceed to the land‑use committee and county council. The applicant indicated he may pursue a development agreement to secure any affordable or workforce units he proposes.

The item will return to the planning commission in December; staff said it will confirm application completeness and arrange the required public notifications prior to that hearing.