South Carolina S 227: Local planning

Bill Text

2025-2026 Bill 227 Text of Previous Version (May. 06, 2026) - South Carolina Legislature Online 

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026

Bill 227

Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter

(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

Indicates Matter Stricken

Indicates New Matter

Amended

April 29, 2026

S. 227

Introduced by Senators Davis, Kimbrell, Matthews, 
Turner, Young, Grooms and Campsen 

S. Printed 4/29/26--S. [SEC 
5/6/2026 10:52 AM]

Read the first time January 15, 2025

________

A bill

TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY AMENDING 
SECTION 6-29-720, RELATING TO ZONING ORDINANCES, SO AS TO DEFINE "CONCURRENCY 
PROGRAMS"; AND BY AMENDING SECTION 6-29-1130, RELATING TO REGULATIONS, SO AS TO 
INCLUDE A REFERENCE TO AN ADOPTED CONCURRENCY PROGRAM.

 Amend Title To Conform

Be it enacted by the 
General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION 1. Section 6-29-720(C) of the S.C. Code is amended to 
read:

 (C) The zoning ordinance may utilize 
the following or any other zoning and planning techniques for implementation of 
the goals specified above. Failure to specify a particular technique does not 
cause use of that technique to be viewed as beyond the power of the local 
government choosing to use it:

 (1) 
"cluster development" or the grouping of residential, commercial, or industrial 
uses within a subdivision or development site, permitting a reduction in the 
otherwise applicable lot size, while preserving substantial open space on the 
remainder of the parcel;

 (2) 
"floating zone" or a zone which is described in the text of a zoning ordinance 
but is unmapped. A property owner may petition for the zone to be applied to a 
particular parcel meeting the minimum zoning district area requirements of the 
zoning ordinance through legislative action;

 (3) 
"performance zoning" or zoning which specifies a minimum requirement or maximum 
limit on the effects of a land use rather than, or in addition to, specifying 
the use itself, simultaneously assuring compatibility with surrounding 
development and increasing a developer's flexibility;

 (4) 
"planned development district" or a development project comprised of housing of 
different types and densities and of compatible commercial uses, or shopping 
centers, office parks, and mixed-use developments. A planned development 
district is established by rezoning prior to development and is characterized 
by a unified site design for a mixed-use development;

 (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;

 (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 nonessential 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; and

 (8) "concurrency programs" that condition land development approval on public 
facility and service adequacy, also referred to as "adequate public 
facility programs." Such programs must ensure that growth and infrastructure 
investment proceed consistently with locally adopted comprehensive plans and 
must not be administrated to unreasonably prevent or delay development where 
proportionate mitigation is available. Concurrency programs may be enacted 
within the zoning ordinance or in land development regulations, pursuant to 
Section 6-29-1130(A).

 (a) Concurrency programs may not 
condition approval on the availability or adequacy of parks or libraries, and 
are limited to: 

 (i) transportation facilities; 

 (ii) water supply and distribution;

 (iii) wastewater collection and 
treatment;

 (iv) stormwater management;

 (v) law enforcement;

 (vi) fire protection and emergency 
medical services; and

 (vii) public schools; provided, 
however, that concurrency conditions based on school capacity may be imposed 
only if the school district or other governmental entity responsible for school 
construction and capital improvements is a party to the governing authority's 
adopted capital improvements program or has entered into a written 
intergovernmental agreement with the governing authority committing to address 
identi