• What is the Charleston County Comprehensive Plan?

Charleston County’s Comprehensive Plan is an expression of the County’s intent for where and how future growth and development should occur. The plan also identifies parts of the County that may or may not be appropriate for certain types of growth, given the Lowcountry’s unique character and natural conditions.

Charleston County Council adopted the 10-year update of the County’s Comprehensive Plan on November 18, 2008.  The Comprehensive Plan Update is the result of the state mandated 10-year update cycle, the need for the County to conform to new state statutes (The Priority Investment Act) that require additional elements in the Comprehensive Plan, and a response to changing economic and growth trends.

The Charleston County Comprehensive Plan Update process began with a kickoff meeting held in September 2007. The Charleston County Planning Commission directed the update process and was assisted by a team of consultants who evaluated trends and aided in the drafting of the document. The update process includes four key phases with a public participation element between each phase: (1) data collection and analysis; (2) policy development; (3) draft plan document; and (4) adoption.

The County held three rounds of public workshops during the update process. Each round consisted of four workshops, one in each of the four planning areas in the County. The workshops were held October 29-30, 2007; February 25-26, 2008; and July 14-15, 2008. An additional workshop was held in November 2007 with the Charleston County Citizens Academy. A total of 725 people attended the series of public workshops to share their ideas for how the Comprehensive Plan should guide key decisions for the future of Charleston County.

The results of each round of public workshops were documented in reports and were shared with the Charleston County Planning Commission and Charleston County Council. These public comments were a significant aspect in the update of the Comprehensive Plan. In addition to the four rounds of public workshops, the Planning Commission held 13 workshop meetings to discuss and review the results of the public workshops and to review the draft updated plan.

Three Rounds of Public Workshops

The information gathered at these workshops is available in the summary reports above.

• Workshop Series 1 was held on October 29 and 30, 2007, to gather public input from all areas of the County, giving people an opportunity to voice their vision for the future and identify what they like and dislike about their area of the County.  An additional workshop was held in November 2007 with the Charleston County Citizens Academy.
   

• Workshop Series 2 was held on February 25 and 26, 2008, and focused on where and how Charleston County should grow.
   

• Workshop Series 3 was held on July 14 and 15, 2008 and focused on the draft plan and the associated recommendations.

Who was involved in the update process? 

• The Public
   

• Stakeholders
   

• Charleston County Council
   

• Charleston County Planning Commission
   

• Charleston County Planning Department staff
   

• Charleston County’s consultant

Background Information

• Charleston County’s first Comprehensive Plan was adopted on April 20, 1999 and was reviewed/adopted on November 18, 2003 and October 5, 2004.
   

• The Comprehensive Plan includes nine elements: 

  • Population

  • Economic development

  • Natural ResourcesCultural Resources

  • Community Facilities

  • Housing

  • Land Use

  • Transportation*

  • Priority Investment*

 *State Law recently changed to require these elements in the Comprehensive Plan