Priority Investment Act

Columbia, S.C. - May 22, 2007 - Governor Mark Sanford will be in Charleston tomorrow (Wednesday, May 23, 2007) to sign the Priority Investment Act, a bill aimed at improving quality of life and protecting taxpayers by encouraging better infrastructure investments at the local level.

Synopsis of H 3066 Priority Investment Act as Amended by House Judiciary Committee:

• Amends the local government planning act which currently requires municipal and county governments to develop a 5 year comprehensive plan if they enact zoning.

• The bill as amended adds two planning elements to the comprehensive plan: a transportation element and a priority investment element.

• The priority investment element analyzes funds available for public infrastructure (roads, water, sewer and schools) and recommends projects for expenditure of available funds. It also provides for coordination between local governments. Coordination is defined as notice by the planning commission to other local governments who then have an opportunity to provide comment.

• The Act also allows local governments to develop market-based incentives and to reduce unnecessary housing regulatory requirements to encourage development of traditional neighborhood designs and affordable housing.

• The bill will save taxpayer dollars by making more efficient use of public infrastructure money, improve the local government planning process, and make it easier for developers to build affordable housing and traditional neighborhood Developments.

South Carolina General Assembly

116th Session, 2005-2006

H. 3881

~~Indicates Matter Stricken~~

Indicates New Matter

AMENDED

June 1, 2006

TO ENACT THE “SOUTH CAROLINA PRIORITY INVESTMENT ACT” BY AMENDING SECTION 6‑29‑510, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO COMPREHENSIVE PLANS OF LOCAL PLANNING COMMISSIONS, SO AS TO AMEND THE HOUSING ELEMENT AND TO PROVIDE FOR TRANSPORTATION, INTERGOVERNMENTAL COORDINATION, AND PRIORITY INVESTMENT ELEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE PLANS; TO AMEND SECTION 6‑29‑720, RELATING TO THE REGULATION OF ZONING DISTRICTS, SO AS TO ALLOW LOCAL GOVERNMENTS TO DEVELOP MARKET‑BASED INCENTIVES AND ELIMINATION OF UNNECESSARY HOUSING REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS TO ENCOURAGE PRIVATE DEVELOPMENT, TRADITIONAL NEIGHBORHOOD DESIGN, AND AFFORDABLE HOUSING IN PRIORITY INVESTMENT AREAS; TO AMEND SECTION 6‑29‑1110, RELATING TO DEFINITIONS, SO AS TO DEFINE “AFFORDABLE HOUSING”, “MARKET‑BASED INCENTIVES”, “TRADITIONAL NEIGHBORHOOD DESIGN”, AND “UNNECESSARY HOUSING REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS”; TO AMEND SECTION 6‑29‑1130, RELATING TO REGULATIONS OF A LOCAL GOVERNING BODY GOVERNING THE DEVELOPMENT OF LAND UPON THE RECOMMENDATION OF THE LOCAL PLANNING COMMISSION, SO AS TO FURTHER PROVIDE FOR THE CONTENT OF THESE REGULATIONS RELATING TO LAND DEVELOPMENT; AND TO PROVIDE THAT LOCAL GOVERNMENTS AMEND THEIR COMPREHENSIVE PLANS TO COMPLY WITH THESE PROVISIONS WITHIN TWENTY‑FOUR MONTHS OF ENACTMENT.

SECTION 1. This act may be cited as the “South Carolina Priority Investment Act”.

“(D) A local comprehensive plan must include, but not be limited to, the following planning elements:

(1) a population element which considers historic trends and projections, household numbers and sizes, educational levels, and income characteristics;

(2) an economic development element which considers labor force and labor force characteristics, employment by place of work and residence, and analysis of the economic base;

(3) a natural resources element which considers coastal resources, slope characteristics, prime agricultural and forestland, plant and animal habitats, parks and recreation areas, scenic views and sites, wetlands, and soil types. Where a separate board exists pursuant to this chapter, this element is the responsibility of the existing board;

(4) a cultural resources element which considers historic buildings and structures, commercial districts, residential districts, unique, natural, or scenic resources, archaeological, and other cultural resources. Where a separate board exists pursuant to this chapter, this element is the responsibility of the existing board;

(5) a community facilities element which considers ~~transportation network;~~ water supply, treatment, and distribution; sewage system and wastewater treatment; solid waste collection and disposal, fire protection, emergency medical services, and general government facilities; education facilities; and libraries and other cultural facilities;

(6) a housing element which considers location, types, age and condition of housing, owner and renter occupancy, and affordability of housing. This element includes an analysis to ascertain unnecessary housing regulatory requirements, as defined in this chapter, that add to the cost of developing affordable housing but are not necessary to protect the public health, safety or welfare and an analysis of market‑based incentives that may be made available to encourage development of affordable housing, which incentives may include density bonuses, design flexibility, and streamlined permitting processes; ~~and~~

(7) a land use element which considers existing and future land use by categories, including residential, commercial, industrial, agricultural, forestry, mining, public and quasi‑public, recreation, parks, open space, and vacant or undeveloped;

(8) a transportation element that considers transportation facilities, including major road improvements, new road construction, transit projects, pedestrian and bicycle projects, and other elements of a transportation network. This element must be developed in coordination with the land use element, to ensure transportation efficiency for existing and planned development;

(9) a priority investment element that analyzes the likely federal, state, and local funds available for public infrastructure and facilities during the next ten years, and recommends the projects for expenditure of those funds during the next ten years for needed public infrastructure and facilities such as water, sewer, roads, and schools. The recommendation of those projects for public expenditure must be done through coordination with adjacent and relevant jurisdictions and agencies. For the purposes of this item, ‘adjacent and relevant jurisdictions and agencies’ means those counties, municipalities, public service districts, school districts, public and private utilities, transportation agencies, and other public entities that are affected by or have planning authority over the public project. For the purposes of this item, ‘coordination’ means written notification by the local planning commission or its staff to adjacent and relevant jurisdictions and agencies of the proposed projects and the opportunity for adjacent and relevant jurisdictions and agencies to provide comment to the planning commission or its staff concerning the proposed projects. Failure of the planning commission or its staff to identify or notify an adjacent or relevant jurisdiction or agency does not invalidate the local comprehensive plan and does not give rise to a civil cause of action.”

SECTION 3. Section 6‑29‑720(C)(5), (6), and (7) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

“(5) ‘overlay zone’ or a zone which imposes a set of requirements or relaxes a set of requirements imposed by the underlying zoning district when there is a special public interest in a particular geographic area that does not coincide with the underlying zone boundaries; ~~and~~

(6) ‘conditional uses’ or zoning ordinance provisions that impose conditions, restrictions, or limitations on a permitted use that are in addition to the restrictions applicable to all land in the zoning district. The conditions, restrictions, or limitations must be set forth in the text of the zoning ordinance; and

(7) ‘priority investment zone’ in which the governing authority adopts market‑based incentives or relaxes or eliminates unnecessary housing regulatory requirements, as these terms are defined in this chapter, to encourage private development in the priority investment zone. The governing authority also may provide that traditional neighborhood design and affordable housing, as these terms are defined in this chapter, must be permitted within the priority investment zone.”

(1) ‘Affordable housing’ means in the case of dwelling units for sale, housing in which mortgage, amortization, taxes, insurance, and condominium or association fees, if any, constitute no more than twenty‑eight percent of the annual household income for a household earning no more than eighty percent of the area median income, by household size, for the metropolitan statistical area as published from time to time by the U.S. Department of Housing and Community Development (HUD) and, in the case of dwelling units for rent, housing for which the rent and utilities constitute no more than thirty percent of the annual household income for a household earning no more than eighty percent of the area median income, by household size for the metropolitan statistical area as published from time to time by HUD.

(2) ‘Land development’ means the changing of land characteristics through redevelopment, construction, subdivision into parcels, condominium complexes, apartment complexes, commercial parks, shopping centers, industrial parks, mobile home parks, and similar developments for sale, lease, or any combination of owner and rental characteristics.

(3) ‘Market‑based incentives’ mean incentives that encourage private developers to meet the governing authority’s goals as developed in this chapter. Incentives may include, but are not limited to:

(a) density bonuses, allowing developers to build at a density higher than residential zones typically permit, and greater density bonuses, allowing developers to build at a density higher than residential affordable units in development, or allowing developers to purchase density by paying into a local housing trust fund;

(b) relaxed zoning regulations including, but not limited to, minimum lot area requirements, limitations of multi‑family dwellings, minimum setbacks, yard requirements, variances, reduced parking requirements, and modified street standards;

(c) reduced or waived fees including those fees levied on new development projects where affordable housing is addressed, reimburse permit fees to builder upon certification that dwelling unit is affordable and waive up to one hundred percent of sewer/water tap in fees for affordable housing units;

(d) fast‑track permitting including, but not limited to, streamlining the permitting process for new development projects and expediting affordable housing developments to help reduce cost and time delays;

(e) design flexibility allowing for greater design flexibility, creating pre‑approved design standards to allow for quick and easy approval, and promoting infill development, mixed use and accessory dwellings.

~~(2)~~(4) ‘Subdivision’ means all divisions of a tract or parcel of land into two or more lots, building sites, or other divisions for the purpose, whether immediate or future, of sale, lease, or building development, and includes all division of land involving a new street or change in existing streets, and includes re‑subdivision which would involve the further division or relocation of lot lines of any lot or lots within a subdivision previously made and approved or recorded according to law; or, the alteration of any streets or the establishment of any new streets within any subdivision previously made and approved or recorded according to law, and includes combinations of lots of record; however, the following exceptions are included within this definition only for the purpose of requiring that the local planning agency be informed and have a record of the subdivisions: (a) the combination or recombination of portions of previously platted lots where the total number of lots is not increased and the resultant lots are equal to the standards of the governing authority; (b) the division of land into parcels of five acres or more where no new street is involved and plats of these exceptions must be received as information by the planning agency which shall indicate that fact on the plats; and (c) the combination or recombination of entire lots of record where no new street or change in existing streets is involved.

(5) ‘Traditional neighborhood design’ means development designs intended to enhance the appearance and functionality of new development so that it functions like a traditional neighborhood or town. These designs make possible reasonably high residential densities, a mixture of residential and commercial land uses, a range of single and multi‑family housing types, street connectivity both within the new development and to surrounding roadways, pedestrian, and bicycle features.

(6) ‘Unnecessary housing regulatory requirements’ mean those development standards and procedures that are not essential to protect the public health, safety, or welfare and that may otherwise make a proposed housing development economically infeasible. Unnecessary housing regulatory requirements may include, but are not limited to:

(a) standards or requirements for minimum lot size, building size, building setbacks, spacing between buildings, impervious surfaces, open space, landscaping, buffering, reforestation, road width, pavements, parking, sidewalks, paved paths, culvers and storm water drainage, and sizing of water and sewer lines that are excessive; and

(b) application and review procedures that require or result in extensive submittals and lengthy review periods.”

“(A) When at least the community facilities element, the housing element, and the priority investment element of the comprehensive plan as authorized by this chapter ~~has~~ have been adopted by the local planning commission and the local governing body or bodies, the local planning commission may prepare and recommend to the governing body or bodies for adoption regulations governing the development of land within the jurisdiction. These regulations may provide for the harmonious development of the municipality and the county; for coordination of streets within subdivision and other types of land developments with other existing or planned streets or official map streets; for the size of blocks and lots; for the dedication or reservation of land for streets, school sites, and recreation areas and of easements for utilities and other public services and facilities; and for the distribution of population and traffic which will tend to create conditions favorable to health, safety, convenience, appearance, prosperity, or the general welfare. In particular, the regulations shall prescribe that no land development plan, including subdivision plats, will be approved unless all land intended for use as building sites can be used safely for building purposes, without danger from flood or other inundation or from other menaces to health, safety, or public welfare.”

SECTION 6. All local governments that have adopted a local comprehensive plan in compliance with the provisions of Article 3, Chapter 29, Title 6 of the 1976 Code shall revise their local comprehensive plans within twenty‑four months of the effective date of this act, or when the comprehensive plans would be subject to revision pursuant to Section 6-29-510(E), whichever is later, to comply with the provisions of this act.