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Dorchester County staff to pursue zoning text amendments to clarify event-venue rules
Summary
County staff said Use Group 13f (wedding/event venues) was added because venues weren't otherwise categorized; staff and board discussed drafting clearer use tables and considering text amendments ahead of a planned 2028 comprehensive-plan update to reduce gray areas in permitted uses.
Staff told the Board of Zoning Appeals that Use Group 13f was added to the zoning code to capture wedding and similar event venues that previously were lumped into other categories, and that the county plans a comprehensive overhaul of the land-development ordinance alongside a 2028 comprehensive-plan update.
Tim said the change was made because the county had no discrete category for wedding venues: "13 f was added because there really did not — we didn't even have like a wedding venue and we were lumping that into other things." Board members and staff discussed creating a clearer use table or interim text amendments to distinguish subtypes of event spaces (for example, outdoor concerts versus private family gatherings) so future applicants and reviewers have predictable standards. Staff said it will begin drafting options and bringing them back to the board for consideration ahead of the larger code rewrite.
