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City planner outlines zoning code rewrite, including low-elevation overlay to limit development intensity
Summary
Philip Overcash, the city’s senior planner, updated the resilience committee on a multi-year zoning code rewrite intended to modernize rules, encourage housing options, and introduce a targeted low-elevation overlay to limit development intensity in areas vulnerable to sea-level rise. Public drafts are due this summer.
Philip Overcash, senior planner in the city planning department, told the Charleston City Resilience & Planning Committee that the city’s zoning code rewrite aims to modernize decades-old rules and align development standards with goals in the Charleston City Plan.
“Essentially, the purpose of the whole rewrite is to have a new set of development standards … that is more modernized, simplified, and aligned with our current goals,” Overcash said. He said the rewrite began in 2022, was funded in part with ARPA dollars, and is on a compressed schedule because of ARPA spending limits.
The rewrite centers on five themes from the code assessment: making the code user friendly for residents, developers and staff; consolidating and modernizing zoning districts and tables; strengthening resilience to rising water; encouraging diverse housing types and incentives for affordability; and updating subdivision and development standards.
Overcash emphasized that zoning is one tool among many for addressing flood risk. He described a proposed “low-elevation overlay” that would be applied surgically to areas at risk of marsh migration and frequent tidal flooding. The draft overlay would limit intensity of development in those areas and could include standards such as larger lot widths and restrictions on certain higher-intensity uses.
A committee member asked whether the rewrite will address freshwater wetlands and the effect of recent federal court rulings on jurisdiction. Overcash said the code will consider wetland buffers and protective measures where appropriate but noted the city often works within state and federal regulatory frameworks for permitting and jurisdiction.
Committee members also cautioned against a strict elevation-based zoning approach, warning it can have unintended social consequences. One member said such zoning, used elsewhere, had “unintended consequences” by potentially displacing long-established, lower-lying historic neighborhoods. Overcash responded that the team is seeking balance — using incentives to steer growth to higher-ground corridors such as Sam Rittenberg and portions of Clements Ferry — while avoiding measures that would unduly restrict existing communities.
Overcash outlined next steps: the planning team expects to publish incremental public drafts by August, host public meetings through December, and aim for a final draft by the end of the year with adoption and implementation steps in 2027. He urged public engagement during the upcoming open studios and the July 28 "rising waters" forum, where the Army Corps and city leadership will discuss projects including the Battery extension.
The committee left time for members to review public drafts and prepare recommendations that will be forwarded to city council.
